My trick for keeping raccoons out of our recycle bins

I put a heavy rock on each lid. Now they can't tip them over anymore.

4 comments

4 Comments

My buddy tried the rock method for months. His curb looked like a geology project with different stones on each bin. Then one Tuesday morning he found soggy trash everywhere because a raccoon had just pushed the whole rock-lid unit over sideways. He saw @aaron_mitchell talking about bungee hooks, grabbed some from his garage, and looped them through the handle holes. Now his bins are shut tight and he just flicks the hooks off on pickup day.

aaron_mitchell3mo agoMost Upvoted

Tried rocks but bungee cords are faster to hook under the lid handles.

-1

smith.nancy3mo ago

I always used rocks too until I saw aaron_mitchell's point about speed. I was wrestling with a big plastic bin last week, trying to wedge a rock just right so the lid would stay open. Saw this and tried a bungee hook instead. It was way faster to just loop it under the handle and pull. You changed my mind on that one.

murphy.tessa2mo ago

You mentioned wrestling with the bin and that's exactly it. Everyone's talking about speed or raccoons, but nobody's said how much quieter bungee hooks are. That sound of a big rock scraping and thudding against plastic at 6am is awful. With a hook, it's just a soft click when you attach it. My neighbors probably like me better now.