Japanese racoon living behind house

Hello everyone,
There seems to be a kind of racoon animal living behind my house. It tends to come only at nights but uses the area as a toilet :( and it makes quite a noise running about. How can I deter this animal without harming it?
By the way , we live in a residential area of many houses. I thought racoons tended to live in the countryside.
Alex

Actually they live amongst us,in a way, in Tokyo (23-ku) as well. They live pretty close to people.

I have contacted an expert I know, so I will get back to this forum when I get a response from him. In the meantime, could you tell if the one you saw is similar to any one of the six sketches here? (the top two are adult and young "tanuki" - Japanese dog raccoon), followed by three different species (the 4th from the top being a regular raccoon), then lastly by a cat (I'm sure it's not a cat).

The expert is making a map of where these species are spotted, so would be interested to know where you are as well...

Sorry, forgot to add the link:

http://tokyotanuki.jp/comparison.htm

Hello AK,
Thanks for your quick response! and the link too!
It appears to be similar to the hakubishin type.
It had the white stripe.
We are living on Shikoku .
Alex

Alex,

Thank you. Um, at night we've seen one of those "hakubishin" in a relatively old wooden apartment building right in Tokyo - actually one block from us - so it is not uncommon in residential areas I must say, though I admit I was a bit surprised to see one. I will definitely post again with the reply. Thanks.

I live in Vancouver (Canada) and raccoons and skunks are seen in the evening in a downtown residential district with lots of high rises that is close to both water and a big park. Is that your case?
In another area we saw coyotes regularly.

Apparently there is more "wild " animals in many big towns---around the world-- that one could imagine as there is lot of easily available food!

Alex,

The expert got back to me saying that if it IS a "tanuki," then as its ability to climb is limited, you could easily fence them out, if you make sure the fence is at leat 1m high, and carefully use a net leaving no opening 5cm or greater.

However, if you are sure if it is "hakubishin," he says it would be very difficult to keep them out. I've seen one climb up an electrical pole and walk the electrical wire - I have asked him again if there is anything that can be done.

Hello Monkey see and AK
Well, there isn't a large amount of water nearby, but there are the little channels of water that run between the houses. The mountains are not far off.
Also, the area behind the house is already pretty well fenced off and the animal was seen climbing up the outside of the house.
A neighbour wishes to get a "TRAP" to catch it and then release it else where, because of concerns of damaging / entering the house / carrying disease .
I'd just rather there was another way to deter it that's all.
But it seems that is unlikely from AK's post if they are agile creatures.

alex,

I'm sorry but even the expert got back to me saying again that with "hakubishin" that can climb poles, it is extremely difficult to keep them out. Or that at least he would have to see the actual area to suggest what might be possible. In any case, every possible path into the area (is it your backyard) must be blocked, which is almost impossible with that animal, as they are very agile :( Sorry I can't be of help.

In your situation, the only "harm" if any seems to be only the smell/stool and the noise. Of course, contact should be avoided (all wild animals and birds "can" be a medium for diseases, to which these guys are no exception), though.

A quick search on the internet on keywords "hakubishin oiharau" in kana does give us information.
http://gekitai.kwn.ne.jp/mame/hakubishin.html

I suppose you can also ask your local ward office for advise.

I wonder if a simple "nora-neko-yoke-shiito" (sheet to avoid stray cats) will work. You know, those plastic sheets with pricky things on them. You can buy them at home-centers and gardening shops.

Whatever the animal was, I once planted some toothpicks, facing up, in a spot where it always smelled in my garden, and it solved the problem.

maybe things that deter cats and dogs will work, like sprinkling cayenne pepper or white pepper or coffee grounds. i use pepper to keep dogs from crapping on the nature strip and cats off the fence, it works pretty well on things that sniff. Chilli is meant to work as well, but I'd be worried about them getting it in their eyes.