Racoons keep on going to my backyard to eat my garbage. I bought garbage cans that are supposed to keep out raccoons but they still get into them and create a mess. What’s best way to humanely keep the raccoons away?
Use ammonia when cleaning out your trash cans, as raccoons find the scent of ammonia to be very unpleasant .
Spray it on the outside and around the ground. It smells like urine. It will have to be repeated often. I’ve had to spray the can when it’s out for collection. The rest of the time it was in the garage.
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Probably the best way is to keep your garbage cans in the garage or a shed. If you don’t have those, then what I’ve seen people do is build a little cage for the cans and keep that locked. Good luck!
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put a small container of ammonia in the can and it will last longer or sprinkle a little on the garbage. If in trash bags pour a little in the bag and tie it up tight, when they tear it open they will get a strong whiff.
Bungie cords over the lid usually works in my experience. You could also retrofit some sort of latch to the lids, it just needs to be sufficiently “complicated” they can’t figure out the mechanism like how they build bearproof containers/trashcans at campgrounds.
If you want to deter the racoons in general, you can install motion activated lights and I’ve also heard people have success with motion sensing sprinklers. I usually encourage people to avoid using chemical deterrents personally. Source: lots of phone calls about dealing with urban nuisance wildlife at my last job.
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Of those callers, how many were hoping for a solution that didn’t require them to change their habits or put in ongoing effort?
At one apartment complex where I lived, raccoons were constantly getting trapped in the dumpster; that is, getting in but unable to get out. The solution would have been simple: close the lid every time. But just try getting every resident of an apartment complex to put in that excruciating effort. At my present complex, I have several times had to dump out accumulated rainwater from the recycle bins. A simple solution comes to mind, but, you know, too much work 
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Strangely, about the same amount that got angry when I told them we couldn’t come trap the animals and they’d have to pay someone to do it if they’d already made their mind up. Honestly though I really enjoyed getting to educate the people who were willing to learn, so it was a net positive experience.
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Can you drill some holes in the bins for drains?
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I doubt it since I don’t own them.
Good point. It also works on small trash cans that are hard to get bags out of.
It’s kinda like mushrooms or plants: they’re all edible, ONCE! 
You can drill holes in anything . . . ONCE!
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