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Although raccoons aren’t particularly picky regarding food, certain sounds, metals, and smells bother them. You can place these items around your home to keep raccoons away:

• Place wire mesh screens around and underneath decks and porches to prevent raccoons from nesting. 

• Put metal sheeting around the edges of your roof or at the base of trees to deter raccoons from coming close. 

• Place a loud battery-operated radio near the raccoon’s den to keep them from nesting.

• Keep a bowl of cider vinegar on your deck or porch.

• Remove old raccoon scents by thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting underneath porches and decks.

If you’re having trouble with your traps, first examine them for flaws that would allow a squirrel to escape easily, such as loose doors or hinges. It’s also important to consider the location of your trap: Place it in areas with higher squirrel traffic, and make sure it’s on a sturdy surface so it can’t wobble or tip (squirrels aren’t likely to walk in a trap that isn’t stable). Lastly, try changing out your bait—in-shell peanuts or peanut butter often work best.

If the cat is stray (you noticed a collar or other signs of domestication), the kind thing to do is to try and find the owner. Call around to other neighbors to see if they can lead you in the right direction. If you can get close enough to snap a picture, try posting an image of the cat to local community groups and pages on social media. 

If the cat is feral, you can try to humanely trap them and participate in a local shelter’s TNR program. Before attempting capture, call around to local rescues and shelters to make sure one near you does participate in a TNR program. They may even be able to catch the cat for you.

The nine-banded armadillo is common in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and Mississippi. Their range has expanded over the years, and they now live as far north as Missouri, Kansas, and even southern parts of Nebraska.