I was plagued by a bunch of racoons literally rolling up my lawn searching for grubs. I certainly would not want to hurt a racoon or any animal but just could not catch them in the act. I had a motion light installed which helped a bit but I thought I would share a tip given to me by the folks pruning my trees. Apparently racoons hate snakes so she recommended cutting up an old garden hose and leaving it in the areas they attack. I was considering buying some plastic snakes but thought kids in the area, the mailman, delivery folks, visitors, etc would not apreciate that, I wouldn't. So, I thought I would pass this hose idea along. I have not seen the damage lately, I guess they moved on to a lawn without snakes.
I sympathize with your plight, they can destroy an otherwise lovely lawn digging for their supper. You could try motion activated sprinklers or synthetic coyote urine as a repellent. Good luck!
Isn't the real issue that the raccoons are drawn to your yard because of grubs? I understand that Toronto has a problem with the European Chafer Beetle, as we do in Vancouver. Crows, raccoons, and skunks destroy lawns as they dig for these beetles. I live in a condo, but have been researching the use of nematodes to deal with black vine weevils that are attacking my patio hydrangeas. It seems that certain strains of nematodes are used effectively for lawn applications. Here is one site I pulled up (no endorsement intended). http://lawnsavers.com/healthy-lawn-programs/grub-control-with-nematodes.html Good luck! I have seen lawns in Vancouver that were attacked by crows, and looked like someone ran a rototiller over them.
