[getsmart-l] Waste Mgnt:- Inventor fashions mesh for garbage cans to foil rubbish-rummaging critters

[John O'Gorman]

"The netting seems to work because the raccoons don't realize they can gnaw through it. "   . . . so that next year, when the 'coons HAVE learned, they can sell you another one, a new one, made of wire!!??

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080728.wraccoon28/BNStory/National/
Raccoon foe hopes for net profit
Inventor fashions mesh for garbage cans to foil rubbish-rummaging critters 
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MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT Globe and Mail July 28, 2008 at 4:38 AM EDT

A raccoon on the prowl for garbage is one of the most determined pests in Canada, a true varmint with prodigious abilities for breaking into trash cans.

Although many people who have matched wits with the wily nocturnal mammals may believe it's impossible to outsmart a hungry raccoon, a man from Burlington, Ont., says he's done just that.

George Bogojevic, an inveterate tinkerer and part-time inventor, says he's created a device that's kept the conniving coons out of his garbage for the past year. His invention, which he dreamed up in his suburban garage last summer, is elegant in its simplicity: He's fashioned what looks like a giant mesh hairnet sized to fit over the top of a garbage can, with an elastic around its opening.

Drop one over the top of a bin, tighten the elastic band, and your raccoon-in-the-garbage problems will be history, according to Mr. Bogojevic, who says that he used to be bothered by the animals every night "but not any more."


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Mr. Bogojevic, sensing a commercial opportunity, has applied for patents in both Canada and the United States for the device, which has been dubbed the Oscarnet. He and his business partners are hoping to spin the idea into a money maker, by offering the nets at $9.99 a pop. They formally launched the product this month at a Muskoka boat and cottage show.

Victories for the human side in the long-running struggle between people and raccoons are few and far between.

The omnivorous animals with the endearing facial masks are found throughout Southern Canada. Because they chow down on anything edible in trash or compost heaps, they thrive in many urban areas.

Toronto and its surrounding areas are considered one of the most raccoon-riddled parts of the continent. Residents often feel they're under siege by the creatures, exacerbated by a local newspaper columnist who last year wrongly wrote that there were now 250,000 raccoons per square kilometre - which, given Toronto's size, would mean the critters outnumbered people 64 to one. 

The Toronto Zoo says the number is far smaller: about 230 per square kilometre in urban areas. 

Even so, having thousands of them in a big city amounts to a major nuisance because it means they can visit nearly every home in a given area. And people and raccoons are more or less stuck with each other, since the extreme measure of killing the pests, through poisoning or hunting, is illegal in cities.

Like most homeowners, Mr. Bogojevic had tried various, doomed-to-fail approaches.

At first, he strapped a bungee cord over the lid of his garbage can, a step recommended by the City of Toronto for securing green bins against raccoons. That didn't work. 

Then he piled bricks on top of the can. Another failure. He even tried multiple bungee cords to hold the lid in place, and then added bricks to the lid, but raccoons toppled the container, pried off the lid and strewed garbage around his yard.

His next idea was to start storing trash in his garage, but because he often worked there tinkering with one of his children's go-carts, he got tired of the stench.

"You name it. I did it, like everybody else," says Mr. Bogojevic, who works as a building operator for the city of Burlington.

Some garbage cans have twist-on lids, and the Toronto Humane Society recommends those containers as the best deterrent. The city also has devised extra latches for its green bins, available for $9 apiece. Before moving to Burlington, Mr. Bogojevic lived in Mississauga, where he had a small shed for garbage, another way of keeping the animals at bay.

Bin Solutions, a Toronto-based company, sells sheds to house the unsightly containers for garbage, recycling and compost, and keep them safe from raccoons. The sheds are sized medium to extra large and range from $550 to $1,300.

Struggling with the raccoons in Burlington, Mr. Bogojevic had an inspiration and cut up an old soccer net belonging to one of his children, sewed a band around the base, and popped it over the top of his garbage can. He left the container outside, and the next day he found it had been toppled, but the raccoons hadn't managed to pull the lid off. 

"I was kind of in shock," he says.

After three nights of fooling the raccoons, he figured he was on to something. Fearful that snoopy neighbours or others might steal his idea, he began to put his netted garbage can outside each night after dark, while he tested modifications. Rather than being irked by the raccoons, he was using them as test subjects to help refine his invention.

Through his tinkering, he also made variations capable of fitting over the green bins many municipalities use for kitchen scraps and other organic waste, and blue boxes for recyclables.

The netting seems to work because the raccoons don't realize they can gnaw through it. For those hoping to rid their neighbourhoods of raccoons, the invention falls short, but Mr. Bogojevic is happy he no longer has to clean up his yard after his nightly visitors. They attack his trash cans, but after failing to open them, move on to neighbours where the pickings are easier.

"They're still in my backyard," he says, "but they just can't get into my garbage can any more." 
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