Locking City of Austin trash cans (gross) (Atlanta: neighborhood, live)

[CptnRn]

Does anyone have any good ideas how to do this? Locking City of Austin trash cans?

There is no obvious way to accomplish it with the trash cans they provide. Perhaps I could bolt a padolock hasp on if I tried. But I'm wondering if there is a better way. Drilling a hole thru the lip and installing a carabiner to it? I don't know.



I'm afraid the lids are so flexible the little buggers (racoons) would still get in.

Right now I have a large concrete paver sitting on top to keep the racoons out. Without that, they get into the trash, tearing the bags open, then the flies get in and I find huge swarms of fly larva climbing up the sides of the trash can. They are really, really gross. And it stinks from all the food the racoons spread around.

I think racoons are really cute, but these little buggers are a pain in the buttocks.

[atxcio]

I (and many of my neighbors) use bungie cords. Most of the cans will have at least some opening on the top you can hook into, but you can always drill a hole. Then loop the bungie around the metal rod in the front. Works like a charm.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by atxcio

I (and many of my neighbors) use bungie cords. Most of the cans will have at least some opening on the top you can hook into, but you can always drill a hole. Then loop the bungie around the metal rod in the front. Works like a charm.

That is an excellent idea, I would have to drill a few holes, but it is very promising. Thanks

Amazing that the City requires everyone to use a trash can that is hard to latch or lock closed!!!

[atxcio]

You know, an elegant solution might be magnets. I suspect you could glue a series of magnets along the top, to provide just enough resistance that the critters wouldn't be able to open it. Yet it would open normally by a human or when turned upside down (due to the weight of the trash). hmm.

Because the one thing about the bungie (or any lock) solution is you have to take it off when putting trash in, or when you leave it out on the curb.

[10scoachrick]

I have Velcro on ours just to keep the wind from blowing the lid up...don't think that would stop an enterprising raccoon, however.

Used a bungee cord back in Atlanta...worked great for the critters AND the garbage dude who actually PICKED UP the garbage! Ah, the good old days!

[TexasHorseLady]

We used bungie cords on the top of trash cans that we stored feed in, to keep the raccoons out. Then the raccoons learned how to undo the bungie cords. (Took them a little less than a week.)

So we escalated. And escalated, each time they figured out the previous addition to the connection.

Eventually, we had this huge tower of "stuff" on top of the can - my husband said he was doing a science experiment, breeding smarter raccoons. Frankly, when we wipe ourselves out, the raccoons and the cockroaches are going to take over the world, is my theory.

Then we got the dogs. No more problem.

[atxcio]

The raccoons figured out how to undo the bungie cords? Man, I'm glad that knowledge hasn't made it's way to the critters of our neighborhood yet... or maybe they just figure they can move on to a nearby neighbor that doesn't have a bungied can.

[TexasHorseLady]

Yes, they absolutely did. First we had one bungie cord. Then we had two, of differing kinds of fasteners. Then three. Then the three bungie cords and some other kind of fastener. Then something stacked on top of the bungie cords and other kind of fastener, and then something stacked on top of that, and they managed to figure out and get through everything sooner or later.

When the big blue trash cans first came out, the City assured us that they were critter proof. (We lived in Austin, Barton Hills, at the time, just off the Greenbelt, so critters were a given.) We laughed, but for the first week they were. Then, one night, our next door neighbor, whose bedroom window was right next to his drive and across the drive from his trash can, heard noise outside. He peeked out the window, and saw three raccoons, one on top of the other, with the one on top lifting up the lid of the trashcan and grabbing and throwing stuff out just before hopping inside and throwing stuff out. The three raccoons were cooperating to get the goodies in the trash can.

Like I said, they're going to run the world when we're gone.