Fixit: Raccoons have made their deck a latrine

Q Raccoons are leaving droppings at the end of our deck steps. What can we do about it?

A They've turned your deck into a raccoon latrine. Health officials recommend that you clean up any waste promptly and bury or burn the feces. Raccoon feces can harbor organisms and, if left exposed, pose a hazard to humans and wildlife. Remove piles with a shovel, place in a plastic bag and then dispose of it in the garbage. Wear gloves. Clean the area with bleach to remove the odor and discourage the raccoons from returning.

A raccoon latrine means the animal is nesting nearby. Try locating the nest and, if it's on your property, making the area less hospitable. If possible, place rags soaked with dog urine (or packaged urine products used by hunters) near the nest.

Meanwhile, do not let pet dogs or cats out at night. A mother raccoon will not move her cubs if there's a chance of encountering another animal.

If there are young in the nest, wait as long as possible before you attempt eviction. Raccoons won't cause structural damage, and relocating a nest is hard on cubs younger than 8 weeks old.

If the nest is in your chimney, call a pest control company that specializes in raccoon removal and ask for humane removal. Do not start a fire.

For more information on raccoons, contact the Wildlife Information Service at the University of Minnesota's Bell Museum, 612-624-1374.

A Yes, water can come from the ground naturally carbonated. If aquifers are rich in carbonate, they can produce bubbly water at wells or springs.

Relatively high pressure in limestone or coal aquifers traps the gas in the water. When the water is removed from the pressure and exposed to the atmosphere, it will release gas bubbles.

Water rich in carbonate has been sampled from deep wells in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho, where there are limestone and coal aquifers. Wells drilled in deep coal aquifers (more than 600 feet deep) in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia also have produced carbonated water. Such water may be found in other parts of North America where there are deep coal or limestone rock formations, but none have been found in Minnesota.