Ch 5: Step two: Choose management options

What do most wildlife seek when they invade our spaces? Food and shelter, especially safe places to raise their young. They may also be enticed by water and places to just hang out or loaf.

If you can remove those enticements or change them so they're not as appealing as they were before, you may be able to solve the problem for good. This approach is known as "habitat modification." Although it's sometimes more expensive up front, the long-term payoff is usually good because this gets at the root of the problem. Sure, you can just trap and remove an animal. Year after year after year... that adds up.

There are scientists and NWCOs who believe that some animals, such as raccoons, learn to recognize a good deal. Once a nuisance, always a nuisance, they say. It's even possible that the young of a female who has such habits learn to take advantage of the riches we provide because of their experiences with their mother. If true, then the quick-fix approach could be even more costly than we imagine.

	People unintentionally feed wildlife. Spilled bird seed, pet food left in dishes outdoors, and garbage can become buffets for a variety of wildlife from rodents, bears, foxes, raccoons, to skunks. When people intentionally feed wildlife, they can cause or worsen other problems. The gulls shown in the parking lot below may well mob people who try to feed they. Their droppings may foul cars.

Some of the most profound ways to modify a habitat may only involve persuading people to change their habits. For example, here's a no-brainer for customers annoyed by bears that raid the bird feeder during the late spring and summer: don't feed the birds during those seasons! Feed birds only during the winter, problem solved.

More examples: raccoons tipping over the garbage cans and making a mess? Store the cans in a protected area. Or hang the cans on a hook above ground so they can't be tipped over (make sure the coons can't climb up the pole or wall to reach the garbage can). If possible, put the trash out right before it's due to be collected. Has the compost heap turned into a restaurant for skunks, opossums, rats, and raccoons? Install an animal-proof compost bin (For information, consult Cooperative Extension's "Master Gardener" program). You'll find a host of suggestions in each of the species accounts.

Many wildlife species prefer to use the same path to food, shelter, water, and loafing areas. Can you block that route, or make it unpleasant? Canada geese, for example, love mowed grass. Let the grass bordering the pond grow longer to discourage the geese from using the site. Eliminate ponds from malls and business parks, and you can really make them miserable. This general idea works for many species. If a tree branch overhangs a roof, trim it 8–10 ft. away, and the most acrobatic squirrel won't be able to make the leap anymore.

Other ways to change the conditions of the habitat may require efforts on a grander scale. Take a few tips from farmers, who combat pests by tilling, rotating crops, controlling water levels, and heating up the soil. Can you change the temperature, water level, or amount of light that reaches an area? Bats like warm, dark places. If they're roosting behind shutters, put a block between the shutter and the siding. This holds the shutters further away from the wall and exposes the bats to drafts and more light. That might convince them to move on.

If wildlife dine on flowers and shrubs, consider switching to plant varieties that they don't find as tasty. For a list of plants that are more resistant to deer, see the Cornell fact sheet, Resistance of Woody Ornamental Plants to Deer Damage (citation in resource section).

Next Section (Option: Scare the nuisance animal away)