Generally speaking, when wild creatures are labeled "problem wildlife," that can usually be translated to mean that

they are refusing to recognize human rules and boundaries.

e have a tendency to fall back into the old doctrine of "divine destiny," only now our frontiers are the lawns of suburbia, our railroads have become vast networks of paved highways, and what we are conquering are native plants and animals. It should come as no surprise that, after we have destroyed most of the habitat and many of the natural predators, wildlife is trying to survive by showing up in our backyards. Even for those of us who welcome such visitors, there can be concerns as we learn to live together. It is the goal of WindStar Wildlife Institute to encourage people to learn more about the wild inhabitants of their property, because the more we know, the more we can understand their needs and anticipate their behavior. Then, by providing suitable alternatives, we can lessen any negative impact from either side. Every part of the country has its own wildlife concerns, depending on such factors as climate, concentration of houses, available water, local flora, and even altitude. In this pamphlet we cant cover all the possible animal visitors that may appear on your property, but all wildlife shares the same need for food, water, cover, and space. If there is a shortage of natural food and you put out

Solving Wildlife Problems

For more nature habitat information Visit these helpful websites: A Plant's Home A Bird's Home A Homesteader's Home

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nourishment for your household pet, you can be sure that other animals will show up to share the bounty. Putting the food out of sight" in a garage, for example, will not deter an animal focused on survival. I did that once for our cats when we had to be away for a weekend. Leaving the door open for them also meant leaving it open for the raccoon and opossum who were both in residence when I returned! The first rule for not turning a wild animal into a nuisance is not to provide access to any household food products. The flip side of that is that you should provide natural food sources in areas that wildlife can visit without causing any problems for you. There are many good nature field guides which will give you insights into the habits of each creature and what it likes to eat, when it is active, and what type of shelter it prefers. The Cooperative Extension Service, the State Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Agriculture Department all offer fact sheets on a variety of wildlife, and there are also Internet sites for just about every species. When homeowners start trying to follow basic habitat replacement practices, such as planting wildflower areas, letting grasses grow taller, or creating brush piles, the most frequent

concern expressed by people who are less knowledgeable about wildlife is that such habitat will attract rats. Studies have been done to confirm that this simply is not the case (for further details, visit the Weed Laws site listed under Internet Resources). Rats are attracted by food. If you fill your bird feeders with seed that is not completely consumed, and let it accumulate and stay on the ground, then you may indeed attract rats, as well as mice and voles and other wildlife. Naturally planted areas, however, will also provide seed for birds, but they wont attract rodents. Sometimes animals become so used to people and so comfortable around houses that the only solution is to trap them. This should generally only be handled by a professional wearing the proper protective gear. Even something as seemingly safe as cleaning up after mice can result in inhaling the airborne bacteria that cause the dangerous hanta virus. Normally the risks from wild creatures are relatively low, and can be minimized by increasing your knowledge about each species, but it is safer and often required by law to have a licensed professional involved, if the animal must be physically moved.

The best way to prevent wildlife problems inside your home is to take preventive steps before problems ever develop. Be sure that any easy entry points are blocked off. This includes chimneys (there are special caps which let smoke escape but keep birds and raccoons out), open areas under decks or stairs (these can be blocked by lattice screens or wire mesh), or holes under eaves which provide access to the attic (wood or insulation can be used to close these openings). Trash cans should have locking lids, and food should never be left in the open. Most wild animals are creatures of habit, and once they learn that a certain location will provide food or shelter, they are likely to return. From what we are hearing, the animal causing the most concerns in suburbia these days is the Whitetail Deer. This isnt surprising, since a single deer needs to eat more than five lbs. of leaves a day.

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Under normal conditions, deer populations are kept under control by predators and by food supplies. When there is less food, females produce fewer offspring. This is true of many other species as well. Those deer that are weak never get the chance to reproduce because wolves or coyotes kill them. Nature works very effectively when there is no human interference. Today, however, we have removed the natural predators, and even when native food and habitat are scarce, we provide a wealth of alternatives in the form of

landscaped trees and shrubs. It is only natural that the deer are going to take advantage of what is available and easy to find. As individuals, we are generally not in a position to do what should be done: reestablish vast tracts of wilderness inhabited by both prey and predators. However, that doesnt necessarily mean that we cant enjoy landscaping our yards. To protect valuable plantings, you have to study the habits of the deer that visit your property, and know something about deer behavior in general.

Deer follow regular pathways, and will nibble anything that grows along the way. Although there are many lists of plants that are unattractive" to deer, that doesnt mean that they are immune. Deer will taste them, even if they are toxic, and then forget that they didnt like them and will chew on them again. Sometimes they will pull the entire newly-planted shrub out of the ground, tossing it away once they discover that they dont care for the taste. In addition, taste preferences seem to vary from region to region, so that what is not preferred by deer in one state might be a favorite snack in your yard. Notice the location of deer paths and avoid planting anything vulnerable along their route. In general, deer dont like leaves that are fuzzy or plants with strong scents. Some people have had luck with hanging bars of soap or bags of unwashed human hair in plants, or applying the fertilizer Milorganite (which must be reapplied after rain). Other treatments which are sometimes effective are sprays combining water with raw eggs or hot peppers, as well as some commercial preparations. However, fences seems to be the most effective deterrent. Deer can jump very high, but they dont jump wide, and they dont like to jump when they cant see the barrier.

NATIVE PLANTS RESISTANT TO DEER DAMAGE

Perennials Yarrow (Achillea) Milkweeds (Asclepias) Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum) Sneezeweed (Helenium) Goldenrod (Solidago) Ground covers like wild strawberries, May apples, wild ginger, nodding onions Culinary herbs such as sage, tarragon, mint (including Bee Balm) Shrubs Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium) Holly (Ilex) Viburnum Juniper (Juniperus) Trees Paper birch (Betula papyrifera) Bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis) Green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) American sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) Colorado spruce (Picea pungens)

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One WindStar Master Wildlife Habitat Naturalist has had good success with relatively short stakes (about 4' tall) holding up strands of transparent fishing line. The deer know that the fencing" is there but cant see the actual strands well enough to feel safe if they try to jump it. You will need at least two strands, one high enough (3') for the deer to feel when they walk up to it, and one low enough (2') so that fawns cant just duck underneath. Other gardeners who have not wanted to put up really tall fencing (it needs to be at least 8' high to discourage jumping) have found that two shorter fences (4'-5'), with one erected 4 or 5 ft. inside the other, are effective because the deer arent given a convenient place to land. If possible, construct any fencing before doing your planting, so that the animals dont have a chance to realize just how tasty the plants inside really are. Some experts suggest tying white strips of fabric to the fence. When they blow in the wind, they imitate the danger signal of the white raised tail of the deer. If you do opt for taller fencing, it seems to help if it is angled 30 degrees away from the protected area. This makes jumping much harder. Some people choose electric fencing, but that needs to be

carefully considered. It is harder to install, is illegal in some localities, and is a definite risk if there are any children in the area. Solid fences are effective, because deer wont see the plants and wont jump if they dont have a view of whats on the other side. But these are costly and sometimes unsightly, and may be in violation of neighborhood covenants. According to one gardener in New York, music is the answer. He claims that the deer loved classical, but were driven off by country and western. While we are not claiming to favor any style over another, let us know if you experiment and come to any conclusions! Raccoons are cute. They are soft and furry and have sweet faces. They are also very agile and clever, and this can mean problems for the homeowner. The most common complaint is that they are raiding the bird feeders. If allowed to develop a pattern of eating there, they can become very bold and hard to discourage. As soon as you notice a raccoon at the feeder you should move the food, at least temporarily, or stop filling the feeder until the unwelcome visitor stops expecting to find seed there. Suet and hummingbird feeders can be moved to tree branches which are too weak to support the weight of a raccoon.

Sometimes smearing lithium grease on a feeder pole will discourage them, because raccoons dont like the feel of it in their fur. If you get permission to catch one in a humane trap, bait and set it off the ground, perhaps on a picnic table or similar surface, because the bait that you use (dog food, chicken, etc.) will also attract skunks if it is at ground level. Trapping skunks is definitely better left to professionals! Speaking of skunks, they may also appear at your feeders, but only at night. Usually you will get a faint whiff in the morning that lets you know that they were there. If the area is raked clean and the feeders removed for a while, they will usually move on to a different location. Fences also help, because they prefer not to climb. Bury the bottom in the ground so that they cant dig under it. Sometimes moth balls or rags soaked in ammonia will discourage them for a while, but these are usually temporary measures.

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Be sure that garbage cans are tightly covered and that no food products are left where they can be reached. The same advice applies to opossums, but in that case the fencing needs to have an electric wire at the top, because they will climb quite readily. Raccoons have been known to enter dwellings, where they can do considerable damage with their strong teeth and clever hands. Be sure that common entry sites are protected. These include any vents, rotten wood, and chimneys. Females will often raise their young on the fire shelf inside a chimney, but after a few weeks will lead the youngsters out when it is time for weaning, so sometimes patience is the best solution. Try to provide alternative den sites hollow logs or rock piles with large spaces are good situated away from your house. If these are located near a water source, that will be even more appealing to the raccoon. You may also suffer raccoon damage to your garden, chicken population, or nesting birds. Electric fences work fairly well in such cases. If a small stand of corn is under attack, wrap individual ears with filament tape or cover them with plastic bags. Squirrels are either loved or hated by homeowners. They are cute, energetic, and entertaining. They can also create havoc when they get inside an attic, and often chew the covering off wires, sometimes causing serious fires. In addition to closing the common access sites, trim tree branches so that they are 8'-12' from the roof. To keep squirrels from climbing power poles or isolated trees, use a 2'-3' metal collar (with springs for growth if on a tree) installed about 6' off the ground. To protect outside wires, slit a 2'-3' piece of lightweight plastic pipe and slip it over the strands. The squirrels will fall off when the pipe spins under their weight. Squirrels raid bird feeders mercilessly. There are a number of baffles and special squirrelproof" feeders on the market, most of which can eventually be outsmarted. The most effective seems to be the type with a counter-weighted bar which closes over the seed when anything heavier than a small bird lands on it. Some nature lovers offer preferred food such as corn or

peanuts in a location removed from the bird feeding area and find that the squirrels are happy to partake of a better meal elsewhere. Growing nut trees provides a source of their favorite foods as well as beauty for your yard. Adding some squirrel nesting boxes can make this alternative area even more attractive to them. Although relatively rare, some areas of the country are experiencing problems with bears interacting with humans, especially as development erodes the large expanses of habitat that they need for survival. The main thing to remember is that bears locate food by scent. Keep any food or garbage completely enclosed and covered tightly. If they are attacking apiaries, electric fences around the bee hives are the best protection. You may glance at your lawn one day and find that it is looking rather lumpy" due to the raised tunnels created by moles. Although they eat more than their weight every day in grubs, worms and harmful insects, they can also damage plants with their constant burrowing. Incredibly, if the soil isnt too hard, moles can create shallow tunnels at a rate of a foot per minute! Sometimes putting mothballs into the tunnels will encourage them to move elsewhere.

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A rather charming folk remedy involves sinking empty bottles into the ground in the tunnel area, with the necks sticking up a few inches. The wind whistling in the bottles is reported to disturb the moles enough to cause them to leave. Because they create visible mounds, moles are sometimes unfairly blamed for plant damage which is actually done by voles or shrews, or one of the other small creatures that uses the mole tunnels for easy access to the roots and tubers on which they feed. They can also harm aboveground shrubs and other plants. Wire mesh around trees, embedded about 3" into the soil and rising above normal snow depth, will prevent some of the potential damage. Since they prefer tall grasses as their habitat, keep unmowed areas at a distance from cultivated gardens. When using mulch, keep it no deeper than 1"3". You may have a few more weeds, but it will make a less attractive habitat for voles. Voles make up the largest part of the diet of many predators, including owls, foxes, and snakes. If you provide habitat that these predators favor, they will help to keep the rodent population under control. Some people even provide perches for hawks, using an 8'10' pole with a 2'-3' crossbar, to encourage them to hunt in a desired area. Another potential threat to garden plants is the woodchuck. You may become aware of the presence of one of these ground hogs" when you come out one morning to enjoy your flower bed and find the blossoms neatly removed from each plant, leaving a garden of stems. Sometimes their underground burrows can also cause problems. Fences can help keep them out of cultivated areas, but they need to be heavy, at least 3' tall, and buried a minimum of 12" under the ground. Who doesnt love a sweet, furry rabbit. Well, gardeners trying to save their crops are often not too fond of them. Fencing is usually effective. Planting things that they dont like, such as onions and foxglove, will sometimes keep them out, assuming that there are alternate food sources available.

Providing good food and habitat away from your garden plot is the easiest way to save your plants. They love dill, so a nice plot of those herbs will attract them to another part of the yard. Brush piles or thickets should be at least 20 ft. wide if they are to provide protection from predators. Planting something like blackberry bushes will give them cover and will give you a delicious crop. Leaving an unmowed strip of land along the edge of the thicket will provide the rabbits with a healthy food supply. This can become a transition zone between your property edges (where you plant native trees and shrubs and wildflowers, and where you put brush piles, snags and rock piles) and your cultivated yard (including your lawn and garden plots). Rabbits dont like to cross large, unprotected areas, so having nice rabbit habitat on one side of your lawn and your garden on the other side should keep the two nicely separated. Foxes are primarily a threat to poultry, waterfowl, and small animals. They will be noticed especially in the spring, when the parents are hunting food for their young. Exclusion fences like the one for woodchucks are generally effective if topped with electric or net wire.

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Since even very small openings can serve as entryways, the process may take several weeks as you continue to watch for those individuals which have found a way to return. Put some bat houses in your yard, giving the animals an alternative place to roost away from the house, yet keeping them in the area to eat the mosquitoes. If possible, put the bat house on a post a few hundred feet away from the attic, in a very hot location, and erect it before July. When you seal your house in the winter, the bats will already be familiar with the bat house and will use it when they return in the spring and find that their old haunts are no longer accessible. Another creature that is under-appreciated and gets a lot of bad press is the snake. Many people have what seems to be almost a genetic aversion to them, regardless of whether or not theyre a poisonous variety. Snakes avoid, rather than attack humans, and they consume large numbers of rodents and insects, helping to keep their populations under control. Knowing the type of conditions that attract snakes allows you to provide similar habitat in locations that are acceptable. Usually when they live near a house they can be

A naturalized area, rich in voles and other small creatures, will give foxes an alternative to raiding the chicken coop. Despite their less-thanfavorable reputation in past years, people are finally beginning to realize the value of attracting bats. In addition to being unique (they are the only flying mammals in the world), they are a wonderful natural defense against pesky insects, including mosquitoes. They will each eat more than 500 flying insects per hour! Unfortunately, most of their preferred roosting places caves, old barns, trees with loose bark have been destroyed by development. Problems arise when they decide to roost inside a house, most commonly in an attic. Their droppings (guano) have a terrible odor and can be hazardous if they come in contact with moist soil because they can harbor the histoplasmosis virus.

There is some danger of rabies, but only if you actually come in contact with an infected bat. The easiest way to get them out of the house is to turn on a light and open all the doors and windows after dark. There are also devices which funnel the bats outside when they leave to eat, then wont let them return, but even dimesized holes must be sealed or they will be able to re-enter the dwelling. Closing openings can be done with caulk, screens, insulation, or flashing. Dont seal up the roosting space between April and August, or you might trap the flightless offspring inside. The best time to bat-proof your house is in November and December. By then the young bats have started flying, and winter roosting hasnt begun. Wait until after dark, when the bats will be out feeding.

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found in a wood pile, gardens with heavy mulch, junk-filled basements or garages, or under tight shrubs up close to foundations. Keep the close-in area free of cover like that, while replacing it with rock and brush piles in a more distant location, and you will be able to coexist more happily on the same property. Sealing up entry holes will keep snakes out of your house. There are snake-proof fences, but they are quite expensive and are generally used only when there is a high danger from poisonous snakes. Be sure that you arent leaving out food or anything else that will attract rodents, which will in turn attract snakes. Using piles of damp burlap bags or towels to attract them, then scooping them up with a shovel during midday when they are less active, is a fairly easy way to relocate snakes. Although overlooked by many as a problem, European house sparrows (which are actually a type of finch) and European starlings are having negative effects on native bird populations. Since they are non-native species (the starlings having been brought here in a misguided attempt to increase public awareness of Shakespeare by introducing all the birds from that authors writings, and the sparrows as a form of insect control), they are not legally protected in North America.

You may find them to be a problem at bird feeders where they arrive in large numbers, displacing native songbirds. They also take over nesting sites, often killing both the parents and chicks of the native birds. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recommends house sparrow brackets" to discourage them from visiting feeders. Encircling the feeder with monofilament line seems to disrupt them without interfering with other species. Avoid serving millet and bread crumbs to house sparrows, and reduce the length of feeder perches to 1/4" to make it hard for them to feed. Starlings can be discouraged by not offering corn, suet, or peanut butter, which are their preferred foods. Although starlings are too large to enter bluebird and purple martin houses, house sparrows do so regularly, and it is recommended that you remove and destroy their nests to give the native birds a better chance of survival. Plans for traps for house sparrows and starlings can be found at several Internet sources (see page 10). If birds are eating your fruit crop, you can stretch black thread through tree branches, making it hard for the birds to navigate, or cover the plants with bird netting. If you decide

to try a scarecrow to protect grain crops, red has been found to be the most effective color for its clothing. Folk wisdom suggests hanging glass wind chimes in the area. The birds are supposed to dislike the sound of glass hitting glass. Remember, however, that birds are also eating lots of harmful insects in your lawn, garden, and shrubs, so you will come out ahead if you provide appropriate native food plants, water, and nesting sites for them, encouraging them to remain in your yard. Although it is relatively rare, sometimes woodpeckers become pests because they decide to peck into your house rather than into trees. Generally they are trying to create a nest cavity or to find insects to eat. Between the explosion of land development and our desire to have tidy yards, there are

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sometimes few dead trees around for them. If woodpeckers have chosen an unacceptable place to peck, the easiest solution is to put plastic bird netting over that area, secured so that its tight enough that they cant get behind it. Aluminum flashing or wire mesh are other suggestions. Some species will use appropriate nest boxes, but dead trees (also known as "snags") are the most attractive temptation. If you have a dead tree on your property, leave it in place. If its in an unsafe location, chop it down and move it to a better spot, perhaps anchoring it to another tree. Canada geese are not generally a problem for the average homeowner, since flocks prefer larger expanses of grass and water than are found in the typical yard. If you do attract these handsome birds, one pair will

generally claim a small pond as its territory and will defend it from any other individuals. Once the young are hatched, the parents will instinctively march them overland to another body of water for safety. Problems usually only occur if supplemental food is being provided for the geese, causing them to give up their instinctive migration pattern. Letting grasses grow longer, planting alternatives to turf grass, and installing hedgerows as barriers to landing are techniques that sometimes discourage geese. If large flocks are damaging crops, you can offer alternate food sources by planting lure crops in another area. Farmers can apply for surplus grain from the Commodity Credit Corporation for this purpose. To protect ponds, mow to the waters edge to eliminate cover, install a 3' poultry fence around the water, create a grid of

monofilament line across small ponds, or frighten the geese away with anchored helium balloons or strips of red and silver mylar ribbon. Although we have been focusing on wildlife," it should be mentioned that one of the greatest nuisance animals" is the popular house cat. They are a huge problem in this country, taking an enormous toll on birds and small mammals such as voles and chipmunks. In addition to the direct losses, they are killing the basic food sources of larger wildlife, such as foxes and owls, which are already suffering from reduced habitat. Bells on collars are usually not effective. Surrounding bird feeders with wire mesh can reduce losses, but the best treatment is for cats to be kept indoors. Having read all of the above information, you may believe that you are going to walk out the door and find your yard and home under siege from all manner of harmful and aggressive wildlife! This is certainly not the case. Generally speaking, if you work toward preventing access to your home and provide natural planting areas on your property, the wildlife that you attract will bring you hours of enjoyment, and you will be contributing to the protection of biodiversity.

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RESOURCES
Internet
s

s s

s s

http://fur-harvester-network.hypermart.net/articles/ vantassel.htm (good article on living with wildlife) http://www.bird-x.com (products sold to control birds) http://www.bugspray.com/articles98/birds.html (good articles; products to control various nuisance creatures) http://mgfx.com/pve (source of written material and videos for pest control) http://www.crittercontrol.com/animals.htm (fact sheets on raccoons, moles, skunks, squirrels, and bats; links to other animal-related sites) http://www.batmanagement.com (bat management and conservation; links; do-it-yourself tips) http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/mod03/01701331.html (Suggestions for getting rid of house sparrows. Not for the squeamish!) http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca/agdex/600/8500005.html (house sparrow controls) http://www.blackpool.net/www/sbwalsh/pests.htm (Information on various pests." Although largely negative about their presence, it gives good basic information about each species. Does not offer solutions.) http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/champaign/ag/csl980513.html (some prevention suggestions) http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/conmag/1996/dec/ 2.html (background on the house sparrow and starling problem) http://batbox.org (lots of information on building a bat house; links to other sites) http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/greenacres/weedlaws/index.html (Weed Laws from the EPA; good information on natural landscaping)

This article was written by Maryland Master Wildlife Habitat Naturalist Cathy Gilleland. For more information or for the name of a Master Wildlife Habitat Naturalist in your area, please contact: WindStar Wildlife Institute

Books A Guide to Rabbit-Proof Gardening, Janet Thomson s Gardening in Deer Country, Vincent Drzewucki, Jr. s Deer Proofing Your Yard and Garden, Rhonda Massingham s Wild About Birds, Carrol Henderson, Minnesota Department of s Natural Resources Bat House Builders Handbook, Bat Conservation International s Beastly Abodes: Homes for Birds, Bats, Butterflies and Other s Backyard Wildlife, Bobbe Needham Woodworking for Wildlife: Homes for Birds and Mammals, s Carrol Henderson, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

E-mail: wildlife@windstar.org http://www.windstar.org

WindStar Wildlife Institute is a national, non-profit, conservation organization whose mission is to help individuals and families establish or improve the wildlife habitat on their properties. Photography by Cathy Gilleland.

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