June 2002 -
Dealing with Wildlife Pests

By Jack Sprano, Master Gardener

Each year thousands of gardeners endure losses to their gardens from wildlife pests. Some have been so discouraged they have given up gardening while others plot to assassinate the critter. Before you reach for the artillery, here are some guidelines to follow that may help deal with the pest in a less radical way.
The first step is to identify the culprit. Look for tracks or teeth marks. One way to check for tracks is to spread flour or powder around the area.
Try to determine how the animal got access to your plantings. Did it dig, climb, jump, or fly into your garden.
Next determine what damage was done and determine approximate time of day. Check for point of entry and assess what was and was not damaged.
Estimate percent of the plants damaged. Was it your entire rose collection or just a couple of day lilies?
Once you have determined that you must do something it is time to evaluate your alternatives. You can try deterrence, removal or lethal control.
I have included some Web sites at the end of this article where you can find advice on specific animals.
Deterrence involves ways to make it difficult for the animal to repeat the attack on your plants. These techniques include:
-Exclusion – install an obstacle such as a fence.
Be sure to put a portion below ground to keep “diggers” out.
-Eliminate Cause – eliminate why the animal is doing this damage.
Skunks for example, will tear up large areas of your lawn looking for grubs. Focus on eliminating the grubs and the skunk will go elsewhere.
-Distraction – can you set out something more desirable?
Putting target plantings like lettuce plants at the edge of your yard can draw pests away from your garden.
-Harassment – this involves making the animal very uncomfortable.
Many animals eventually adapt to this approach but the garden magazines are full of neat things you can buy to ward off pests.
-Repellents – put something near or on the plant that the animal doesn’t like.
I clip small tubes of crushed garlic to my apple trees to ward of a host of pests.
-Introduce Predators – Your pet can earn its keep by guarding the yard.
My two Labs ‘Lucy’ and ‘Rosie’ are my best deterrent … when they are awake that is.
Removal can be limited. According to Massachusetts state law you cannot move wildlife off your property. Many times they will come back anyway, more importantly, you could be spreading diseases such as rabies. Those Have-a-Heart traps can still be useful however. You can use them to get the animal out of your garden and then, after you have blocked off its access path, you can release it in another part of your property.  You can also remove the animal’s habitat by removing brush and debris, or filling in holes.
Finally if all else fails you may need to use lethal control. Once you have determined to go forward, you can employ a variety of methods, such as poisons, lethal traps or shooting. They all have their limits however and a lot depends on what animal is doing the damage and how easy it is to discriminate from any unintended victims like your neighbor’s pet.
A property owner can destroy an animal that is damaging their property. First however, you should check the law. Here are just a few of the things you should know:
- The mere presence of an animal on your property is not damage.
- If you plan to use a firearm it will require a Firearm ID card.
- You can’t ask a friend to do it for you. Only a member of your immediate family, a tenant, or an employee can apply lethal controls.
- Also if you use a firearm, you can’t discharge it within 500 feet of an occupied dwelling without permission, so you may have to get your neighbors to go along with this.
- The destruction of some animals (like deer) is controlled by statute. If you kill a controlled animal on your property you can’t keep it. You must turn it over to a Mass Wildlife agent.
The state does license Problem Animal Control agents who are trained to dispose of most problem animals and for a fee will destroy the wildlife pest. You can find a list of PAC agents at the Mass Wildlife web site at
www.state.ma.us/dfwele/dfw/Dfw_pac.htm
Now you are ready to determine your Loss Threshold.
Ask These Questions:
- How substantial is the damage?
- How difficult will it be to solve the problem?
- How much will it cost?
- Can I live with the consequences?
Your Loss Threshold is equal to the cost (in dollars or esthetic value) of the damage versus what it will cost to correct the problem. For example, if rabbits are using your garden as a salad bar then you may want to invest it some fencing to keep them out. If however, you notice a couple of nibbles on one or two plants, why bother.
For more information on this topic and information on how best to deal with specific pests, try these Web sites:
Mass Wildlife
http://www.state.ma.us/dfwele/dfw/
Wildlife Solutions
http://www.wildlifesolutions.com
North Carolina State University Extension
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/nreos/wild/wildlife/prevent.html
Internet Center For Wildlife Damage
wildlifedamage.unl.edu/
University Of Nebraska Extension
www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/wildlife/
USDA Wildlife Damage Links
www.aphis.usda.gov/ws/nwrc/index.html