Animals

Animals

The primary objective of any control program should be to reduce damage in a practical, humane and environmentally acceptable manner. If you base control methods on the habits and biology of the animals causing damage, your efforts will be more effective and will serve to maximize safety to the environment, humans and other animals.

A key to controlling wildlife damage is prompt and accurate determination of which animal is causing the damage. Even someone with no training or experience can often identify the pest by thoroughly examining the damaged area. Because feeding indications of many wildlife species are similar, other signs – such as droppings, tracks, burrows, nests or food caches – are usually needed to make a positive species identification.

After you properly identify the wildlife pest, you can choose control methods appropriate to the animal species involved. Improper control methods may harm but not kill the animal, causing it to become leery of those and other methods in the future. For example, using traps and poison baits improperly or in the wrong situation may teach the animal that the control method is harmful. This may make the animal difficult to control later, even with the correct method. Four steps lead to a successful nuisance wildlife control program:

	Correctly identify the species causing the problem.
	Alter the habitat, if possible, to make the area less attractive to the wildlife pest.
	Use a control method appropriate to the location, time of year, and other environmental conditions.
	Monitor the site for re-infestation in order to determine if additional control is necessary.

The most commonly used methods for controlling nuisance wildlife around homes and gardens include exclusion, habitat modification, repellents, toxic baits, glue boards, traps and frightening.

Some of the information on this website is Adapted from the Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage, 1994. http://www.icwdm.org