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"At Issue" - Wildlife "Control"
Effective & Humane Wildlife Management The first step in learning to live with wildlife is to understand that animals are instinctively driven to satisfy their 4 basics of life; territory, shelter, food & water. Unfortunately, in pursuing these necessities they sometimes interfere with our way of life by causing; structural damage, health concerns, noises, odours and anxiety. To maintain a positive relationship with our urban wildlife, we need to appropriately control their access to shelter and food opportunities within our communities. When animals already occupy a den site, they are constantly looking for & "creating" backup nesting areas. To reduce conflicts, a property and building inspection should be conducted to identify what wildlife attractions exist and what prevention measures should be implemented. Is food easily accessible? Occupants should be advised not to feed wildlife since it attracts raccoons, squirrels, skunks, birds, rats and mice. Of even greater concern are the documented cases where the feeding of one species has attracted another species, such as coyotes. Not to be neglected, green bins, garbage cans and dumpsters containing food refuse must be locked shut or kept indoors until the morning of garbage pickup. Feeding wildlife causes a host of problems for them AND for us. Will trees or vines allow animals access to roof? To prevent animals from gaining easy access to the roof, all tree limbs should be cut back 3 meters from the roof edge. While raccoons cannot jump, squirrels are acrobats and are able to leap a horizontal distance of approximately 2 meters. As to vines, they need to be trimmed to 1.5 meters below the overhang. Implementing this approach will eliminate the most common access. Can animals get underneath porches, decks or sheds? Skunks, incapable of climbing, dig under structures that sit directly on the ground. While raccoons prefer to live in attics from the fall to early summer, they may move to ground level sturctures when the attic spaces over-heat. To prevent wildlife from getting under a structure requires digging a trench around the entire perimeter, fastening galvanized screen in an "L" shape configuration and then back-filling the trench. Are the stove and bathroom exhaust vents protected? Mostly birds and the occasional squirrel will use wall vents as ready-made nesting boxes. The existing plastic vent cover presents no obstacle whatsoever against animals seeking entry. An easy solution to prevent these intrusions is to fasten galvanized screen on top of the plastic vent cover. The screen installation must NOT interfere with the normal functioning of the vent flaps. And DRYER VENTS should NOT be screened as this would cause the accumulation of lint against the screen and inside the pipe, thus presenting a fire hazard. How often are roof-tops inspected? Strong winds, freezing and hot temperatures, heavy rain and snow all take their toll on roofs. Furthermore, animals looking for den sites will break off shingles resulting in exposing roof boards to the elements. Conducting a minimum of two inspections per year will reveal areas where roof repair is needed. Wildlife has the innate ability to locate and exploit areas where damage is undetected and water has caused the rotting of roof and fascia boards. In this context, eaves-troughs need to be cleaned before winter to assure unimpeded water flow away from the building. Are roof vents, plumbing mats and chimneys animal-proof? These structural components were strictly developed from a functional perspective. Even today, animal prevention is not a vital part of their design. Therefore, to make them animal proof they need to be reinforced with galvanized screen covers. The pressing need to secure these components cannot be over emphasized - animals identify them as an easy point of entry. IN SHORT:
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