Dealing Neighborhood Pests Around Your New Home

As the weather becomes cooler, the abundance of food for wildlife to munch on becomes less prevalent. As the seasons change you can expect more wildlife to end up in your new backyard looking for snacks or shelter; if you want to keep the damage to a minimum you will need to prepare your yard for the invasion.

The main problems with wildlife in your yard will likely be the destruction that animals can cause while they try to eat everything edible they can find in your yard and the damage they cause while they try to nest in your house and yard.

Animals like deer will merely try to eat everything growing in your yard; deer will eat just about any kind of plant if they’re hungry, not just their favourites. Luckily enough though, deer won’t build a nest in your home or yard but they will tramp through it, breaking plants in the process as they go. Some home owners deal with the deer problem by planting only trees and bushes that deer don’t prefer to eat but in the winter months when food is scarcer they are likely to eat even plants they don’t like. It is sometimes more effective to fence your yard so that deer can’t travel through it; remember though that deer can jump really high so your backyard fence will need to be at least eight feet high.

Raccoons will also traipse through your yard in search of a meal when the weather turns cooler or if they’ve been encultured to eating people food. Raccoons will not, as deer do, just eat the plants growing in your yard however; raccoons will munch on pet food that you leave out for your dog or cat, garbage, and scraps put in the compost. The best way to combat this is by not feeding your pets outside, making sure that your garbage cans are well sealed, and covering up anything that you throw in the compost with soil or a compost cover. To keep raccoons from nesting in your house, make sure that there aren’t any open areas that they can climb into; make sure that all the vents are secure and that your chimney has a grate overtop to keep them out. Raccoons can be relocated by professionals if need be.

Squirrels are really like a very small hybrid of deer and raccoons in their behaviour and destructible natures though thankfully they don’t physically resemble a Frankenstein mishmash of these two animals. Squirrels will eat the plants in your yard and also build nests in your attic, walls, and outside walls if they can get inside. Luckily enough they don’t also eat garbage the way that raccoons will and they won’t attack your cats. The best way to deal with squirrels is to relocate them if you find that they’re causing problems in your yard; contact a professional for help.

No matter what the type of animal that is causing problems in your new yard, there are strategies that can help you deal with the little (and not so little) pests; when looking for plants that these four legged pests will be less likely to snack on, contact your local nursery and for pest removal advice, your local yellow pages should provide some good options for you as well.