Wildlife Damage Prevention and
Control Strategies
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
Rutgers University’s Snyder Farm-Center for Wildlife
Damage Control
Keys to Success
•
Identify species causing damage
•
Develop a wildlife damage management plan
Keys to Success
•
Integrated approach
–
randomness
–
diversity
Deer Ecology
•
Habitat
– Mixed woods, fields brushy areas
•
Home range
– 0.5 to 3 square miles
•
Food habits
Identifying Deer Damage
•
Browse damage
•
Buck rub
•
Trampled or flattened vegetation
Hunting
•
Most efficient and cost-effective control method
•
Important to harvest the proper ratio
bucks:does
•
Can generate additional income from leasing
land
– Liability insurance
Legalities of Deer Control
•
Seasons and bag limits set by NJDFW
•
Community-based deer management
Fencing
•
Control or preventative method
•
Portable, temporary, and permanent
•
Inexpensive ($0.12/ft) to expensive ($8.00/ft)
Repellents
•
Contact vs. area
•
Intended to reduce-not eliminate-wildlife damage
•
Intended primarily for ornamentals, garden, etc…
Repellents
•
Variable effectiveness
– (wildlife density, precipitation, new growth)
•
Costly ($17.00-$200.00/gallon)
Deer-resistant Plants
•
Variable success
•
Use as a general guide
Goose Ecology
•
Habitat
– Lakes, ponds, bays, fields, parks, yards
•
Home range
– Migratory or resident
•
Food habits
Identifying Goose Damage
• Grazing damage
• Fecal load
• Water contamination
• Physical presence
Goose Control
• Hunting
Legalities of Goose Control
•
Resident and migratory Canada geese
•
Seasons and bag limits set by USFWS
Exclusion Techniques
• Fencing around water can prevent geese from landing on water and walking on land
– $150.00 per 500 feet
• Overhead grids (mylar tape, fishing line, wire) can deter geese from landing on water or fields
– $8.00-$700.00 per 500 feet
• Netting can protect high value crops
Frightening Devices
• Pyrotechniques (propane cannons, bangers, screamers)
Frightening Devices
• Balloons and kites (mylar, eye-scare, avikite, silhouettes)
Frightening Devices
• Visual deterrents (flagging, owls, dead goose decoys, scare crows)
Frightening Devices
• Miscellaneous (strobe lights, distress calls, audio deterrents, dogs)
Repellents
• Taste vs. visual
• Applied to vegetation and water
• Liquid or aerosol
Groundhog Ecology
•
Habita
t– Woods, meadows, fields, landscaped areas
•
Home range
– 0.5-0.75 acres
•
Food habits
Identifying Groundhog Damage
•
Browse damage
– Circular to semi-circular pattern
– Typically eat vegetation to ground level
– Gnaw or claw woody vegetation
• Burrowing damage
– 1 to 1.5 foot diameter hole
– Mound of dirt near entrance
•
Physical presence
Legalities of Ground Hog Control
•
May kill ground hogs any time damage occurs
•
Legal to use
– Shotguns 10 ga. Or smaller
– Bow
– Centerfire/rimfire rifle
Ground Hog Control
•
Shooting
•
Fumigants (carbon monoxide, aluminum
phosphide)
– Gas cartridges present a potential fire hazard
– Aluminum phosphide is a registered use pesticide
– Aluminum phosphide for outdoor use on noncropland/orchards
Ground Hog Control
•
Woven wire fencing
– Should be at least 3 feet high and buried 10-12 inches deep
– Bend bottom and top of fence outward
•
Electric fencing
•
Trapping
– Only live traps legal in NJ
Rabbit Ecology
•
Habitat
– Brushy areas, old fields, woods, landscaped areas
•
Home range
– 1 to 14 acres (5 acres average)
•
Food habits
– Grasses, flowers, forbs, fruits, berries, vegetables, woody vegetation
Identifying Rabbit Damage
•
Vegetation cleanly snipped at 45
oangle
•
Woody vegetation may be girdled
•
Bark may be gnawed
Rabbit Damage Prevention and Control
•
Exclusion
–
Fencing
• 2 foot high non-plastic material
• 1 inch or smaller mesh
–
Tree guards
• Hardware cloth
• 0.25-0.75 inch mesh
Rabbit Damage Prevention and Control
•
Habitat modification
– Remove cover
– Manage habitat for predators
•
Repellents
– Contact (Thiram-based) or area (mothball)
– Variable effectiveness
– Can be costly
Rabbit Damage Prevention and Control
•
Trapping
– Home-made or commercial live traps
•
Shooting
Squirrel Ecology
• Habitat
– Hardwood/mixed forests with nut trees
• Home range
– 1 to 3 acres
• Food habits
Identifying Squirrel Damage
• Chew bark and nip twigs on woody ornamentals
• Eat planted seeds, fruits, or grains
• Eat bird seed from feeders
• Dig holes in yard
• Enter buildings and nest in attics
Squirrel Damage Prevention and Control
• Exclusion
– Metal collars around trees, poles, etc…
• 2 foot wide
• 6 feet above ground
– PVC pipe over wires
– Close openings to buildings
• 0.5 inch wire mesh
• 1 way doors on squirrel excluders
Squirrel Damage Prevention and Control
• Habitat modification
– Trim limbs 6 to 8 feet away from buildings
– Provide alternative food sources
• Repellents
– Moth balls, Ro-pel, capsaicin, polybutenes
• Trapping
• Shooting
Mole Ecology
•
Habitat
–
Eastern mole
• Open fields, lawns, gardens, sometimes woods
• Well-drained loose soils
–
Star-nosed mole
Mole Ecology
•
Home range
– 0.5 to 2 acres
•
Food habits
– Eastern mole
• Worms, grubs, and insects
– Star-nosed mole
Identifying Mole Damage
•
Eastern mole
– Surface and deep tunnels
•
Star-nosed mole
– Burrows in muck, with 2 to 2.5 inch openings into streams, ponds, and lakes
Mole Damage Prevention and Control
•
Exclusion
– Not very practical
– Use sheet metal, wood, brick
– Bury fences at least 12 inches deep
Mole Damage Prevention and Control
•
Habitat modification
– Pack soil
– Reduce soil moisture content
– Reduce food source (IPM, insecticides, etc…)
•
Toxicants
Mole Damage Prevention and Control
•
Fumigants
– Aluminum phosphide
– Gas cartridges
•
Trapping
– Very successful and practical
– Scissor-jawed, harpoon, or choker loop traps
Vole Ecology
•
Habitat
–
Meadow vole
• Wet meadows, grasslands
–
Pine vole
• Deciduous and coniferous forests, abandoned field, orchards
Vole Ecology
•
Home range
– 0.25 acres
•
Food habits
– Grasses, forbs, seeds, tubers, bulbs, flowers, bark, vegetables, crops (root, leafy, grain)
Identifying Vole Damage
•
Girdling and gnawing of woody vegetation
•
Meadow vole builds surface runways
– 1 to 2 inches in diameter
– Vegetation in tunnel clipped short
– Feces and grass clipping found in runways
Vole Damage Prevention and Control
•
Exclusion
– Hardware cloth cylinders protect seedlings
– 0.25 inch mesh or smaller
– Bury bottom of cylinder 6 inches deep
•
Habitat modification
– Eliminate weeds and heavy ground cover
– Mow grassy areas regularly
Vole Damage Prevention and Control
•
Repellents
–
Meadow voles
• Thiram or capsaicin•
Toxicants (hand-placed)
–
Zinc phosphide
• Hazardous to ground-feeding birds
–
Anti-coagulants
• Slow acting (5 to 15 days)
Black Bear Ecology
• Habitat
– Mixed hardwood forests, dense swaps, forested wetlands
• Home range
– 2 to 60 square miles
• Food habits
– Berries, nuts, tubers, wood fiber, insects, small mammals, eggs, carrion, ag crops, livestock, beehives, garbage
Identifying Black Bear Damage
• Broken trees and limbs (especially in orchards)
• Chewed or clawed bark, sometimes hanging in strips
• Large, localized areas of trampled crops
• Broken beehives
• Livestock predation
– Deep tooth marks on neck
Identifying Black Bear Damage
• Scat
– 2 to 6 inch segments
– May contain insects, grass, leaf litter, berries, wood, and hair
• Tracks
– 5 toes and claws, and large heel pad
Black Bear Damage Prevention and Control
• Exclusion
– Portable electric fences
– Permanent welded-wire fence
– Bear-proofing buildings and containers
Black Bear Damage Prevention and Control
• Habitat modification
– Place livestock pens, beehives, and crops at least 50 yards from protective cover
• Frightening
– Lights, loud noises, dogs
• Repellents
Black Bear Damage Prevention and Control
• Trapping – Culvert traps – Contact NJDFW • Shooting – Depredation permits – Contact NJDFW • Public educationAdditional Sources of Information
• Rutgers Cooperative Research and Extension
– Refer to the blue pages of your local phone book – www.rcre.rutgers.edu
– www.deer.rutgers.edu
• New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife
– Wildlife Control Unit: 908-735-8793 – www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/
• USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services
– 908-735-5654
• US Fish and Wildlife Service: Migratory Bird Permits
Additional Sources of Information
• “Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage”
Cooperative Extension University of Nebraska Great Plains Agricultural Council
USDA-APHIS-Animal Damage Control
