Furry critters scurrying across your lawn like rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks can be so adorable to look at with their cute bushy tails and whimpering pink noses. However, don’t be fooled by their charm because they can destroy all the hard work you’ve invested in your garden.

From munching on your veggies, burrowing beneath your shrubs, and making unsightly tunnels, they can ruin your well-kept paradise in a matter of seconds. Before you think of facing them head-on by yourself, you have to remember that each of these wild animals poses a risk.

They may be carrying rabies, diseases, fleas, and more, so proper handling should always be prioritized. So, how can you safely handle these unwelcome visitors if they do ever invade your lawn? Find more about it here. 

Tips to Keep Wildlife Away

Quick and agile, these sneaky little varmints can be quite challenging to catch and detect. Burrowing in their special places, it can take weeks before you catch them. Unless you use the following tips:

1. Search for Clues

From the smallest garden mouse to the majestic deer, each of these furry creatures has its way of leaving its mark on your garden. They may disappear before you even catch sight of them after they’ve munched on your flowers and vegetables, but there are ways to stay ahead of them.

That is by understanding their behaviour and knowing their tracks. Once you’ve spotted them, you can then move to set up the trap. Here are some tricks in identifying which wild animal you’re dealing with, and how to handle them:

• Rabbits

For an animal so cute, rabbits can destroy your vegetable garden in a single night. Often found munching on your root crops and burying themselves half an inch to 30 inches below the ground, they are a gardener’s worst enemy.

However, you can easily know if a rabbit has entered your territory with the pea-size droppings that they leave, areas with bent mulch, slight garden depressions, and tufts of fur scattered around. 

Their presence is best identified with the razor-like trim that they leave on the plant edges that they’ve consumed. One way to get rid of them is by putting up a fence around your garden, which can be too high for them to reach. The top should be lined with bent chicken wire, with the bottom buried deep enough to prevent burrowing. 

• Deer

Fast and majestic, deers are flighty creatures that can detect sound from 10 feet away. This makes it harder for you to know if they’ve been the ones munching on your flowers and fruits because they will run away once they hear even the slightest sound.

Known for their huge appetites, they can consume 10 pounds of organic material daily. Different ways to know if they’ve paid a visit is by inspecting your plants for half-eaten vegetables and fruits, strong leaves, upside-down heart foot tracks, and pellet droppings.

To deter them from entering your garden, it’s best to put up an 8-foot high deer fence around your lawn perimeter. You can also spray some dishwashing soap and eggs on your shrubs, which is highly pungent for deers. 

• Raccoons and Squirrels

Gatherers and thieves, raccoons and squirrels often steal from your bird feeders, trash cans, and ponds. Eating almost everything from nuts, vegetables, seeds, and insects, they can inflict plenty of damage to your garden.

Their path of destruction is easily identifiable. Signs they’ve entered your garden include missing fishes in your pond, empty bird feeders, and half-eaten fruits. A good way to prevent them from foraging again in your lawn is by securing your trash bins with locks and installing round baffles on your bird feeders.

• Garden Mice and Rats

Photo by Svetozar Cenisev on Unsplash

Harbingers of disease and rabies, mice and rats can cause harm both to your garden and physical health. When left to thrive, they can multiply by hundreds in a month.

Eating anything from bird seeds, fruits, trash, waste, and plants, they are resourceful creatures. Even when you’ve eliminated a part of their diet, they can continue to survive with other components in your lawn. The only way to get rid of them is by actively catching or poisoning them. 

Now, it’s advised to avoid poisoning if you have children present at home. However, if you want to go through it, then it’s best to hire an exterminator that can do a one-day job. You can prevent their presence by securing your trash and regularly mowing your lawn to discourage them from building burrows.

• Organic Repellents

The best agencies that specialize in wildlife control in Orillia and every part of Canada will tell you that repellents should be used wisely and sparingly.

Buying inorganic repellents from unregistered stores, however potent they may be, could cause more harm than good. They could be poisonous to you and your family and emit toxins that could damage your plants. So, if you consider using repellents, it’s best to go for trusted organic brands. 

• Tidy Up Your Lawn

A neat and clean lawn is not only pleasant to look out, but will also discourage wild intruders. Since your garden is free from materials that animals can use for nesting, hiding, and burrowing, they’ll be less likely to visit you.

Well-groomed trees can also help prevent the nesting of pesky birds like crows and magpies from ripping your lawn. You can hire a tree service in Bradford to avoid any mishaps and falls. 

• Collect Your Harvest

Springtime can be such a rewarding season as your trees bloom and bend, heavy with fruits. However, before you even start your harvest, these wild animals may just beat you to it.

Instead of having your lawn get invaded by these critters, as they munch on your produce, it’s best to hire services like tree pruning in Richmond Hill.

They are the experts who can properly trim your trees and collect your harvest, with the least amount of fruit bruising.  Keeping your lawn safe from wildlife invasions can be a difficult job. However, now that you’ve learned how to detect and deal with wildlife, keeping them off from your garden all year long will be a smooth job.

It is important however to remember that when considering extermination and capture, the process has to be handled in the most humane way possible or inflicting the least pain on these animals. At the end of the day, they are just there by chance, unknowingly attracted to your garden. So, face these invaders with caution and care.