Keeping wild animals away from your property

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Keeping ALL wild animals away from your property is going to be quite hard work. These animals are often out and about during the night, the times that you are mostly likely to be asleep in bed, so catching them in the act is often almost impossible. They’re pretty good at hiding too. They’ve been dong it for years, wandering around undetected by predators that are often much bigger and scarier than they are.



There are things that you can do to make your property look less attractive to these wild creatures, and that’s what you should aim towards. Trying to keep ALL animals out would be like trying to empty the ocean with a teacup. It’s just not possible.

In order to make your home look less attractive to wild animals, you need to take away the things that are encouraging them to take a closer look. You must work out what these creatures want from you and your property.

Food

In many cases, food is what lures these wild critters in closer. They can smell food in the garbage can, for example, or the pet food that you have left out on the porch for the pet dog or cat. A number of things could be food for these animals, and when you take them out of the equation, you will find that most animals won't come close to your land.

Bird feeders are often hit. They are meant for birds, and you probably don't mind these birds entering your land. But the raccoons that are often seen dangling from your bird feeders certainly aren't invited, and nor are the squirrels that do the same.

Take away the bird feeder for a while, and then work out how you can modify it to stop the animals you don't want getting it, getting it. Don't hang them from tree branches, for example, as raccoons and other critters can easily scamper along these to get to the goodies at the end. Consider adding your bird feeder to the edge of a pole, one that is too slippery for the raccoon to get any grip on. You'll find that they don't come so close when there is nothing around for them.

Not just bird feeders, pet food should be cleared away as soon as your pet is finished with it. You most definitely shouldn’t leave it in bowls on the floor. Rats can run through and over it then, and they leave contaminated biological matter everywhere, mostly in their urine, which they also leave everywhere. This is what spreads disease, as well as the parasites they carry.

Shelter

If it's not food that brings these animals closer, it’ll be shelter. You will generally find that most wild animals invading your home will be female, and they'll be pregnant. They need to build a nest to give birth to their young and then hopefully raise them in peace. Many of the wild animals that live in your home will move on after a while, especially after the maternity season is over. With bats you must wait until after the maternity season in some states anyway, because they are a protected species. (Or some of them are.) You can’t sit back and wait for them to leave, however, because they will be causing great amounts of damage, as well as continually spreading various diseases, the entire time you're living together.

Shelter can come in the form of your home — attics, chimneys, in the basement, or under your shed, porch, decking, or other outbuildings. These can all be protected with simple building and structural modifications. You’ll be amazed by how many uses you'll find for hardware cloth!

Shelter can also come in the form of mess. Compost heaps will give homes alongside food, and rock piles, or even piles of trees and wood can be a great home. In the wild these creatures would set up home in tree hollows, rock piles, and natural debris. Your garden is filled with this, and there is also food.

Water

Some animals will come to your property for the water, and this will definitely apply to homes that are close to rivers, lakes, streams, the ocean, ponds, or even swimming pools. Raccoons and fox scat is often seen on the concrete blocks next to swimming pools, and many wild animals are recorded having a whale of a time in the pool that you now can’t use until it’s been cleaned and disinfected properly.

Lizards love the concrete blocks next to the water too, and this is what often lures iguanas and other invasive species closer to residential buildings. The same can be said for snakes too, and often those can be invasive species too. You will need to handle these animals with slightly more care and consideration, not only because they could have sub-tropical diseases, but also because they cannot be released back into the wild again. They are not meant to be there, so they will either need to find a home as a breeding animal, or as a pet, or they will need to be destroyed.

If you remove the things that are attracting the animals from your property, you will find that fewer animals will come by. Fencing helps, and you can consider adding smaller, lizard and snake-proof fencing around the bottom if you have a regular problem. There are plenty of modifications you can make to your home, but you’ll often find clearing up after yourself and making sure there is nothing for the animals enjoy will get you a long way.

For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How To Guide: Who should I hire? - What questions to ask, to look for, who NOT to hire.
How To Guide: do it yourself! - Advice on saving money by doing wildlife removal yourself.
Guide: How much does wildlife removal cost? - Analysis of wildlife control prices.
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