Abstract

BYFORD, J.L. 1987. Combat wildlife damage with common sense control methods. Am. Nurseryman 165(8): 91-94, 96, 98, 100.

Wildlife damage control is the opposite of wildlife management. If you have unwanted animals around your nursery, it’s a sure bet that there is already enough food, water and cover for them. The solution is to remove at least one of these elements—and if you can remove two, it’s better. First, is there some way you can keep the animals from getting to the problem site. If you can’t build them out, can you repel them from the problem site? If you can’t put up an effective barrier or repel the animals from the problem site, the last step is to remove the animals that are causing your problems. However, when considering this alternative, you should check with your county wildlife officer to get approval—unless the animals are unprotected. Deer probably cause nursery managers more headaches than any other wildlife species. Rabbits are valuable from a recreational and food standpoint, but they can cause severe nursery damage. If your trees are suffering from girdled bark, the damage is probably caused by beavers, muskrats, rabbits or voles. Woodchucks, commonly called groundhogs, cause no harm at all in many cases. But they can sometimes forage on nursery crops and dig dens that pose a menace to machinery.

• © 1988, International Society of Arboriculture. All rights reserved.