Living With Wildlife: Nuisance Wildlife
While living close to wildlife can often lead to pleasant and engaging encounters, wild animals can sometimes cause problems when
their behavior interferes with our own plans or damages property. Many conflicts with wildlife can be avoided or resolved by learning
as much as possible about the animals and altering expectations to account for their needs.
Why Is Learning How Best to Live With Wildlife Important?
While it can be tempting to just try and get rid of nuisance wildlife, many birds and other animals in North America are protected by
local, state, or federal laws. Responsible property ownership involves protecting both your land and resources and the local wildlife.
Removal or more extreme animal control measures should only be undertaken with the proper permits and authorization and only when all
other attempts have failed.
Getting Started: What You Can Do
- Learn as much as you can about the birds and other wildlife on your property. Find out about their needs and any behaviors that
might interfere with your plans.
- Seek non-lethal methods of dealing with unwanted animal behaviors. State wildlife departments and cooperative extension
programs often have resources addressing the problems you might be facing (see links below).
- Contact a local wildlife control agency or hire a reputable animal control service if you continue to have problems that you
can’t address.
Helpful Links
| Resources by state:
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Resources by animal:
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