Animal Control

While it’s lovely to see wildlife in your garden, there are some visitors you’d rather keep on the other side of your garden fence. Use Penn State Extension’s resources for information on animal control and managing wildlife damage in your home garden. Find tips on gardening with deer and which plants are poisonous to animals.

Wildlife Damage: Keeping Animals Outside Your Garden

If you’ve got a beautiful garden, it will not be long before the animals in your neighborhood begin to notice and want to move in. Many of them have the potential to cause serious damage, which calls for some serious animal control. So what kind of animals might you expect to visit your garden?

Here are some of the most common:

• Rabbits: Cottontail rabbits are abundant throughout Pennsylvania. They prefer brushy fence rows, field edges, brush piles, or landscaped backyards where there is plenty of suitable food and cover. The damage they can cause includes gnawing bark or clipping off branches, stems, and buds.
• Moles: Moles play a beneficial role in the garden because they help control undesirable insects and grubs. However, the molehills they leave and the shallow tunnels they create are not welcome by all home gardeners. Shrews and voles are often mistaken for moles, so it’s crucial you know the difference.
• Tree squirrels: It’s great to see squirrels clambering around in your trees, but when they find their way into buildings, they can damage walls, electrical wires, and insulation.
• Woodchucks: Also known as the groundhog or whistle pig, it is one of Pennsylvania’s most widely distributed mammals. They have been known to damage crops such as soybeans, beans, squash, alfalfa, tomatoes, and peas.
• Skunks: Skunks can be a nuisance when their burrowing and feeding habits cause problems. They sometimes burrow under porches or buildings by entering foundation openings, for example. Skunks have also been known to dig holes in lawns, gardens, and golf courses looking for insect grubs.
• Voles: Voles may cause extensive damage to ornamentals, tree plantings, and orchards by gnawing on the bark of seedlings and mature trees. They also eat crops and cause damage to the crop fields by building extensive tunnel systems and runways.
• Snakes: It’s very rare for snakes to cause actual damage. They are more of a nuisance when found in or around buildings.
• Woodpeckers: This native bird makes holes in wood looking for food and creating nesting sites. It’s very rare for these holes to be a problem, but you can do things to protect your trees.
• Birds: Various species of birds can damage fruit, with large sections of a fruit crop being damaged or consumed. Some of the worst culprits are the American Crow, American Robin, European Starling, Common Grackle, House Finch, and House Sparrow.
• Paper wasps and yellow jackets: These insects can be a nuisance more than cause damage. Nobody likes being stung, and some people are severely allergic.
• Urban crows: Crows become a problem when they roost in large numbers. Roosts have been known to number from a few hundred to tens of thousands. With so many birds in one location, the accumulation of dropping can create a health hazard.

You do have the right to control nuisance wildlife, but there are rules you have to follow.

Deer Damage

The deer population in Pennsylvania is increasing, and they are frequently found in densely populated areas. For home gardeners, deer control is a big challenge. Deer-resistant gardening includes deer-proofing your yard and plant selection techniques. Farmers and landowners have the option of participating in the Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP).

White-tailed deer cause damage to fruit plants year-round, but the damage is most serious in the winter months when their natural foods are limited. They are also considered a nuisance because of the damage they cause while browsing and rubbing their antlers on landscape ornamentals.