Unexpected visits from a wildlife intruder can wreak havoc on your yard when you are least prepared. Whether the rabbits nibbling on your hard-worked kitchen garden or squirrels digging holes in the lawn- unwelcome intruders can make all your efforts go down the drain. The easiest and most effective way to avoid this is to prevent these animals from entering your yard. Keep unwanted animals out of your home by following the five easy tricks laid down in this article.
Before preparing the eviction methods, take a moment to review and identify what pests could be invading your space.
Identifying the wildlife intruders entering your yard
Deer: Whenever you see missing buds, partially eaten fruits and veggies, and ripped leaves, you can be sure that deer have caused havoc on your lawn. The deer have a big appetite, and they love to nibble on lawn vegetation. An adult deer can eat up to ten pounds of food at a time. You can be sure that the animal is a deer if you find pellet-shaped droppings or upside-down heart-shaped droppings.
Groundhogs: These plant-loving creatures are also big eaters. They like savouring fruits, vegetables, flowers, and leaves. Also, groundhogs dig tunnels, and if you notice wide teeth marks on barks, fruits, or plants, you can be sure it is the work of groundhogs.
Raccoons: Raccoons are most active at night. They dig up insects in mulch and lawns and rummage through trash cans. A raccoon is likely invading your lawn at night if you find torn trash bags, empty bird feeders, or missing fish in your garden ponds.
Rabbits: These fluffy animals can wreak havoc on a garden in a matter of hours. The obvious signs of bunnies invading your lawn are razor-trimmed leaves, missing plants, and pea-sized droppings.
Squirrels: The squirrels eat fruits, vegetables, seeds, and planting beds. Squirrels also like to eat from bird feeders.
Once you know which animals are invading your lawns, you can plan effective methods to remove them. You can prevent their invasions by following a few tips below.
Five simple ways to keep critters off your yards
There is something that attracts animals to your lawn. You can prevent these critters from entering your lawn by making it unattractive to them.
- Use repellents: Strong smelling repellents are an easy way to drive animals away. If you want optimal results, you should follow the directions on the label. The repellents come as dry granules or liquid sprays.
- Clear your lawn: Remove piled up wood logs, overgrown shrubs, and bushes to eliminate all possible hiding spots. Keeping lawns neatly trimmed discourages critters like groundhogs and rabbits from causing havoc.
- Dispose of food: Do not leave ripe or fallen fruit lying around the garden. If possible, fill in your garden with plants that critters dislike. Also, do not allow the pet food to stale on the lawn, as raccoons love to eat this.
- Scare tactics: Animals are extremely sensitive to loud sounds or other scare tactics such as installing garden spinners or pinwheels. Pet dogs are also effective wildlife deterrents.
- Erect barriers: Barriers are an effective way to keep wildlife at bay. In the same way, installing nets or chicken wire or planting vulnerable plants along the compound line are other effective measures. You can also consider erecting electric fences for effective protection.