\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Being an ecological gardener can be challenging.\u00a0 You want to be able to invite wildlife into your garden; but you don\u2019t want your time and effort in growing your own produce or creating a beautiful landscape wasted just because some little critter ate more than you expected.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Before you invest in plants and labor, try to anticipate animal pest problems.\u00a0 If you are in a rural area, or know that a particular animal is present in your neighborhood\u2014use that knowledge when planning your garden.\u00a0\u00a0 Alternatively, you should decide whether to continue to try and protect existing plants \u2013 or plant something different.\u00a0 For example, try \u201cdeer resistant\u201d plants if deer are a problem.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Although it is often difficult because many animal pests are nocturnal, identification of the pest that is responsible for damage is essential for effective management.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Deer, rats, mice, voles, moles, rabbits, squirrels, pocket gophers, mountain beavers, raccoons, skunks, opossums, bears, and many bird species may cause damage.\u00a0 The kind of damage or other signs such as paw prints or scat may help to determine the type of culprit.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Next determine what are the benefits and costs of control vs. the economic and aesthetic cost of damage.\u00a0 Also consider the value of the species ecologically, to your neighbors and whether it is legally protected.\u00a0\u00a0 Before deciding on a control measure, consider the possible effects on non-target organisms and the environment. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The general types of control methods in order of most ecological (least toxic) to least ecological (most toxic) are as follows:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1)<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Elimination of shelter and availability of food and water<\/i>:\u00a0 Although not very practical in wilder areas, especially if you are trying to encourage other wildlife species, you should at least block critters from finding shelter in buildings and dispose your garbage and manage your compost pile properly.\u00a0\u00a0 Birdfeeders may need to be put away, at least temporarily.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

2)<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Distractions & deterrents<\/i>:\u00a0 You may try planting other fruit & nut species more preferred by wildlife than your food crops.\u00a0 Scarecrows, owls, fluttering objects, reflectors may work temporarily but birds soon become accustomed to them.\u00a0 Motion detectors attached to sprinkler systems may scare some offenders away.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

3)<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Barriers:<\/i> Wrapping the base of young tree trunks may discourage rabbits or rodents from eating bark.\u00a0 Placing netting over berry bushes or chicken-wire cages around young plants provides some protection.\u00a0 You need a fence at least 8 feet tall to keep out deer, especially if you want to grow \u201cdeer-candy\u201d such as apples or roses.\u00a0 \u00a0For burrowing animals, a barrier can be buried around the area you are trying to protect.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

4)<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Repellents <\/i>are products that are sprinkled around or sprayed on foliage to discourage an animal from entering an area or that they find distasteful when they eat it.\u00a0 Repellants need to be reapplied frequently to replace what may have washed away or to cover new growth.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

5)<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>Traps:<\/i>\u00a0 Live traps, although considered \u201cmore humane,\u201d leaves you with the problem of where to release the animal after it is caught!\u00a0 <\/strong>You should be aware that all body-gripping and impaling traps, other than “common rat and mouse traps,” are illegal to use in Washington.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

6)<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>Baits or poisons:\u00a0 <\/i>Extreme care should be taken whenever toxic chemicals are used.\u00a0 Accidental pet poisoning is tragic.\u00a0 Also predators such as raptors that eat poisoned rodents could also be at risk.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If we can alter our aesthetic ideals, it may be easier to learn to live with nature than to fight it.\u00a0 As long as they don\u2019t threaten our livelihood, allowing other animals to exist enriches our<\/i> lives<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(Some of this article was first published in the Peninsula Gateway\u00a0<\/em>on Feb. 2, 2011 as Landscape with Native Plants, for Soil’s Sake.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Being an ecological gardener can be challenging.\u00a0 You want to be able to invite wildlife into your garden; but you don\u2019t want your time and effort in growing your own produce or creating a beautiful landscape wasted just because some little critter ate more than you expected. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Before you invest in plants and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154,"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136\/revisions\/154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/habitathorticulturepnw.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}