Wildlife Control Tips

Opossums are difficult to be rid of if they find your home and yard appealing. Fortunately, there are several ways to deter and/or permanently remove them from your property. The first step in eradicating an animal from your property is always to properly identify the pest. Since opossums are nocturnal this means staying up and watching your yard for the animal to present himself. Once you are sure of the identity of your night time visitor there are few different methods in which you can use to be rid of your problem.

Opossum trapped in live trap, ready for relocation.

Traps

The best method is to trap the opossum for relocation. There are many live traps on the market that are highly affective. Here are some guidelines to choosing the right trap and how to use it most effectively. First choose a trap that is at least 10 inches x 12 inches x 32 inches. Next, you will want to place the trap in the animal’s line of travel or near a much visited site, such as a brush line or garbage can. A trap alone won’t rid you of your problem, proper bait is key. Opossums love over ripe melon, bananas, and other soft fruit, using these in your trap will guarantee you success.
Make sure to check local laws about killing/trapping animals before deciding to take care of the trapped animal yourself. Most areas require a professional wildlife control representative to relocate the animal once trapped. Shooting an opossum is illegal in most areas of the country.

Repellents

If you don’t want to deal with trapping the animal and relocating it to a more suitable environment you could try using a predator lure, such as coyote or wolf urine to deter the opossum. When you apply a predator lure to the borders of your property the opossum is led to believe that there is a predator in the area and will then in turn avoid your home. This method requires applying the lure using a dispenser sure as the Garden Sent-Ry Unit and placing them around the area in which you would like the animal to avoid. You should also check the dispensers to make sure they have not dried out in hot weather and reapply the product as needed, about every other month.

Preventative Measures

Whether trying to deter an opossum already in residence or to thwart future animals from making themselves at home on your property preventative measures are important steps to take in wildlife control. The first thing to consider is the habits of the opossum.
Opossum enjoy making themselves comfortable in small spaces and are attracted to rotting food. This means making sure all garbage cans have tight-fitting lids and that all pet food is stored indoors or in sturdy air tight containers. Next, enclose all open spaces under your home, into the attic, under porches, decking or sheds. This can be accomplished by installing lattice or other similar barriers.
Any small dark space is inviting to an opossum as a place to rest its head during the day whether man or nature made. Clearing out any underbrush and prune back over grown trees and shrubs is also important. If you have a burn pile that has been sitting for a while you will want to take care of that too, just be sure to check burn bans in your area first. With proper maintenance of your yard and garden you may never have to worry about removing an unwanted opossum from your property.

For more pest control solutions visit our site at DeerBusters.com

You have worked endless hours tilling, weeding and digging creating a beautiful yard and garden only to wake up one morning and discover something have been using your garden as its midnight buffet. Our first instinct is to turn into Mr.McGregor, that troubled angry gardener from The Tale of Peter Rabbit, and stalk the prey with a rake.

The best thing to do however, is to take a step back and figure out what exactly is eating your flowers and vegetables. If you have ruled out birds and deer  most likely you have a small pest problem. Smaller chewing animals are much harder to deter from the garden then large wildlife pest such as deer.

Small animals can chew, push or dig under most conventional fencing making your deer and white picket fence useless in defending your garden. The main offenders’ rabbits, groundhogs, possums, armadillos and raccoons will all wreck havoc in the garden. Lucky for us there are a few solutions to keep those pesky critters from your garden for good.

For smaller gardens, individual beds or plants motion activated repellers and liquid repellents can be used with great success. However, if dealing with an entire yard or larger garden installing a rodent barrier fence is your best solution for dealing with small chewing wildlife.

Rodent barrier fencing generally measures between 2-3 feet in height and can be installed as a standalone fence or in conjuncture with a standard or deer fencing system. Rodent barrier is different from other types of fencing since it has a hexagonal mesh with holes as small as 1” and is constructed of galvanized steel. The galvanized steel makes it almost impossible for rabbits and other chewing animals from breaking though the fencing.

The installation of a rodent barrier fence also contributes to its unique defense system against small wildlife. Traditional fencing sits flush or just above ground level, which allows groundhogs, opossums and other wildlife to scoot under the fencing and into your prized garden. The rodent barrier is designed to flare out and skirt the ground creating an additional obstacle for the animals. The fencing is then staked into the ground creating a dig proof area around the fence line.

Rodent barrier is easy quick and easy to attach to existing fencing using hog rings and zip ties. A 20×20 garden should only take approximately 1.5 hour to completely install making it a great weekday project. With the proper planning and tools you can save your garden this season and keep yourself from becoming the Mr. McGregor of the neighborhood.

Below is a helpful video on how to install Rodent Barrier Fencing

For more information on rodent barrier fencing or any wildlife control issue visit Deerbusters.com or email DrDeer@Deerbusters.com.

There are few more disappointing moments, for gardeners, than walking out onto your porch to drink that morning cup of coffee, and gazing out on your garden to see that all your hard work has been destroyed overnight by the local wildlife. Fortunately that fate can be prevented; DeerBusters.com has several solutions to end your wildlife problems.

The first step in effectively preventing local wildlife from destroying your yard or garden is identifying what type of wildlife you are dealing with. Look for tracks, droppings, nests, and burrows to help you determine what species of pest is taking liberties with your property.  Once you identify your pest, learn a little bit about its habits to help you best understand what you’re dealing with. After identify and learning about the pest you can choose the best control method for that species.

The installation of a deer fence, when installed properly can successfully prevent deer from destroying shrubs and trees. Deer Busters polypropylene deer fencing is virtually invisible, easy to install, and affordable. Keeping deer out can have more benefits to you than just saving your plants. Deer carry ticks and ticks can carry Lyme disease, which means the few deer in your yard also lowers your chance of getting bitten by a Lyme disease carrying tick. In fact, the National Institute of Health believes that deer fencing can reduce the risk of Lyme disease by up to 97%

Animal control fencing is a great option for keeping small animals such as rabbits, armadillos, and groundhogs from entering your garden or yard. Small chewing animals can do damage even in the winter especially under the cover of snow. These chew proof rodent barriers can be used alone or in combination with your deer fence to prevent small animals from crawling under or chewing through your deer fence. The animal control fencing is also great at keeping your pets from entering the garden or restricted areas.

If you would like a less invasive method of controlling the local wildlife, scaring devices such as the Ultrasonic Motion Activated Deer and Animal Repeller, can be highly effective. The Ultrasonic Motion Activated Deer and Animal Repeller emits an ultrasonic blast, above the frequency of human hearing to startle pests from your yard or garden. This humanely hi-tech motion activated device covers 4000 square feet and can be manually tuned to deter rodents, opossums, raccoons, deer and more.

Whether your property is a small residential yard or a large-acre farm DeerBusters.com has a pest control solution for your problems. To learn more visit DeerBusters.com or call 888.422.3337.

By Teresa Odle

Jackrabbits can munch on garden shrubs but survive with very little water. That means they can hang out around your garden for days and keep coming back to your favorite ornamental plants, eventually stripping them of their foliage. Cottontails also love many ornamentals and turf, but they’re also really fond of the beans, beets, carrots and peas you were planning to harvest soon.

If you’ve already got deer fencing up, you may be surprised to come outside and find that some critter has been in your vegetable garden. They didn’t go over the fence, so that means…yep, rabbits can crawl under or chew through some fencing. So you might need a chew-proof barrier to protect certain plants from rabbits or as an added barrier to deer fencing to keep bunnies from breaking through to your entire lawn and garden.

Ideal for keeping rabbits and rodents out of your garden

Although rabbits can chew through most of your plants and many attempts at barriers, they can’t chew through 20-gauge galvanized steel. In a hexagonal mesh pattern, two-foot or three-foot animal control netting comes in 150-foot lengths. If you’ve already got deer fencing in place, simply attach the wire chew-proof fencing to the taller deer fencing using hog rings.

And there’s an added bonus. The lazy dogs who haven’t chased off the rabbits also can’t dig under the fencing and get into your garden to trample your flowers and vegetables.

New Methods for Preventing Lyme Disease

With symptoms ranging from fever, headaches and fatigue to damaging infections of the joints, heart and nervous system, Lyme disease is a significant health concern.

Lyme disease is caused by the bacteria Borrelia Burgdorferi which is transmitted to humans and animals through tick bites. “Although many tick species can transmit Lyme disease, deer ticks are primary carriers in the United States,” says Jason Wiles, wildlife control expert and general manager of DeerBusters.com.

White-tailed deer are the favorite hosts of deer ticks. In the warm summer months, when deer become extremely active, deer ticks thrive. As deer enter backyards in search of food, deer ticks and Lyme disease follow.

According to Wiles, “deer fencing is the most effective means for excluding deer.” Wiles adds that “animal repellents, which deter deer using odors and chemicals, and animal scaring devices, which deter deer using sounds, can be satisfactory alternatives when deer fencing is not feasible.”

According to the National Center for Biological Information, a division of the National Institute of Health, the use of deer fencing has been proven to reduce the risk of Lyme disease by 83-97% (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Without deer entering the area surrounding your home, new deer ticks become limited and eventually, existing deer ticks become scarce.

When choosing a method for deer control, factors to consider include environmental impact, cost, value, safety, aesthetics and practicality. “Deer fencing is available in a variety of sizes, styles and prices and can be judged by its strength (or breaking load), warranty, ease of installation and the aesthetics of its design,” explains Wiles. “Virtually invisible deer fencing, for example, can be highly effective without disrupting the look of surrounding property.

According to Wiles, “non-toxic, organic deer repellents can be an excellent alternative to harsh chemical repellents. In addition to the environmental benefits, organic repellents can be safer for children and pets.”

By protecting your living area from deer, you may reduce your risk of Lyme disease by as much as 97%. For additional information on deer control products, visit wildlife control retailer DeerBusters at: http://www.deerbusters.com.

Use these vinyl tree guards to protect your trees against sun-scald, severe frosts, rodents, windburn, lawn trimmers, and rutting deer. The tree guards assist with preserving the moisture content of bark. The vinyl tree guards are easily installed by unwrapping them onto the tree trunk from the base upward. 

Click here to learn more about our 8-pk of 36″ Trunk Guards.

The Deer Fence Virtually Invisible Maximum Strength Millennium Fence is for total protection against deer and other large animals.  Click here to learn more about this Best of Best product!

White-tailed deer rut season runs from October to December, peaking in November. Bucks are more active and less cautious this time of year, making them more of a problem for land owners, gardeners and farmers.

For over 25 years DeerBusters.com has been in the business of protecting you and your property from dangerous and unwanted wildlife. We’ve helped thousands of customers protect their property from deer and other nuisance wildlife. Let us help you too!

Check out our Deer Repellents, Virtually Invisible Deer Fencing, Baited Electric Deer Fencing and Scaring Devices for Outdoor Protection and save!

Special Offer – Take 10% off any order of $50.00 or more. Use Coupon Code rut101 at checkout.

(Coupon expires November 7,2009. Coupon cannot be combined with any other offers or be applied to a previous orders. Limit one coupon per customer. Coupon valid online at Deerbusters.com only. All offers subject to change without notice.)