Best practices for nuisance wildlife control operators in New York State

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Ch 5: Step two: Choose management options

Learning objectives and review questions for step two

1. Describe the options for managing a wildlife conflict.
    
2. Explain one way you'd make an area less attractive to nuisance wildlife by actually changing the environment, and one way you'd do this by changing people's habits.
    
3. List two of the factors that influence the effectiveness of repellents.
    
4. Which management option would almost always be a part of your solution? Why?

Review questions

1. The smudge on this wall and the slight depression in the ground where an animal has squeezed under the shed. It's important to locate the animal's travel routes and find the place where it enters the building. If you're going to remove the animal, those are among the best places to set a trap. In many cases, when you're done with the job, you'll block that entry hole to make sure animals can't get back into the building.

   To make an area less attractive to nuisance wildlife, you might persuade your customers to:
   1. keep the area around the bird feeder clean
   2. remove dog feces from the yard every day
   3. store the trash cans in the garage, then put them out right before the trash pick-up
   4. all of the above
       
2. To make a park less enticing to Canada geese, you advise the city officials to:
   1. pave over the grass
   2. hold firework displays every night at 8 p.m.
   3. let the grass around the pond grow taller
   4. release wolves
       
3. In nearly every job, you'd expect to do this, or might advise your customers to take care of it. What is it?
   1. clean up the area with antibacterial soap
   2. tell the neighbors they'll be next. But if they hire you now, there's a 10% discount
   3. nothing
   4. exclusion, to prevent problems
       
4. Your customer tried a bird scare device, but it didn't work. He wants to know why. You explain (choose all possible reasons):
   ___ birds can't hear ultrasonic sounds
   ___ the birds get used to seeing it there, so it's not scary anymore
   ___ you played the alarm call of a crow, but those are starlings roosting in your tree.
   ___ your border collie is a wuss. When I drove up, the Canada geese were chasing your dog!
   ___ scare devices never work
    
5. Your customer wants to consider every option for solving his wildlife problem. You say:
   1. Well, there are several approaches. I could trap it, or try to scare it off, or put down some pesticides. That's about it. Trust me, let me trap the animal and take care of it for you. If we use pesticides, the squirrels could die in the walls, and that would stink so bad you'd be sorry you did it. You don't have to see a thing. But I don't have the time to talk all day.
   2. That's a trade secret. Don't you have to go to work, or something?
   3. It mostly comes down to capturing the animal. We can live trap the animal, or use a lethal trap. If I see the animal, I might be able to catch it using my catchpole. I'd probably set this cage trap. Do you want to release the squirrels alive, or do you want me to take care of them? Because if you let them out, they might just get back in, so then it's important to fix all the holes to prevent that.
   4. Some wildlife problems stop after a short time, so you don't have to do anything. That's not true here. I suggest we use a combination of approaches. We make the place less cozy for the squirrels, while I work on removing them. You can try to scare them away. When we're done, we fix all the holes so they can't get back inside.

Answers

1. d
    
2. c
    
3. d (remember, most wildlife diseases that are common in the Northeast are not caused by bacteria, so an antibacterial soap isn't going to help that much. Choose a disinfectant, such as dilute bleach, instead.)
    
4. The only answer that's flat-out wrong is the one that suggests that scare devices and repellent techniques never work. It's unlikely that a border collie would be afraid of geese. This is one of the best breeds of dog to choose for hazing geese.
    
5. d

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