Pest animals have in many areas become much more of a nuisance in the home landscape than are pest insects. Pest animals are becoming way too common in suburban areas where development is rapidly eliminating the normal habitat for these critters.

In these files we offer detailed advice about dealing with over 20 pest animals. As we note in those files you really have only four choices in dealing with a pest animal:

You can find some material that repels the animal from your yard.

You can set up some kind of barrier to prevent the animal access to your yard.

You can trap and kill the animal.

Or, you can live with it being part of your yard’s ecosystem.


Be Sure You Have The Right Animal
When you have a problem, and you suspect an animal is the culprit, it is important to get an accurate diagnosis of which animal is causing the problem. The steps to take to deal with deer will be very different from those steps required to deal with woodchucks; both can wipe out a vegetable garden in one night.

Repellents vs. Fences???
While there are usually a number of approaches to take in dealing with most pest animal problems, in the majority of the cases, your challenge will be to choose between repellents or some form of fencing. In Yardener’s Tool Shed, we give you detailed information about each approach to help you make the best decision; see the Pest Animal Products section where you will find “Choosing A Repellent” and ”Choosing A Fence”.

Here Is Our Opinion
If you have a pest animal problem and the population of that particular pest is not excessive for your area, then a repellent may very well do the trick because the problem is not a function of overpopulation which makes the animal so hungry, it is immune to any repellent. If you have a situation where the population of a pest animal is indeed becoming excessive because of loss of habitat from development, then you have a permanent problem and a proper fence is the only permanent solution.

Multiple Pest Animals
If your landscape is being attacked by several critters simultaneously (deer, raccoons, and rabbits are a common combination) there are two products which can effectively deal with a number of pest animals all at once.

For a repellent, see Scarecrow which is a physical water spritzing repelling device.

For a fence, see the description of the Ultimate Fence Combination.

All of the most common pest animals are discussed in the following files. As with the pest insects, we try to give you a range of potential solutions so you have some choice in terms of how much trouble you are willing to take to deal with the problem.