Down the Garden Path: Managing Furry Thieves in Our Gardens

Those cute furry animals are at it again, taking bites out prized tomatoes, digging up bulbs, chomping off flowers – undoing the hard work you put into your garden.

Your first thought might be to trap these furry thieves and send them far away. However, in Illinois, most animals are protected, many species require a permit from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to transport them to another location, and you need permission from the landowner to release them.

Maybe you think a more hands-off approach, like using poison bait, is the way to go? But how will you keep children, pets and non-bothersome animals from eating the bait? Owls and other raptors are known to die from eating poisoned prey. This summer a well-loved owl family in Chicago was killed by eating poisoned rats.

Here are two strategies for protecting your landscape from marauding critters that keep you, your pets, and other wildlife safe: discouragement and blocking access.

Discourage Animals

Look around your yard to see if you might be attracting unwanted animals. Brush or rock piles make great homes for chipmunks and other small rodents. Rabbits will hide in tall weeds and grass. Outdoor pet food and water, garbage cans or compost bins with loose-fitting lids, and even bird feeders can attract opossums or raccoons. Getting rid of these animal attractants will help reduce unwanted critters in your yard.

Since most nuisance animals in our yards are prey, you can use scare tactics to make your yard seem risky to them. Do this by using motion-activated sprinklers or predator calls, or hanging shiny objects that move in the wind. You also can sprinkle repellents such as blood meal, predator urine or other commercial products around vulnerable plants. However, these must be applied regularly, especially after it rains. Always read the label before purchasing to make sure the repellant is safe to use around food crops if you are protecting vegetables. You may need to try several methods of discouragement to find what works in your situation.

Block Access

Physically blocking access to plants with cages or fencing can be the one of the most effective ways to protect individual plants or entire gardens.

If you have an individual plant in your landscape that is attractive to critters, surround it with a wire cage attached to the ground with landscape fabric staples. Hardware cloth cages with a fitted top are more secure than open chicken wire cages, even keeping deer from eating favored plants. For small plants, you can use wire baskets placed upside down. No one likes a yard full of caged plants, but you may be able to remove the cage once the plant is larger and can tolerate some nibbling.

For a vegetable garden, you need to use a slightly different strategy to protect your plants. Rabbits are easy to exclude with a vertical chicken wire fence, but it won’t stop climbers like squirrels and chipmunks. For them, use a lightweight netting or mesh fencing around the garden which can’t support their weight. Deer are excellent jumpers needing an 8-foot fence to keep them out. Using a seasonal electric fence around your garden may be the best choice for protecting our garden from larger animals.