The wildlife we live with
If your work week’s alertness suffers due to not being able to sleep at night, then you have a nuisance on your hands.
Gophers (Arctic ground squirrels) trying to get into your house, and the resident marten wanting to eat them! It’s not such a problem when they’re hiding and hunting in your woodshed, but if your work week’s alertness suffers due to not being able to sleep at night, then you have a nuisance on your hands.
The chirpidy-chirpy squirrels will find air holes where you might not have put enough moss in-between wall logs (or the moss dried up and fell out), so they start chewing — having found a new challenge to occupy them with in the long summer days. Once they’re in, oh boy, you’ll find spruce-cone “empties.” Put on a mask if sweeping (vacuuming would be better) squirrel or mouse poop.
The resident weasel will kill and eat poultry, so will mink, marten and fox. Beavers can and will, at times, flood farmland and roadways, and dams can break.
Gophers dig tunnel systems that have chambers, hallways and multiple exits. Their favourite food is melons. These little piggies are most active in the day and hibernate in the coldest winter months. They eat your lettuce and can damage building foundations. A repellent would be strong smells like castor oil, chives, crushed garlic, blood-meal fertilizer, cayenne pepper, and talcum powder. Put the garlic around the perimeter of the garden. Fertilizer, on the other hand, will attract foxes and other predators.
How to make castor-oil repellent
- Combine 1/2 cup of oil with 2 cups of water and spray this in and around burrows, when the critters are out, so that when they come back they won’t go in anymore and will have to look for better lodgings at your neighbour’s.
- Or combine the oils of clove, lemongrass, rosemary, lavender and thyme: add five to 10 drops to a spray bottle with water (or apple cider vinegar).
If you have a green thumb, another way to keep away unwanted guests is to plant the following flora around the border of your garden: lavender, sage, mint, lemon balm, thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil and chives.
Do your resident mammals carry diseases?
Rabies is present in wildlife in Alaska, B.C., and the N.W.T. In the North, rabies is most often spread to dogs from infected Arctic foxes. In the Yukon, no new cases have been reported since the 1970s. Foxes, coyotes, wolves or even bats could bite you or your pet. All mammals could be infected with the virus, which has been diagnosed in caribou as well. Make sure your pets, cattle and horses have their vaccinations up to date.
The rabies virus infects the brain. It takes some weeks (normally between one and three months), or even years, for people to show symptoms after getting infected. Signs are fever and headaches, then confusion, muscle aches and chills, sleepiness and agitation.
Dogs can get lice and the mange by direct contact with foxes, coyotes and wolves. When dogs sniff these wild animals’ feces, they can inhale their intestinal worms. I remove fox poop right away when I see it. Keep mice and other small mammals under control (that way you won’t smell the next morning that the fox has been around yet again). To make sure foxes won’t start denning under your house (they like to dig), install and bury a welded mesh apron. Read through this useful pamphlet on how to deal with your neighbourhood fox: yukon.ca/sites/default/files/env/env-living-with-foxes.pdf.
The Animal Health Unit is responsible for health monitoring and diagnosis of disease in wildlife and domestic animals in the Yukon. The staff provide expertise in laboratory services and in veterinary medicine, to support public health and animal protection.
When you or your pets get bitten: yukon.ca/sites/default/files/env/env-animal-bites-rabies.pdf
A trapper can assist in keeping wildlife populations in check; trapping can stop or reduce the spreading of a disease outburst and is a wildlife management tool.
I have checked with Yukon Conservation Officer Services and this is what they have to say:
Prevention is key
- The first line of defence against unwanted animal guests, such as squirrels or rodents, is ensuring that structures do not allow access points for them. All access points, such as gaps under decks or entryways, into an attic, should be well sealed.
- Design, build and maintain all structures on your property, with the intention of keeping critters out.
- Doing routine checks for signs of animal presence or access attempts can also help stop a problem before it starts.
- Another line of defence is properly storing and securing attractants.
- Problem attractants can be things like unsecured garbage or compost, birdfeeders, or pet food left outside. However, natural food sources such as ornamental berry bushes, or fruit trees that are not adequately harvested, can also attract unwanted guests.
- If an animal can get an easy meal from improperly stored food or garbage, it will likely come back or look for the same kind of food elsewhere.
- Small animals, such as mice, ground squirrels or rats, can also attract larger animals, such as foxes, to your property.
- Be conscious of seasonal animal behaviours. For example, certain animal species begin to den in the fall. Before this happens, do a scan to make sure there are no signs of wildlife access to your property. If conservation officers must disturb a den or move an animal, it is preferential to do so before litters are born in the spring.
When to call a conservation officer
There are provisions under Section 96 of the Wildlife Regulation (under the Wildlife Act) that allow a person without a licence or permit to:
- hunt or trap red squirrels, ground squirrels or porcupines to prevent damage to property.
- hunt or trap all rat, mouse or vole species to prevent damage to property (or for reasons of personal or public health).
For larger wildlife, such as foxes, weasels or martens, check in with conservation officers before intervening.
- It is also unlawful to disturb a den of any wildlife without authorization from a conservation officer.
- Under Section 71 of the Wildlife Act, a conservation officer may issue a permit to an individual to assist in trapping or hunting wildlife that, in the officer’s opinion, represents a danger to public health or safety, or threatens property.
How conservation officers respond to reports of problematic wildlife
If you have concerns about wildlife conflicts on your property, contact conservation officers before intervening.
When conservation officers investigate complaint sites to determine how to mitigate conflict, they follow best-management principles and practices. This includes guidelines to assess the behaviour of wildlife and determine the associated risk level and appropriate course of action, such as live trapping and relocation.
Each situation is a case-by-case basis.
Under limited circumstances, resources such as live traps may be available at the discretion of an officer (and if available).
Check your local farm supply for critter-control equipment.
For additional online resources, check these out …
- yukon.ca/sites/default/files/env/env-bats-buildings.pdf
- yukon.ca/sites/default/files/env/env-keep-urban-wildlife-wild-alive.pdf
- yukon.ca/en/outdoor-recreation-and-wildlife/wilderness-safety/living-urban-wildlife
- yukon.ca/report-human-wildlife-conflict
Sonja Seeber, Yukon Trapper
