Living With Wildlife

Living With Wildlife

Meadow voles, though likely the most abundant mammal around, are not well-known. Many people have never seen one. They thrive in grassy places where they maintain runways and reproduce prodigiously. Also called meadow mice, meadow voles can be a bit larger than true mice. They have smaller eyes and ears […]

Woodchucks, Groundhogs, Whistlepigs

Living With Wildlife

When woodchucks live nearby, you may need to solve two kinds of problems: they will often raid gardens, and their burrow systems can be large enough to threaten old stone foundations. Here are some suggestions from the Humane Societyof the United States for encouraging woodchucks to relocate, keeping in mind that female […]

Living With Wildlife

Squirrels are industrious, acrobatic tree farmers. They can be noisy, gnawing tenants if they move into our homes and they annoy the heck out of some feeders of birds. In the latter case, you may save yourself a great deal of frustration by becoming a squirrel watcher. Watch this video […]

Living With Wildlife

These docile little stinkers love nothing more than digging up grubs and other insects. They might be responsible for little digging divots in your lawn. If these annoy you, push the grass back over with your toe. If they frequent your yard and you have a foolhardy dog, give a […]

Living With Wildlife

Raccoons have an astonishingly acute sense of touch that is enhanced when their paws are wet; when they are “washing” their food, they can feel it better. Enjoy this short AnimalLogic video to learn more about the challenges involved in outsmarting raccoons. Conflicts with raccoons take a several forms: raiding […]

Living With Wildlife

There are two types of mice that move into our houses: house mice are a non-native species and they are more likely to be found in densely settled areas. Two species of native mice also move readily into houses. Deer mice and white footed mice are in the same genus […]

Living With Wildlife

Two fox species live in our region, the red fox and the gray fox. Although there is wide variation in the color of red foxes, the two species can be reliably distinguished by the color of their legs and the tips of their tails, even Red foxes always have black […]

Living With Wildlife

The Elusive Deer-proof Garden? It doesn’t exist, according to Marne A. Titchenell, as interviewed by Margaret Roach for the NYT Garden section on May 5, 2021. Don’t despair, though, there are still plenty of things you can do to minimize damage. This chapter from the Humane Society of the United States publication, Wild Neighbors: The Humane […]

Living With Wildlife

These remarkable keystone animals create habitat for many other species. Because they do so by cutting trees and making ponds, their activities are not always compatible with human land uses. Fortunately, solutions for nearly all beaver problems are available. We are fortunate to have a great resource in our region; […]

Living With Wildlife

We all love seeing bears, but bears that become accustomed to finding food near people can become nuisance animals, and sometimes end up being shot. Bears that become accustomed to foraging near houses will teach their cub the same habits, and they will lose the ability to survive as wild […]

Living With Wildlife

Big Brown Bats (and the very endangered Little Brown Bats) sometimes form large maternity colonies in attics and outbuildings. Because of White-nose Syndrome, these bats need all of the help they can get. The Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife has resources available to help you learn more about our bats, including […]