Top 5 Backyard Features That Attract Wildlife

Are you dealing with nuisance critters like raccoons, squirrels, birds, and more causing issues on your property in Westchester? Your backyard may be attracting them without you even realizing it. It’s important to locate the sources of food, water and shelter that are attracting critters to your backyard so you can take the proper preventative steps to protect your home. In addition, Westchester Wildlife also offers wildlife trapping and removal services to remove animals that have already set up shop on your property.

1. Bird Feeders

Bird feeders are an obvious one, as these containers full of nuts and seeds provide an easy meal for both birds and squirrels. While bird feeders don’t guarantee that a squirrel will break into your attic or a bird will nest inside your dryer vent, a steady food source certainly makes your home more appealing as a long-term home.

2. Compost Piles and Open Trash Bins

Discarded food attracts all kinds of wildlife, especially raccoons, so it’s important to secure your food trash to prevent wildlife problems. Compost piles are a great way to return organic waste to the earth and fertilize your plants, but they also provide a veritable buffet for a hungry raccoon. Instead, secure your compost in a raccoon-proof compost bin.

If your outdoor trash cans are left open or unsealed, you might wake up to trash strewn all over your lawn by a raiding raccoon. Keeping your trash cans sealed with a tightly-fitting lid, especially overnight, can help prevent raccoons from getting into your trash and viewing your property as a source of food.

3. Pet Food Left Outdoors

If you leave bowls of dog food out on your back deck for your furry friend, or if you leave out cat food for the neighborhood stray, you might be unknowingly providing a meal for a raccoon, skunk, rat, or other passing critter. Make sure you bring all pet food inside before nighttime to prevent nocturnal critters from setting their sights on your property.

4. Overgrown Vegetation and Brush Piles

If your backyard is covered in dense, overgrown vegetation and tall grass, it provides plenty of places for groundhogs, snakes, rats, shrews, and more to shelter and nest. Animals feel safer with some level of cover, so trimming bushes, clearing brush piles, and keeping your grass cut short (especially near your home’s foundation) can make your backyard feel less safe for passing animals.

5. Sheds, Crawl Spaces, and Woodpiles

Sheds, unsealed crawl spaces, and wood piles in your backyard provide a dry, hidden nesting or denning site for skunks, opossums, chipmunks, rats, and snakes. Having Westchester Wildlife install wildlife barriers underneath your sheds and around your home’s foundation can keep these critters out.

Honorable Mention: Backyard Water Sources

Sources of water in your backyard can also attract passing wildlife like raccoons, deer, squirrels, and more. Birdbaths and ponds are common sources of water near homes, but even clogged gutters with rain collected in them can provide water to a thirsty squirrel. Ensuring you carefully maintain water fixtures on your home and regularly drain standing water can help keep these critters out.

When It's Time To Call A Professional

It’s time to call a professional about a wildlife problem as soon as you notice the signs: persistent scratching, scampering, stomping, or flapping noises, visible droppings, tracks, chewed wires, and less effective insulation (due to wildlife nesting). If you need wildlife trapped, removed, or excluded from your property in Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, or Fairfield, call the experts at Westchester Wildlife today for a FREE estimate at 800-273-6673!

800.273.6673

914.760.5713

845.279.6220