Illinois Raptor Center Newsletter Archive

Preventing Wildlife Problems at Home

Most of the time we choose to learn life's lessons the hard way.

A wild bird or animal is removed from an attic, chimney or from beneath a porch. A day or so later, the homeowner discovers a noisy nest of starving babies left behind. These babies often end up at The Illinois Raptor Center, and they shouldn't. A free roaming dog or cat injures an animal or bird that ends up at The Illinois Raptor Center. It never should have happened.

Homeowners can take a number of simple and inexpensive steps to protect their property, protect their pets and protect wildlife.Uncapped chimneys, holes in soffits, missing or broken lattice beneath porches, pet food left out at night and unsecured garbage cans can attract wild animals. You may not believe this, but a city may actually provide more nesting spaces per square mile than a square mile of forest. This may lead to an unnatural over population of wildlife in urban areas.

Free roaming pets kill more wildlife than any oil spill. A cat can kill 11 small birds or mammals each day. Before I became involved with the IRC in 1994, I'll admit I hadn't given these topics much thought. In fact, I have experienced many of these problems at my own home. The idea for this column came to me the other day when a big hunk of my disintegrating chimney crumbled and rained down on my deck. It was a reminder of something I had meant to do since moving in four years ago, cap the chimney.

Like most people, I prefer to learn things the hard way. Only the prospect of needing a hard hat for yard work spurred me to do something that needed to be done. My cat Georgie brought home dozens of critters of all types before I admitted that the bell son his collar weren't working. One day he got perilously close to a squirrel and I realized he might really be able to kill one.He now resides full time inside, and is sitting near me as I write this.

So join me in picking up a hammer, or picking up the phone,and fixing that potential wildlife problem at your house. A pair of inexpensive bungee cords can keep your garbage can secure.A couple of nails will secure that loose piece of lattice. You will protect your property value, the health of your pet, and help keep your neighborhood habitat in proper balance.

Chris Young/Board of Directors, published Summer 1999.

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