Wherever you look that you can find human civilization, so too can you find some form of natural habitat that is coexisting alongside them. Along village outskirts, natural habitats divided by roadways, and densely populated urban ares you can see humans and wildlife interacting with one another each and every day. Urban and Suburban areas can be found to not only be populated by humans but by all sorts of wildlife as well, typically common animals. Squirrels, raccoons, rodents such as mice and rats, birds, and even bats have been known to find refuge in homeowners’ walls and attics.

With the inevitability of homeowners conflicting with animal wildlife we ask ourselves, “How to control urban animals and prevent property damage?” Typically wildlife and humans can live alongside one another peacefully, however, conflicts can arise in which a homeowner might find his or her property damaged, their gardens destroyed, or even an unwelcome guest such as a skunk residing beneath their porch, holding the homeowner captive. Homeowners may have been careless and inadvertently created conditions in which wildlife may thrive, or unknowingly attracted wildlife by the feeding of domesticated animals. In a lot of cases, these situations can be avoided or prevented in many ways such as keeping garbage and recycling containers cleaned, removing fallen fruit during the summer, cleaning and picking up old wood piles and keeping your yard tidy, maintaining fences, eliminating and limiting access to food sources, and the use of simple deterrents.

Many homeowners have found themselves in situations in which repellents have become a necessity in ridding themselves of unwelcome and furry visitors. Commercial repellents can be found online for most common animals and pests. Some techniques utilize the use of hot peppers such as Cayenne, Jalapeno, and yellow onions being blended together and boiled for 20 minutes in two quarts of water, allowing it cool afterwards, before straining the mixture, then using a spray bottle to apply to areas in which animal deterrence is wanted, however, it will only last for 3-5 days. Others may prefer the use of mechanical deterrents such as motion-activated sprinklers which are great for keeping animals out of yards and large areas. To keep animals such as raccoons from pilfering through a homeowner’s garbage, it has been suggested that they pour about one cup of ammonia in the trash can about once a week after it has been picked up, making sure that the garbage can has a lid that securely closes, keeping it inside of closets and sheds until they are ready to set it out, or sprinkling the surrounding area with granules or using the hot pepper spray.

All of these tactics and techniques have diverse rates of success dependent on many various factors, but as long as homeowners maintain diligence in preventing and deterring urban animals they will soon see a difference in the amount of property damage they incur.