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Our gardens are essentially extensions of our home and so just as we don’t want pests inside our house, we often don’t want them right outside either. Trash, animal feed and the prospect of a dry space to live, can attract a variety of pests to your premises, including squirrels, rats, raccoons, wasps and skunks, none of which we particularly want making their home outside ours. Although there’s always the option to have a pest removal service remove pests from your home and garden, it’s often just best to deter them from moving in in the first place. So here are four ways to keep unwanted garden visitors at bay.
- Remove attractive food sources
Food sources such as an outdoor pantry, animal feed, birdseed and trash are all extremely attractive to pests who will see them as an easy meal. Although you may not be able to remove these sources altogether, you can make them less attractive to visitors by keeping them under lock and key and inside airtight containers. If you keep animals that are fed outside, then try to clear up any uneaten food so that pests don’t see their meal as an easy snack and you don’t end up with a pest infestation.
- Put up a fence
Fencing off your garden may not deter all pests, but they can be used to keep larger pests such as raccoons and deer away from your flowers and vegetable garden. Raccoons, in particular, are adept climbers, and so fences need to be climb proof and also ideally electrified to give them a sharp shock and to deter them from making a break-in attempt.
- Keep their numbers down
Rats, rabbits, raccoons and skunks breed exceptionally quickly, turning a small problem into a much larger one in a matter of months. The best way to ensure that you don’t end up with an infestation is to keep the number of pests around your premises down by taking preemptive measures. If you notice a family of raccoons or skunks has moved into your premises, then these can be safely removed from your property by a skunk or raccoon removal service, who will then work with you to put preventative measures in place to stop them from returning.
- Block off attractive nest sites or sleeping spaces
Outhouses and sheds are attractive sleeping spaces for a number of animals and will bring pests seeking shelter into your garden. To stop pests from seeing your shed, decking or outhouse as their new home, try to block off any attractive nest sites or holes and make sure that the walls, windows and doors are all intact. You may need to install a preventative screening to stop animals from digging back under the foundations of your property.
So there you have it – four simple ways to keep unwanted pests out of your garden and away from your property. If you do end up with an uninvited guest, there are plenty of experts out there who are trained to help you put preventative measures in place and to regain control of your boundaries.