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This set-up will prevent ants from getting into hummingbird and oriole feeders. (Doug Domedion / contributor)

This set-up will prevent ants from getting into hummingbird and oriole feeders. (Doug Domedion / contributor)

Everyone enjoys seeing wildlife but sometimes the critters can cause problems, especially around the house and gardens.

Some birds, like the non-native house sparrow, pose a serious problem to bluebirds, so if you’re trying to attract them with nesting boxes you will probably have to deal with this sparrow. The male builds a nest in a bluebird nesting box, sometimes in several if you have a number of them up, and then lets the female decide which one she wants to use. The others are then useless to other birds because they are filled up with all the junk that the sparrow put in there.

The sparrow’s nest is built with dead grass, lots of feathers and even pieces of plastic that thoughtful humans throw out of their vehicles. So, the bluebird lover has to constantly monitor his boxes for sparrows as they rebuild the nests almost as quickly as you tear them out. There are devices that can be used to catch sparrows when they go in the boxes but they require hourly monitoring to release a bluebird should one go in the box.

House sparrows will reproduce two or three times a year, causing instant local overpopulation that makes them a bigger problem. The other bad thing about the house sparrow is that he will actually go into a bluebird box and kill the incubating female bluebird or poke holes in her eggs. Show no mercy to the house sparrow!

Another wild pest is the raccoon, which has become quite plentiful in recent years due to the low market value of its fur. The trapper is often looked down on by the general public, which often is not aware of the vast number of problems this cute creature causes. Because of the public outcry against killing animals for fur garments, the fur market has dropped tremendously, which means we don’t have many trappers out there controlling predator populations.

Raccoons are becoming a serious problem because they are great carriers of rabies and have the bad habit of destroying bird nests up to and including bald eagle nests. They are great climbers and can climb just about anything. They’re also real pests around our homes as they raid our bird feeders, chicken coops, gardens and garbage cans. Raccoons are very strong animals and can become ferocious, even attacking smaller dogs. I have seen more raccoons hit on local roadways this year than ever before and I’m noticing that a lot of them wander in the daytime (not a normal thing).

How to respond? Put a predator guard on you bird feeders or quit feeding the birds. Keep garbage securely locked up. And, by all means, stay away from these animals. There are some solar-powered electric fences that may keep them from raiding your garden if you place the fencing close to the ground.

Speaking of gardens, are deer, woodchucks or rabbits raising heck with yours? Again, that solar-powered fence may solve your problem — a low strand for the smaller pests and another strand higher up for the deer. A high regular mesh wire fence will keep rabbits and woodchucks out, but it has to be at least 7 feet high to make deer think twice, so the electric fence looks like a better deal. A dog that can be trusted to stay around the house is another solution but you may have to put up one of those invisible fences to keep him from chasing these creatures all over the neighborhood.

Ants can be a very serious problem around your hummingbird and oriole grape feeders. This of course may tempt them to check out your house next. I solve this problem by making small “water moats” to hang these feeders from.

This is a fun project, as you have to go to one of the fast food places, order a hot fudge sundae, and save the little top on the plastic cup (a small, single-serve pudding or applesauce cup works, too, but I think the sundae cup works better!). Using a stiff piece of wire about eight to ten inches long, poke through the center of that cup so half of the wire comes out the bottom and half sticks out above the top. Seal the hole you made with some kind of sealant, like Shoe Goop, and after it dries bend a hook on each end of the wire, one to hang the feeder on the bottom and the other to hang the whole set-up. Put water in the “moat” and this will prevent ants from getting down to the feeder (unless they have learned to swim!).

Another creature that can cause serious health problems is the deer tick, which has become a lot more prevalent in our area. A bite from one of these creatures may give you Lyme disease and that is a very serious thing, as the symptoms are often overlooked until it is too late. Be smart and spray your pants with a good insect repellent like Sawyers, which blocks deer ticks for up to 42 days or six washings.

Wildlife watching is a pleasant pastime for many folks, but some of those wild things can be real pests around the house, gardens or while you’re hiking, so you must take some preventive action or pay the price. Use some of my suggestions to enjoy your observations problem-free.

Doug Domedion, outdoorsman and nature photographer, resides in Medina. Contact him at (585) 798-4022 or woodduck2020@yahoo.com .

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