Introduction:

Watch the introductory video from Ann Wied, Horticulture Outreach Specialist for UW-Madison, Division of Extension Waukesha County.

Gardeners can create, enhance and maintain habitat to help attract various wildlife. Sometimes wildlife can also cause damage and become a nuisance. In horticulture, we often use the term “pest” to broadly describe any sort of weed, insect, disease or animal that is causing an issue in our gardens. If you have ever dealt with a groundhog in your vegetable or community garden, you know what we are talking about! You may not have your own backyard and worry about wildlife as pests, but this module can still build your understanding of the balance of attracting and managing wildlife in the places you live and play. And if you are looking for more information about specific wildlife species, make sure to look at the Supplemental Materials.

Objectives:

After completing the reading in the manual, online module, and class activities, you will:

• Identify examples of the wildlife management concepts of randomness and diversity;
• Recognize that wildlife laws protect many types of wildlife and must be followed when managing wildlife;
• Identify examples of the following wildlife management techniques using an IPM framework: exclusion, removal, repellants, scare, habitat modification, and cultural changes.

Read:

• Chapter 8: Wildlife, pages 131-144

Watch:

• Presenter: Dr. David Drake, Wildlife Specialist, UW-Madison Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology.
• FYI: These videos were created for Master Gardener Volunteer Training and are used with permission for Foundations in Horticulture.
• There are two required videos for Wildlife, for a total view time of approximately 13 minutes.

Practice:

Click on the box in the lower right corner of the graphic to make it bigger. Use ESC to come back to this page.

Supplemental Materials:

Management of select species: Chapter 8: Wildlife, pages 145-146

UW-Madison Wildlife Ecology and Damage Management website with species specific fact sheets

Controlling Deer Damage in Wisconsin, UW-Extension Learning Store publication

Plants not favored by deer, UW-Extension Learning Store publication

Urban Wildlife Project – provides resources to help residents and wildlife managers in urban and suburban areas learn about wildlife habitat, identify common species, develop wildlife management plans and implement do-it-yourself projects.

Additional Video: Wildlife Damage Management Resources