Cleaning up your house or yard? Please keep in mind that wild
animals can be injured when people trim trees, mow lawns, clean
chimneys, or find them trapped or nesting indoors. If you take
a few simple precautions, you can prevent injuring wildlife
when you clean and make basic repairs to your house. Here are
some tips on wildlife-friendly house and yard maintenance for
homeowners, landscapers, and other professionals. To find out
more, contact the Cape Wildlife Center.
Indoors
Chimneys
If you find a nest in your chimney, delay cleaning until the
young have left. This should only take a few weeks. Always cap
chimneys lined with metal to keep birds and small mammals from
getting trapped. Remember that almost all birds are protected
by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and cannot be killed or
moved.
Attics
Check for animals in the attic before cleaning. Don't evict
any animals without checking for babies first. If you find any
wild babies, wait a few weeks for them to leave. Raccoons
without young can be excluded from an attic by installing a
one-way door over the entryway they're using and patching it
shut once the raccoons have left.
Household Cleaners
Many commercial cleaning products have harmful chemicals, so
choose organic and natural cleaners.
| Instead of
using: |
Use: |
| Glass
cleaners |
Vinegar and
water |
| Paper
towels |
Reusable sponges
and cloths |
| Petroleum-based
dish washing soaps |
Soaps derived
from vegetable sources |
Outdoors
Windows
Keep birds from running into your newly cleaned windows by
placing plants and other visual obstructions inside or dangling
strips of Mylar™ tape from the top of the glass outside the
window.
Siding
Check for small gaps where animals might enter your
house—even a
1/2" x 1/4" space is large enough to allow a snake, bat, rat,
or mouse to squeeze through. But make sure that no animals are
inside before you seal any gaps.
Lawns
Always walk over the lawn to check for wildlife—especially
turtles and nests of baby rabbits—before mowing. Turtles may be
gently moved, but nests of baby rabbits should be left alone so
that the mother rabbits can find their young when they come
back to feed them. They'll be weaned and on their own within
three weeks.
Trees
- Check all limbs for bird and squirrel nests before
trimming trees.
- If you accidentally knock a nest out of a tree, retrieve
the babies and their nest and renest them in a nearby
limb.
- If the nest is broken, rebuild it or make a replacement
nest of the same shape. You can use a common household
container (such as a margarine container or plastic
bottle—not from a cleaning product—with the top cut off).
Poke holes in the bottom for drainage and line the container
with natural materials similar to those used in the original
nest.
- Watch for the mother to return. It's a myth that birds
will reject babies touched by humans.
