Wherever people and animals coexist, there are bound to be conflicts. In the Humane Society of the United States’ book, Wild Neighbors - The Humane Approach to Living with Wildlife, the authors acknowledge that "for far too long, the so-called ‘solutions’ have been simply to kill the offending animals." Thankfully, more and more people are realizing that there are better, more environmentally responsible ways to resolve conflicts with wildlife.

Project Wildlife’s primary purpose is to rescue and rehabilitate native wildlife, followed by their return to natural habitats. However, we have another purpose that is to educate the citizens of San Diego County on how to coexist with wild birds and mammals. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of advising a homeowner to bring in their pet’s food at night to discourage skunks, raccoons and opossums from hanging around. For more persistent critters, Project Wildlife offers informational leaflets and the advice of volunteers with hundreds of hours of experience with specific species.

Often, conflicts with wild critters can be avoided all together by planning ahead. Below are some helpful tips from Dead Daisies Make Me Crazy by Loren Nancarrow and Janet Hogan Taylor. Keep in mind that not all of the tips will work every time. You might need to try several before you find the ones that work for your situation. Be patient! Our precious native wildlife is worth it.

Fortify areas that are off limits - Plant areas around garden beds with thorny plants or hedges, such as roses, barberry, pyracantha, holly or gooseberry. These deterrents make great "fences" around areas where you don’t want to erect a real fence.

Provide plants that the "pests" are allowed to eat - Try planting some extra squash or zucchini plants around the edges of your garden. These plants will attract the pests and deter them from raiding the more desired vegetables in the center.

Use the sprinkler - Deter animals from protected areas by having a sprinkler ready. Nothing surprises an unwanted guest more than a spraying of water. Sprinklers are now available with motion detectors, which are great for nighttime guests.

Use repellents - An old trick that still works is to sprinkle ground pepper on plants that animals are nibbling on, or make the following repellent spray. If making a spray is too much trouble, try planting garlic around your favorite plants that hungry rabbits, gophers, squirrels, or voles to nibble on. As an added benefit, many insects are repelled by garlic as well.

Make pests think a predator is after them - Most plant-eating animals, such as rabbits, deer, and squirrels, are prey for some other animal. Dogs, cats and humans are predator animals. If you have a male dog, he probably takes care of this for you by marking his territory. If you don’t have a dog, borrow a friend’s or place kitty litter or hair from your last haircut around the perimeter of your yard. Gardeners who do not have access to a pet can even use human urine to mark out their territories. Using scents works well, but remember that after a while the pests will figure out that a predator isn’t around after all, and will become brave enough to raid your garden. Deer are especially smart at figuring this out. You can avoid this problem by switching between various scents so the pest’s don’t become accustomed to any particular one.

General Purpose Mammal Repellent Spray

• 2 to 4 hot chili peppers (the hotter the better, such as habanero or serrano) or 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 quart water

- Nancarrow, Loren and Janet Hogan Taylor. Dead Daisies Make Me Crazy. Ten Speed Press, 2000

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