Image: Al_HikesAZ

There’s nothing like the great outdoors to provide a welcome refuge from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. A camping trip with your family is an excellent way to relax, unwind and bond with nature. However, an unwanted late night visit to your tent from a skunk, raccoon or other nuisance animal can quickly ruin your trip.

Preparing for an Animal Invasion

If sharing your tent or sleeping bag with a wild animal isn’t your idea of a good time in the wilderness, you’ll need to take some steps to keep the wildlife away. Knowing which items to bring along can make the difference between a fun-filled family excursion and one that will live in your memory for all the wrong reasons. It can also be helpful… Read More

Image: notsosubtle

Remember how much fun it was to go to the neighborhood park to feed the squirrels or pigeons when you were a kid, or to feed the animals at a petting zoo if the rules allowed? And if you’re a parent, there’s nothing better than to see the expression of joy on your young child’s face as she watches a family of hungry ducks devour leftover breadcrumbs while she tosses them into a local pond.

Potential Consequences of Backyard Feeding

Of course, when you feed birds or wild animals away from your property, you don’t have to deal with the potential consequences. Once an animal locates a steady source of food, you can be sure it will make a return visit when it’s time for the next meal.

If you choose to… Read More

Image: Maggie Osterberg

My mom had a monster-sized coon at her cat food bowl in rural Alabama a few years ago. She lived close to a pond, and they apparently had been invading the area for years.

I proceeded to catch thirteen raccoons (and a couple of possums) over the next few weeks! Raccoons are very attracted to eggshells and something smelly from the compost, like tuna. Or they like wet pet food in a trap placed at the edge of a wooded area.

One night more recently, after a friend and I had fed his cats, the dogs were barking a "serious" bark. I went out, and a possum was on the porch railing where the cat food was. He didn't even flinch at all or react in any normal way when I yelled at him,… Read More

Image: normanack 

Have you ever heard the phrase “playing possum?” This actually originates from the tendency of the opossum (or simply “possum”) to involuntarily play dead when startled or threatened.

Opossums are marsupials; in fact, they’re the only marsupials residing in North America. While they like to create dens in hollow trees or the vacated burrows of other animals, opossums can also find a home under your deck, shed or house. Because of their unspecialized biology, flexible diet and reproductive strategy, opossums are successful colonizers and survivors even when their habitat has been disrupted.

While opossums may be good at playing dead, it doesn’t mean they’re harmless. All that digging and burrowing can compromise the foundation of structures, one of the reasons why you need to send them packing if you discover them on… Read More