Even if you love wildlife and enjoy what nature has to offer you will probably draw the line when that wildlife comes calling and causes untold damage in your yard. There are numerous threats and pests to contend with both big and small, but when anything as big as a deer or as small as a vole starts destroying the habitat that you have worked hard to create, something needs to be done about it.

Here is a look at some of the uninvited visitors who might come calling and how to contend with them. Including tips on fending off deer, what mounds are warning you off, plus how to manage small rodents who want to eat your plants.

Beautiful but destructive creatures

Deer can be considered an attractive species but you might not view them so kindly when they take it upon themselves to eat your vegetables, flowering plants, and shrubs or leaves.

The most obvious solution to keeping a large creature like this away from your yard is to ensure that you have fencing around your property that is high enough to keep them out. If you can’t do this for any reason, you could try planting deer-resistant shrubs or plants so that they are not tempted to come looking for a snack.

If that doesn’t work, there are also some repellents that you can try which make plant leaves unpalatable to deer.

Big mounds of dirt

There is no mistaking when a gopher or mole has taken up residence on your lawn, as the various mounds of dirt provide evidence of their tunneling activities.

Both gophers and moles will eat plants that are above and below the ground and they can soon cause a considerable amount of damage in a short space of time. In addition to chewing your plants they can work their way through water pipes and tree roots, so you don’t want to delay taking action once you realize you are under attack from one of these creatures.

You might want to try rodent smoke bombs as a way of flushing them out. A natural solution to consider is using fox or coyote urine which you can pour down the tunnels to get them to move somewhere else. Also, think about digging wire mesh in around the base of tree and plant roots to discourage burrowing.

A rodent threat to the stability of your lawn

You will find small creatures like voles, rats, and mice will burrow beneath the ground and this can destabilize your lawn as they eat away at the structure in the form of roots, bulbs, and tubers.

When the sun goes down, rats and mice come out to feed on recently sown seeds and plant leaves, but voles can operate during the day as well as the night.

If you spot any evidence of damage in the form of tunnels, try placing some ammonia around the entrance, and place some crushed gravel around bulbs when you plant them so that they have a fighting chance of not becoming a rodent meal.

If you find any pests have infiltrated your yard take immediate steps to resolve the problem, as you don’t want to leave a welcome mat out for anything that could destroy the landscape you have worked hard to achieve.

*contributed post