In areas where raccoons do not live, people have a hard time thinking of the creatures as pests. Let’s face it; raccoons are very cute, look cuddly, don’t seem all that creepy, and are also very amusing. Their natural curiosity, their survival skills, and their intelligence all add up to make one big super pest in areas where they are found in abundance.

When it comes to controlling a pest raccoon population, least toxic approaches have always been the most successful. Raccoons are smart enough to avoid most kinds of poisons, so pest control officers and home owners tend towards more active methods of control. Let’s take a look at some of the least toxic ways to deal with a raccoon problem.

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Due in large part to their biology, raccoons stand apart from other common pests in several different areas. Where they don’t differ is in their ability to become a general nuisance in both urban and rural settings. Understanding the biology of a particular type of pest is part of the foundation of least toxic pest control, where pests are controlled through the comprehension of their habits, diet, and reproductive behaviour. Once these areas are understood, pests can be controlled much more effectively. Let’s take a look at some of the key points in the biological makeup of raccoons.

Diet

Raccoons are both opportunistic and omnivorous. This means that they are willing and able to eat plants or meat, and will take advantage of literally any meal that they can. In the wild, this means roots, seeds, berries, fruit, small mammals, fish, and so on. In an urban setting, though, raccoons will eat just about anything they find lying around. Like most pests, they are particularly fond of garbage, and they also seem to enjoy eating both dog and cat food.

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The key to a successful integrated pest control management strategy lies in understanding the nature of the particular pest that you are concerned about. Knowing how an animal or insect is likely to behave, what it eats, how it lives, and how it breeds means that you know where to cut the pest off so that conditions are no longer favourable to circumstances that could lead to an infestation.

In this article, we are going to take a look at the biology of rabbits. These rodents don’t create in most of us the same revulsion as some of their pest cousins (rats and mice) but they nevertheless can be quite annoying to have around, particularly for those home owners who are facetious about their lawns and gardens. By understanding some of the key parts of rabbit biology, you can devise a strategy which will help to limit their numbers.

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When it comes to picnic guests, few are as unwelcome as yellow jackets. The type that usually show up tend to be very aggressive insects who land all over your steak and become quite perturbed when you attempt to drive them off. Yellow jackets, also known as wasps, are one of the most dreaded “pest” insects around. You will notice that I put pest in quotation marks; that is because as far as pests go, people have relatively little to worry about when it comes to yellow jackets. We will look at some of the main concerns below.

Pain and suffering

Obviously, the number one cause reason for people to want to get rid of wasps is the pain that they sometimes deal out. Wasps are particularly nasty because they both bite and sting, and both weapons pack a powerful punch. Moreover, wasps don’t have the decency to perish after stinging like their cousins the honey bee, they can go on claming more victims.

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A lot of people consider spiders pests, and I will admit up front that I am not one of them. I can identify with the reasoning of people who want to condemn spiders as pests and get rid of them, but in my opinion the potential benefits of spiders far outweigh any negative factors that are chalked up to them. In this article we will look at some of the reasons spiders may be on a pest list, but we will also take a look at why spiders can be beneficial.

* They are scary. This is the number one reason why people don’t like spiders around. Let’s face it, with eight eyes, eight legs, webs, and a venomous bite, spiders aren’t the most endearing creatures. Many people are willing to condemn them on looks alone. (more…)

Rats and mice sit second and third on the list of the world’s most successful vertebrates, right after humans. These creatures are so adept at breeding that they have followed us anywhere we set up homes, and that includes out at sea. They are adaptable and smart, and they are listed as pests for a veritable host of reasons. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Rats and Mice

* They are creepy. It might not be the best reason in the world to kill something, but most humans are pretty creeped out by rats and mice; rats are much worse - even Indiana Jones couldn’t handle them.

* They’re noisy. Large populations of rats and mice make a lot of unnerving noises, particularly at night. They will keep you from sleep and this only adds to their general creepiness.

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Left in their natural environment, raccoons are no problem to people. In fact, these little mammals have been known to make very interesting and entertaining pets, although they can be somewhat hard to manage. A large part of the problems that raccoons cause in urban settings are due to a couple of basic facts about their biology; namely their willingness to eat just about anything and their keen intelligence. Let’s take a look at a few of the problems that raccoons can cause, in their pest mode.

* Damage. Raccoons have earned a bit of a reputation as vandals, although they do not necessarily go out of their way to damage property. Instead, damage that they cause can be attributed to their search for food. Raccoons are problem solvers and will try a number of different methods in order to reach a possible food source, and that can lead to dented garbage cans, wrecked birdhouses, garbage strewn about yards and sheds, and chewed through packaging.

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Rabbits are one of those pests that don’t really start to annoy people until they start appearing in numbers. Unfortunately numbers are one of the things that rabbits do best; these medium sized rodents breed incredibly efficiently, good if you eat them but bad if they eat your lawn and garden.

That is actually the biggest area where rabbits are considered pests. As those of you with gardens know, it takes a lot of work and a lot of time to coax a small amount of food out of the ground, and a few rabbits can show up and in one night ruin a few months worth of work!

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As pests go, there is probably none that receives more unfair publicity than the opossum. These creatures certainly meet a couple of the criteria attributed to pests (one being their ability to reproduce rapidly) but as pests go they are much more mild than most. Let’s take a look at some common areas where pests annoy people, and see which ones the possum fits into.

* Creepy. This is another area where the opossum fits the bill for most people. They look like really big rats, and a lot of people find that look unbearable. It’s important to note that possums are not rats, nor in fact rodents at all. Rather, they are marsupials, the only species of the group naturally found outside of Australia. With that said, the long naked tail, pointy face and teeth, and general body shape of the possum does indeed resemble a rat. Possums are actually much more benign creatures, though.

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