Part of an integrated approach to pest control is acknowledging that many pests have a vital role to play in the natural world. Many people may wish that a certain species of animal would be wiped off of the face of the earth forever, but if this were to actually happen, the consequences could be dire. The greater the numbers of one creature, the bigger the roles it usually plays within nature (the exception being humans) even if that role is just feeding an incredible large number of other creatures.

In writing the articles for this website, I have come to a greater understanding of many of the animals that we would commonly think of as pests. I would like to make one thing clear; I can absolutely empathize with a desire to get rid of some of the species covered in these pages, at least within the home. Cockroaches, fleas, lice, and house flies may have their place, but I am certainly not above killing them when I see them and wishing them to stay away from me and my property forever. In fact, the same thing goes for rats and mice, although I can understand their upside in the natural world.

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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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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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The good thing about raccoons is that as pests go, they are on the more tolerable side because of their appearance, their intelligence, and because they do not breed as quickly as other types of pests. The bad thing is that sometimes, raccoons can be one of the worst pests there are, again largely due to their intelligence.

Integrated pest management calls for the least toxic approach to handling pests like raccoons, due to the harmful nature of the chemicals and poisons that have traditionally been used to keep pest animals under control. This is maybe more true of mammal pests such as raccoons than insects, because the poisons used against mammals can be just as deadly to humans.

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For such small creatures, rabbits can do a surprising amount of damage to a garden or a landscaping scheme in a very short amount of time. There are many ways in which you can use a least toxic approach to take care of a rabbit problem once it has started, but by far the best way is to take steps to make sure you don’t have a rabbit infestation in the first place.

Integrated pest management means not only dealing with pest problems, but also making sure that pest numbers do not grow so that the animal becomes a problem. The steps you take to ensure that your yard is rabbit proof will save a lot of time and money; let’s take a look at a few of them.

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As pests go, opossums aren’t particularly bad. They tend to stay out of people’s way, they don’t carry diseases, and they are non-threatening. Still, if you are a fastidious home owner, opossums may cause you a certain amount of grief, as they love to get into garbage and other easy sources of food.

Integrated pest management calls for pest control using an understanding of pest behaviours and using that to knowledge to limit the numbers of a specific pest. This is also known as the least toxic approach, because it rejects the chemical warfare approach that humans have waged against pests for so long with so little effect.

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People with hobby gardens are often concerned about the pests they see or may encounter that have the potential to wreak havoc on the harvest they are counting on. Beginning gardeners, especially, tend to hold to the belief that the presence of pests means that their hard work is ultimately doomed to failure.

There really is no such thing as a pest free garden; any outside area is going to have a certain amount of creepy crawlers or scurries which gain nutrition off the gardener’s hard work. The key is to define in your mind what a pest really is, and to focus not on eradication but on control. We will discuss some options for maintaining a garden where the pest population is controlled, but it is important to keep in mind that with some exceptions that we will note, sighting a few pests does not mean your garden is going to be reduced to a few sad looking green stumps.

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Rabbits are yet another rodent pest that have the potential to explode in terms of population numbers. Fortunately for many people, rabbits have never been able to adapt to cities in the way that some mammal pests such as mice, rats, raccoons, and possums have. You might find them in city parks and other large green space, but for the most part the concrete we rely on prevents them from making themselves truly comfortable homes.

Not so in more rural areas! In some parts of the country rabbits are a major pest, particularly for those who love to garden. Here are some ideas for the least toxic approach for dealing with rabbits.

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By far the largest pest when it comes to your lawn and garden are deer. Deer have been found to be remarkably adaptable animals, flourishing just outside of major metropolitan areas and in some cases found right within the limits of large cities. How they get there is anyone’s guess, but one thing we know for sure is that if you live in an area where there are a lot of deer, you are going to have a lot of problems with your garden. These animals are large and can cause a lot of damage to your landscaping in a very short amount of time. Here are some ideas for controlling deer problems.

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Not too long ago, there was only one answer when a pest population was presented, and that answer was chemicals, the deadlier the better. The chemical approach will hopefully soon be a thing of the past, however, as more and more we are becoming aware of the detrimental effects of toxins on our environment and on ourselves. In fact, toxic spray for pests tends to do almost everything else more harm in the long run than the pests it is supposed to take care of.

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