Techniques Recommended 

 by WS 



cation or husbandry practices, have 

 proven ineffective and technical assis- 

 tance alone is inadequate. WS staff 

 consider practical methods for resolving 

 wildlife damage problems and take 

 action by implementing the most strate- 

 gically appropriate measures. 



Whether or not a particular action is 

 appropriate or practical depends on a 

 variety of factors, including the species 

 causing damage, the type of damage 

 and its geographic location, and laws 

 and regulations. In general, three types 

 of actions can be considered for resolv- 

 ing instances of animals damaging a 

 resource. 



One approach is to move the resource 

 away from the animal causing damage. 

 Moving sheep out of a pasture to reduce 

 the likelihood of predation by coyotes or 

 moving beehives to an area away from 

 marauding black bears are examples of 

 this approach. 



A second possibility is to exclude an 

 animal from the resource. Using scare 

 tactics to keep birds away from crops or 

 electric fencing to keep predators away 

 from livestock are examples of this 

 technique. 



The third possibility is to relocate or 

 remove the animal causing the problem. 

 Snaring and removing a bear from a 

 sheep allotment or trapping a coyote 

 that has been killing calves are examples 

 of this approach. 



Often, the most effective strategy to 

 resolve wildlife damage problems is to 

 integrate the use of several methods or 

 approaches, either all at once or in turn. 

 This is known as integrated pest man- 

 agement (IPM). WS uses and recom- 

 mends IPM to reduce damage by 

 wildlife while minimizing any harmful 

 effects of the control measures on 

 humans, nontarget wildlife, domestic 

 livestock, and the environment. IPM 

 may incorporate husbandry techniques 

 like shed lambing, modifying habitat 

 (e.g., removing bird roosting cover adja- 

 cent to crops), or using trapping, snaring, 

 or shooting methods. 



WS personnel use and recommend 

 the best methods available, but some of 

 the methods currently used in wildlife 

 damage control are not new. For 

 example, cage and leghold traps have 

 been used for hundreds of years. They 

 continue to be important in wildlife man- 

 agement for situations where no other 

 alternative is available. Leghold traps 

 can be modified with padded or offset 

 closures to make them more humane for 

 target animals and to facilitate the 



