How Burlington residents with bird feeders can avoid attracting wildlife

Halton | Burlington | Latest News |

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Published November 22, 2022 at 12:51 pm

During the fall and winter, spotting small animals around the City of Burlington can be common, particularly when they are out seeking food.

And while spotting them is common, it’s important to take preventative measures to keep them from gathering outside your home, particularly if your backyard or outdoor spaces contain bird feeders.

The City of Burlington often issues reminders on this with the most recent one providing tips to help discourage animals such as rodents, raccoons and coyotes from gathering in backyards that contain bird feeders.

“While it’s okay to feed birds with bird feeders, they can also attract other types of nuisance wildlife,” said the City on Twitter.

 

The City is reminding residents that even if they aren’t feeding wildlife, there are still many food sources that attract wild animals to the neighbourhood. That’s why it’s important to wildlife-proof your property by taking care of common problem areas such as bird feeders, barbecues, composters and garbage and fruit trees and bushes.

In order to discourage rodents, it’s important to secure garbage or organic compost in containers with tight-fitting lids, not leave food scraps out or around the yard, and cut tall grass and weeds and rodent-proof homes.

In terms of avoiding interactions with coyotes, it’s important to store garbage, compost and pet food in a place they cannot access, supervise animals when they are in the yard and clean up after your dog as coyotes are attracted to dog feces.

“Feeding wildlife, whether on purpose or by accident, such as squirrels, raccoons, deer and rabbits can create issues for your whole neighbourhood and harm wild animals,” reads the City’s website.

“Wildlife should be kept wild. Wild animals don’t need our help to find food and we should not try to make them into backyard pets.”

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