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economist suntribune living with a thursday june 6 2002 our house is someone elses home raccoons skunks birds love to move into york region attics garages and basements bymikeadler staff writer in the dead of the night before an august holiday jane bargout and her husband mac were shocked awake by noises coming from above meirthornhill home it sounded like someone ham mering up there ms bargout remembered this week on the roof mr bargouts flash light beam fixed on an intruder a raccoon busily stripping off the cedar shingles and throwing them aside you it seems are not the only one who thinks your home would be the perfect place to raise a family the starling in the vent the skunk under the porch the squirrel in the chimney and a mother rac coon climbing up your downspout have the same idea what could the bargouts do urban animal experts say eliminat ing an intruder can buy homeown ers as little as a week of peace before other animals move in why bother trapping one when you have a bunch waiting to replace it ms bargout thought and started combing the internet for ideas more people in the region are coming into contact with flexible adaptable wildlife they move into new neighbourhoods quickly and search for weak spots in older homes they want what we want shelter water food and our trash is a prime food source two weeks ago stouffville resi dent anne salvagna was startled when an animal she thought was a cat ran out of her garage then tried to sneak back in i yelled at it and the thing came out and ran under neath the deck ms salvagna realized this was the same raccoon who takes onions from her garbage the animal her neighbours have seen cross the street at midday theyre all over up here theyre really becoming a nuisance she said wildlife centres preach tolerance especially in spring and early sum mer when female animals are raising young separate a mother from its young now they say and the result is a slow death for the offspring there are people who enjoy having wildlife living in their back yards and see it as a privilege rather than a burden said lisa veit wildlife services director for the ontario society for the prevention of cruelty to animals still the ospca whose whitchurchstouffville headquarters helps identify animal intruders and suggests remedies for homeowners recognizes their aggravation what you see is people get more frustrated with the wildlife ms veit said last fall wildcare wildlife staff photosjoerd witteveen mike cole left and brad mckay search this home in queensville for a raccoon and its young but the home invader managed to elude the two representatives of the animal removers photo courtesy the animal movers rehabilitation centre in vaughan received a raccoon with acid burns on its face one half of its face was seared it was just raw skin said director louise gagner who added the animal was later released three weeks ago a man called the wildlife shelter to say he had a raccoon trapped where could it be hit with a twobyfour he asked so it would die humanely its true that trappers licensed by the provinces ministry of natural resources often employ traps that kill but many commercial removal services will not they are more like ly to force the intruders out and con centrate on preventing their return when brad gates started operat ing his scarboroughbased aaa wildlife control in 1984 the busi ness was threequarters wildlife removal and onequarter preven tion capping chimneys screening roofends and plumbing vents today he said thats reversed mike cole of newmarket said his company the animal movers has removed at least 30 raccoon families in the region this year but as spring turns into summer its harder and harder to grab the growing young animals were likely behind the damage caused to this unionville roof act before animals move in ontario spca advises fall is the best time to wildlifeproof your home at other times you must be careful to avoid trapping young animals inside says lisa veit of the ontario society for the prevention of cruelty to animals what we really want people to do is elimi nate the problem before the animal moves in she said the societys website wwwospcaonca contains many tips for living with animal opportunists including these raccoons disturb them as much as possible when possible store garbage in the garage sprinkle ammonia inside the contain er when you add garbage squirrels place mothballs around the perimeter of the attic place a clampon reflec tor light around eavestroughs and suspend a plastic owl above it skunks fill openings under concrete slabs with dirt screen window wells dont provide convenient dens such as wood piles if you suspect skunks are outside make some noise before releasing a dog into the yard ms veit said a variety of odour or taste repel lents can also be used in yards and gardens although its a bit disgusting to some people she said hair collected from a dog or a bar bershop hung in a nylon stocking will keep animals away from trees or shrubs theyll see it as a predator and avoid the area you may also try working blood meal into garden soil or spraying some welldiluted cayenne pepper on soil or the nonedible parts of any plant remember ms veit added prowling animals are looking for an easy meal anything you can do to make it more difficult for them will increase the chances of them not being a problem for you if youre inspecting a building for evidence of animals or possible entry points your most important piece of equipment is a good flash light according to a new york state pest man agement guide beasts begone you may also want to bring an extendible mir ror for difficulttoreachspots or a book that can identify mammal tracks and droppings there are people who enjoy having wildlife living in their backyards and see it as a privilege rather than a burden its like trying to catch a cat in the attic mr cole said after he was foiled by the fastmoving rac coons now living in a large wide thornhill house no matter the homes human inhabitants will set a light and radio in the attic turning it into a night club and annoying the mother raccoon into leaving he said mr cole will be back two weeks later to close up the hole the bargouts after looking at some expensive repelling devices put a floodlight and a radio on their roof for a few nights it worked removal services will release trapped animals on a customers lawn trusting that the creatures have multiple dens they can reach nearby homeowners who want to remove the critters themselves can find live traps of various sizes avail able stomark rental on stouffvilles main street rents them by the week usually for 25 last week shop owner grant nesbitt demonstrated a trigger mechanism with a pen door clos es there they are he summarized but according to the ministry people who plan on driving a skunk or squirrel off to a new location should know most transplanted animals dont survive often other animals with established territories fight them off taking an animal out i of close proximity considered to be with in a kilometre to where it was caught is also against provincial law said john almond a provincial fish and wildlife specialist the mnr spending millions to control the spread of rabies doesnt want people transporting raccoons its also illegal to release animals onto someones property without their permission and that includes municipal parks and valley lands farmers dont appreciate people dumping city raccoons in their fields either mr almond said the bargouts meanwhile are awaiting their raccoons latest assault last august exactly one year to the night the hammering began it made a second attempt this time the floodlight alone proved to be enough we might even get the light out early this year ms bargout said tliis is part of a series on how york regions human and animal populations live together mm wcaranis esiinaiwii jw open 7 days mon fri 10v6 thurs 10 8 a week sat 8 6 sun 125 jfo iio6sissm0 48 jj 4717