Co-existing with wildlife:
Read all about it Series of brochures packed with info on how to cope with problemcritters. By Judie Steeves
I
f you’re plagued by wildlife problems in your orchard or vineyard, there’s a new series of brochures out that are full of information to help you clean up the conflicts and get on with business. A collaborative effort by all three levels of government and a couple of non-profit organizations, they deal with bears, cougars, coyotes, wolves, rodents, snakes, starlings and ungulates. Called Living with Wildlife in B.C., the eight guides were prepared by Zoe Kirk, of WildSafe B.C., who works with the Okanagan Similkameen Regional District and Margaret Holm, of the Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance. The brochures are designed for the agriculture and natural resource sectors as well as rural land owners. They are free to download from the B.C. Wine Grape Council website at:
bcwgc.org in the Health & Safety section; from the OSCA website at:
osca.org under living with wildlife; or from:
rdos.bc.ca in the WildSafe B.C., BearAware section.
Included is technical information about each critter, details on behaviour, what attracts them to the farm, and tips on keeping them off-farm or in control, as well as worker safety around them plus contacts and further resources. Number eight in the series is 12 pages of general conflict reduction techniques, from a discussion about learning to live in balance with wildlife to simple structures to protect bees and farm animals; how to manage attractants such as waste;
British Columbia FRUIT GROWER • Summer 2014 21 attracting wildlife,
whether that’s with fencing, removal of the attractants or a different way of dealing with the layout, storage or movement on-farm.
It is recommended that a wildlife management plan be completed for the farm, in order to clearly see what is causing the conflict and also what steps could be taken to mitigate it. The plan would include identifying hazards and planning procedures that would reduce the conflict with wildlife, and increase human safety
tips and plans for fencing of different sorts; deterrents for bird issues; worker safety deterrents and a page of contacts and resources.
The idea is to help protect crops, farm animals, workers and wildlife by educating people about how to best manage whatever is
and crop health.
Often farm holdings are on the edge of populated areas, so they’re in wildlife interface zones. Wildlife attractants are an unavoidable part of agriculture—but there are many ways to reduce the livelihood of conflicts.
While Conservation Officers will respond if there is a threat to human safety or property, they’re reluctant to take steps until the land owner has exhausted all possible options for preventing the conflict first.
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