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Cat / Dog Attacks: Are the cause of injury to the majority of our patients. Free-roaming pets kill millions of wild animals every day worldwide. This senseless slaughter by these 'subsidized predators' is surpassed in significance only by the direct actions of humans {one could reasonably argue that the pets are a 'human action' too}. Pet owners need to accept - and act on - the responsibilities of owning a pet. Allowing your pet to be free-roaming not only causes huge numbers of senseless wildlife fatalities, it also places the pet itself into potentially dangerous situations.

Avoiding conflicts between wildlife and pets is simple. The best method is to keep the pet indoors. Second best after that is keeping the pet contained in an enclosure. Most wild animals will avoid the area that the pet has access to.

For more information, take a look at: About Cats Indoors http://www.abcbirds.org/catindoo.htm 

Window Hits: Birds sometimes collide with windows when they see an image of the outside environment reflected off the glass. Usually this happens when they are frightened or otherwise preoccupied {a hawk nearby, or on a 'mating chase'}. This might make birds sound pretty stupid, but consider how many people walk into plate glass windows and doors every year! Making your windows safer for birds, while still pleasant to look out of, is difficult. It must be remembered before making any attempts that the reflection is on the outside of the glass! Putting things on the inside of the glass will have little or no effect on the outside reflections. Many 'static cling' vinyl decals are available on the market. These are effective if placed on the outside of the glass. They break up the reflected image so the bird perceives a smaller space to fly through, causing it to -hopefully- turn away. Some of the more effective decals are designed to look like spider webs, which not only do a great job of breaking up the reflected image, but supposedly birds do not like to fly through spider webs as it gums up their feathers.

A nearly foolproof method of preventing injury if the bird does fly into the window is to cover the window with black fiberglass insect screen. The screen should be mounted about 3 - 4 inches away from the window. If a bird happens to fly into the screen covered window, the screen acts as a 'trampoline', bouncing them off and lessening the impact. After several years the screen may have a collection of small 'beak holes', each one reminding you that a bird has been saved.

Birds Attacking Windows or Other Shiny Bits: Every year during breeding season we receive calls about birds beating themselves senseless on some house window, car mirror, or even a shiny hubcap. They relentlessly pound away, often injuring themselves in the process. No, they are not demented, neurotic, or stupid. They do this {usually males} when they see their reflection. Unlike humans who might think "How impressive I look today", the bird sees a competitor - "Another male who attacks every time I try to chase him away!" To most breeding birds, territory is life. Competitors can not be tolerated - and will be attacked, sometimes with lethal results.

To relieve the birds of this problem, take a bar of soap and "soap up" the shiny item to subdue the reflection {we all remember mischief night, right?}. Remember to do the outside of the glass if it is a window. Or you can use a piece of paper or other article that can be taped up over the offensive item.

Car hits can usually be avoided by simply paying attention. Roads that have woods / shrubs growing right up to the shoulder are dangerous places for animals. The animal will be going along through the woods, and suddenly they are in the middle of the road! Also, in the winter, many birds flock to roadsides to partake of the gravel that highway departments so generously offer, since other sources of gravel are covered up. A basic knowledge of natural history, and sharp attention while driving can virtually eliminate collisions with wildlife. Scan the roadside for 'standing' birds {note here that when you see one bird fly by, there is almost always another nearby} and scan the roadside shrubs for movement that might indicate an animal preparing to cross. At night, look for the 'eyeshine' of nocturnal animals near the roadside.
One of the best ways to avoid collisions also seems to be the hardest for people when driving cars: Obey the posted speed limit! Speed limits are calculated to allow for reaction time in an emergency situation. Go any faster and you risk not having any time to react! Speeding, even a little bit, costs the lives of millions of wild animals every year and many thousands of injuries and deaths to people.

Pesticide use in a residential setting is virtually inexcusable. Many thousands of wild animals and pets die a slow, painful death each year due to non-agricultural use of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and biocides. Millions fall to agricultural and industrial chemicals, be it accidentally or intentionally. The only sensible solution is to use none of these products for residential purposes. Buy organically grown and produced products whenever possible.

Swimming Pools can easily trap baby ducks and geese. Other birds and sometimes even mammals occasionally get stuck in pools too. A low fence around the pool {often required by local / state law} will prevent baby ducks, geese, mammals and your neighbors children from falling into the pool. Keep the pools cover on when you're not using the pool to prevent any flying / climbing animals from getting trapped.