Wildlife Damage Control

A comprehensive reference on vertebrate species that can cause economic damage or become nuisance pests. Reviews all vertebrate species that come into conflict with human interests in North America. Includes agricultural, commercial, industrial, and residential pest problems and recommends solutions; emphasizes prevention; outlines and explains all currently registered and recommended control methods and materials. Contains dozens of chapters written by various authors. Figures.

The types of damage caused by wildlife are many and varied, and can be costly and far-reaching. Until now, there has been little effort to identify and evaluate generalities across that broad range of species, methods and topics. Wildlife Damage Control promotes principle-based thinking about managing impact. It documents and discusses the key principles underlying wildlife damage and its control, and demonstrates their application to real-life topics – how they have been used in management actions or how they could be tested in the future. It synthesises the wide but diffuse literature dealing with the impacts of vertebrate pests and encourages readers to adopt a more theoretical framework for thinking about pest impacts and ways to manage them. The book is organised around key principles that apply across species, rather than looking at individual species, and is damage-based not pest animal-based. Within each chapter there are exercises designed to help readers learn and evaluate key principles. Conservation biologists, ecologists and others involved in wildlife management will find the sections covering principles in biodiversity conservation, of production such as agriculture, and in human and animal health of real value.

Historical perspective. Wildlife values in a Changing World. New patterns on land and water. Influence of land management on wildlife. Special problems of waters and watersheds. Pesticides and wildlife. Wildlife demage and control. Legislation and administration. Evaluation and Conclusions.

USDA conducts an animal damage control program that employs an integrated pest management approach to prevent or reduce wildlife damage to agriculture, natural resources, facilities and structures, and for the safeguarding of public health and safety. This programmatic EIS examines 13 alternatives ... the analyses focus on the wildlife species affected, losses associated with wildlife damage, societal values or attitudes, and impacts on biological, economical, and physical aspects of the human environments. The Current Program Alternative, which uses an integrated pest management (IPM) approach to address wildlife damage problems, is the preferred alternative.

Reidinger and Miller argue that, in recent years, the rate of undesirable human-wildlife interactions has risen in many areas, owing in part to the expansion of residences into places formerly wild or agricultural, making wildlife damage management even more relevant. From suburban deer eating gardens and shrubs, to mountain lions threatening pets and people, to accidentally introduced species outcompeting native species, Reidinger and Miller show how proper management can reduce wildlife damage to an acceptable, cost-effective level. An extensive section on available resources, a glossary that explains terms and concepts, and detailed figures will aid both students and seasoned professionals. Instructors will find this text arranged perfectly for a semester-long course. The end-of-chapter questions will allow students to ponder the ways wildlife damage management concepts can be put into practice.