Customer Reviews

Wild Neighbors: The Humane Approach to Living with Wildlife Second Edition

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This is an excellent description of methods and techniques to use for the most commonly-considered "nuisance" species of wildlife. John Hadidian, the author, is both a wildlife enthusiast and a gardener, and he has edited a very balanced set of explanations on how to discourage wildlife when it has become a problem for a homeowner. The solutions are humane and can leave the homeowner proud that the situation was resolved peacefully. I ran a wildlife hotline with 50 volunteers frequently dealing with the public on these very issues, and this book was the reference the volunteers found most helpful.

This book offers a wide range of practical solutions for resolving conflicts between humans and urban wildlife in a humane manner. The recommended approaches (such as exclusion techniques) not only prevent innocent animals from being killed by unscrupulous trappers and pest control services, they are permanent solutions which cost next to nothing. Ideal for enlightening residents and city councils on alternatives to destroying animals unnecessarily and wasting tax dollars in the process.

If you own property in urban, suburban or rural settings, you should have this book. It's the definitive guide to understanding wildlife, common diseases, and problems they may cause, and how to effectively solve them.

The first few chapters explain how to prevent and identify wildlife problems - and the right questions you should ask before hiring a professional to help you. The book also explains what methods work - and ones that don't - to save you money. The most humane and effective methods are clearly explained.

The next 31 chapters each deal with specific animals: bats, crows, deer, mice, moles, pigeons, snakes, etc.

As a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, I was interested in seeing what type of information could be provided in a book that I could recommend to people wanting to solve wildlife problems in a humane manner. This book is an important contribution to a field that is becoming more important as people move expand into wildlife habitat as well as creating more attractive wildlife habitat in their own yards.

This book is great for wildlife rehabilitators' use in helping homeowners to solve wildlife conflicts. It is also an excellent tool to help homeowners to understand and live in harmony with the wild animals that are forced to move into their neighborhoods as more of their natural habitat disappears.

One of the most comprehensive wildlife books to date. Really gives a good inside look into urban wildlife problems and how to deal with them in a humane manner that even a novice could follow

My friend and I have been taking care of a feral colony of 4 cats for over 10 years. Lately, we have been invaded by raccoons, messing the water dish and eating up every parcel of cat chow they can get.

I called a local animal rehabilitator and asked for advice. She told me what to do and suggested this book. Fortunately, I ordered 2 extras and shared with my friend and have the third as back up. Now we have what appears to be rats living under the shelter. They do not seem to be bothering the cats. In the spring we will have to readjust the shelter to a higher level. The book is loaded with information about so many wild animals and even shows pictures of the animal tracks. I can even use the information to help a friend who lives on a 40 acre farm with woods and stream and ponds.

Wild Neighbors (2nd edition), is a book that you should see on the shelf in Cooperative Extension offices, municipal animal control offices, state and district wildlife offices, USDA Wildlife Services offices, local pet shelters, rehabilitation centers, and in wildlife control operator offices.

But how many of these offices have this book? I would guess, not many.

Wild Neighbors was written by staff for The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). That's probably enough to have some readers thinking, "The HSUS? Don't expect much useful information. Their bias against trapping, shooting, and poisons will taint everything they recommend."

They'd be wrong.

Don't get me wrong... the authors focus on non-lethal management alternatives, and fail to discuss lethal alternatives (with a few important exceptions). "It is not right to kill problem-causing wildlife simply because it is within our power to do so" (p. 3). But there is a great deal of useful, practical, and helpful information regarding the management of conflicts with a number of wildlife species found in urban and suburban areas.

The approach the book takes in discussing wildlife-human conflicts includes 1) respect for the environment, 2) tolerance and understanding of living things, and 3) intent to resolve conflicts using non-lethal means (p. 3). The first two issues should not be controversial. The third is a bone of contention. But when you think about it, the alternatives are, what? The intent to resolve conflicts using lethal means? The intent to resolve conflicts with either lethal or non-lethal means? Although I prefer the latter (since my philosophy is to resolve the conflict), you must understand all the alternatives. And what is wrong with desiring a non-lethal solution? Even USDA Wildlife Services has a policy which states, "Preference is given to nonlethal methods when practical and effective." This is a book about these methods.

This volume discusses the process of resolving a wildlife-related conflict (identifying damage, identifying culprits, selecting actions, assessing actions). It discusses, in general, laws and regulations relating to urban wildlife management. There is a detailed chapter on health concerns ("Avoiding direct contact with wild animals is always advisable. When they must be handled, it should be by experienced and properly equipped individuals," p. 13). And there are chapters on living with wildlife, questionable practices, and recommended tools and strategies. I learned some things here. There is a window decal to prevent bird collisions that is nearly invisible to humans but seen by birds. The "reunion boxes" championed by Brad Gates are very interesting. I agree that organic gardeners don't really think about where that predator urine comes from. And I appreciate HSUS not recommending ultrasonic devices (p. 52, 140) and recognizing that naphthalene and paradichlorobenzene usually are used in pesticide formulations for insects; as "repellents" for wildlife, homeowners are using it illegally (and ineffectively, p. 55).

But the major part of the book, Part 2, is the species-specific accounts. There's a lot of information here. I agree with most of it, and there are some issues I disagree with. Here's a sampling:

- There is note of the most up-to-date recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for dealing with bats discovered in a room in which a person is sleeping (p. 74).

- "The solution [for human-bear encounters] lies in educating people on how to behave in bear country, and, when necessary, educating bears to avoid people" (p. 89).

- "Cougars who have attacked or injured people are tracked and killed whenever possible. THis targeted action is deemed necessary, because it is highly likely that the same cougar will attack again" (p. 113).

- "Some ranchers now attempt to capture or kill [coyotes] only when predation has occurred; the offending individual or pair is targeted for removal and other coyotes are left unmolested. This strategy recognizes that it is better to leave coyotes who do not kill livestock as territorial residents. so they will keep coyotes who might kill livestock away. We think the same strategy would hold true for suburbia" (p. 117).

- "A variety of products (including some home-made remedies) can repel deer" (p. 128). Given the earlier assertion ("With the exception of hot sauce, few home remedies actually work" [p. 57]), there is a tendency to promote ineffective repellents throughout (e.g., p. 128, 176).

- "In our view, lethal control can never be justified without diligent efforts to apply other controls to prevent problems from recurring" (p. 140, chapter on mice).

- "The golden rule of pigeon feeding is moderation. Feed only as much as birds will eat in five to ten minutes and do not feed with clockwork regularity, which conditions the birds to appear at the same place, same time, every day" (p. 155). There is no discussion here on local policies to ban feeding.

- "Where [pocket gophers] are not so numerous as to be causing heavy damage, the homeowners should consider them as neutral or beneficial" (p. 161). Since a single gopher can girdle, and kill, a mature fruit tree, in orchards the threshold for initiating gopher control is... one gopher. Similar damage from a single gopher can occur to a homeowner's trees. Also, for gophers, "Artificial perches for raptors and tolerance of fox, coyote, or snake presence can go a long way toward creating a predator-prey balance" (p. 162). I am unaware of any studies, anywhere, that demonstrate that raptor perches, barn owl boxes, or predators in general control gopher populations, although there are continuous claims that they do so. It should make sense for animals that spend 99% of their life underground.

- "There are claims that empty soda bottles buried up to their necks and placed along a garden perimeter produce a noise when the wind blows across them that scares rabbits away" (p. 176). Luckily, these unproven and wild claims are rare in this volume.

- "The key to rat control is maintaining conditions that discourage their presence in the first place" (p. 189). "Lethal rat management [with snap traps] must be undertaken with the clear awareness that the animals will suffer and, most important, that the rats' presence and, therefore, our need to 'manage' them, is largely a consequence of our own lack of proper sanitation in our immediate environment" (p. 191).

As I mentioned above, there is a lot of great information here. One of my biggest disappointments came from the volume's lack of candor about where information came from. I have no doubt a number of "traditional" references were used to pull the information together. However, the "Resources" listed at ends of the species account chapters, and the "Reading for Pleasure" appendix, failed to list references used by the writers and useful to the readers. I'll give two examples. First, I have no doubt that the "Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage" publication produced by the University of Nebraska was used as a reference throughout. However, it is not cited once. This would get every undergraduate in the land in trouble. Second, there is the formula on page 197 for the hydrogen peroxide-based skunk odor neutralizer. As read, this seems to be a HSUS concoction. The lack of attribution to the developer, again, is troubling.

I would have preferred chapters on feral cats, vultures, and a few other species. However, I appreciated the focus on the "big three": raccoons, squirrels, and skunks.

I began this review with the observation that you should see this book "...on the shelf in Cooperative Extension offices, municipal animal control offices, state and district wildlife offices, USDA Wildlife Services offices, local pet shelters, rehabilitation centers, and in wildlife control operator offices." The fact that it isn't on most of these shelves is telling. Some of the species accounts in this volume are also posted on the HSUS webpage (although they don't seem exactly the same), increasing availability. Still, this slick volume needs, and deserves, a much wider readership.

Wild Neighbors is broken into two major parts. The first section of the book deals with general wildlife information, understanding, and history. It's a great introduction to thinking about the animals that surround us as part of our environment rather than pests we have to deal with. There are a number of resources on how to manage life with animals and what to do when seeking outside help.

The second part of the book is broken up into specific animals. I was pleased to find a section on raccoons since they have caused me the most trouble recently. The suggestions given on managing the animals are realistic and guilt-free. I definitely plan to try the hot sauce as a deterrent for raccoons and making sure to clear the are of tempting raccoon meals.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who lives in an area with wildlife (that's just about all of you!). Even if you're not dealing with a problem, it's still a great book for learning to look at the animals in our lives differently.

I have the older edition of this book and look forward to seeing the new expanded edition.

Based on advice from the book, I successfully 1) stopped raccoons from coming into my house (via the dog door) by leaving a radio and light on at night, and 2) coaxed out the bats who had settled into my attic (and made visits into the house) with a bat house and one-way exit screen. Both solutions were ridiculously simple and immediately successful. Nobody was hurt, traumatized, or even taken away from their home territory. The information about bat behavior ensured that we timed the adjustments so that no baby bats would be trapped inside.

This book has invaluable information that you can also share with neighbors or friends who would turn to exterminators or relocation solutions when faced with wild animals getting a little too close.