A safe place to live, food to eat, a place to raise a family — it's not just people but the many types of wild animals, birds and other species that call Oakville home that require these things as well. If there's appropriate habitat, wildlife will make use of it. Understanding how to wildlife-proof yourself and your property helps prevent conflicts from occurring and makes for good neighbours.
The majority of conflict situations involving wildlife are the responsibility of the property owner, set out by Provincial law. In some cases, it's straight forward — for example when a squirrel is nesting in your attic. In other cases, other agencies or levels of government may be required to intervene such as feeding of wildlife that may lead to conflict situations (such as rodents or coyotes). For details, visit Ontario's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act website.
The town supports a living with wildlife approach and offers the following information to help reduce conflict situations.
The Toronto Wildlife Centre's manual, Answering the call of the wild is an excellent resource offering information on dealing with wildlife situations on your property and conflict prevention measures for most species of animals, birds and reptiles. Copies of this book are available at the Oakville Public Library or Town Hall.
The town's Wildlife Conflict Guidelines (pdf) provides detailed information on how to handle various wildlife conflict situations, who is responsible and preventive measures.
Fact sheets are available on a number of topics:
Wildlife proofing your property
Choosing a wildlife control company
Living with coyotes
Living with Canada geese
Feeding is one of the main reasons conflicts can arise between people and wildlife. Besides causing problems for people, it’s also not healthy for wildlife and can result in serious consequences, even death.
Problems for wildlife include:
Problems for people include:
In cases of problem feeding issues, the town's Property Standards By-law (2011-075) prohibits feeding that attracts pests or creates potentially unsafe conditions (e.g. rodents, coyotes). The Parks By-law (2013-013) restricts feeding of wildlife in public spaces. Both of these by-laws carry associated penalties that may be levied for ongoing situations.
Although wild animals can become a nuisance, they don’t usually threaten human health or safety. The least traumatic and most inexpensive way of dealing with wild animals is to animal-proof your property before wildlife moves in. By vaccinating and securely confining pets, and teaching your children to respect wildlife and to leave wild animals alone, you can reduce any risk to human health and safety.
Here’s a handy checklist you can use to wildlife-proof your home. Open the checklist for wildlife proofing your property (pdf) or you can request one by contacting the town.
For referrals to a humane wildlife control company, contact the Oakville and Milton Humane Society by email or phone.