FAQs: Wildlife Management

Leaving your forest alone may not produce the optimum wildlife habitat and forest health. Most forms of wildlife require varied types and ages of vegetation for food and shelter. In an unmanaged forest, overcrowding often retards tree growth, makes forests more susceptible to disease and insect damage, and reduces the diversity of wildlife habitats. Selective thinning provides more growing space and nutrients for desirable trees, which in turn reduces the stress on trees and improves forest health. Other management techniques that regenerate forests, such as shelterwood, clearcutting, and group selection, can also be used to create the needed wildlife habitat diversity.

The best way to encourage wildlife is to create the proper habitat (food, shelter, water and space) by managing the stage of forest succession. Stages of succession include old fields, young forests, and mature forests. Creating these habitats is typically done by harvesting trees, planting trees, or allowing nature to take it course. Wildlife species have different requirements so you must know what you wish to manage for. The greatest diversity of wildlife is found in areas of edge, where many different types of habitat exist in a small area. Other types of wildlife may require only one type of habitat. For example, some species of forest interior birds thrive only in mature forest habitats.

To stimulate the growth of more understory plants, you need more light. To accomplish this, a thinning of the forest canopy is needed to allow more sunlight to hit the forest floor. Contact your DNR forester for information on thinning. General information is also available here from the Ohio State University's School of Natural Resources.

The Maryland State Tree Nursery has a list of deciduous and coniferous trees available for purchase as well as information on planting incentive programs. The list contains a handy key indicating which trees are the best for wildlife habitats. Also see University of Maryland Cooperative Extension's Fact Sheet 759, "Wildlife Plantings Food & Cover Plantings: Shrub Lespedezas."

The Maryland Woodland Stewards project is a three-day outreach program intended to teach sound forest and wildlife management practices to a select group of people. In return, participants apply these principles to their own property and actively encourage others to practice good forest stewardship. For more information and an application, visit our Maryland Woodland Stewards page here.

An overpopulation of deer results in overbrowsing of the forest understory. This reduces the habitat of many other species of wildlife, thereby, reducing the biodiversity of the wildlife populations. Increased browsing by deer alters the forest understory thus depleting populations of small woodland mammals and forest interior dwelling birds which use the groundcover for shelter and food. Check this website’s links to deer management and see, University of Maryland Extension's Bulletin 354, "Managing Deer Damage in Maryland."

Please see our fact sheets for Ring-necked pheasant and the eastern wild turkey for more information. Also, visit Pheasants Forever and National Wild Turkey Federation.

Skunks are highly beneficial to landowners because they feed on large numbers of agricultural and garden pests. They seem to prefer grasshoppers, white grubs, beetles and crickets. Raccoons make their dens in hollow trees and hollow logs. They eat berries, grains, nuts, cat and dog food, fish, frogs, reptiles, rabbits and eggs and love corn.

Yes, the fruit of the black gum is relished by many songbirds. Users include wood ducks, robins, woodpeckers, thrashers, flickers, and mockingbirds. Besides, the beautiful red of the black gum leaves in autumn can add to your enjoyment of your woodland.

It depends on where the songbirds nest within the forest. For example, if scarlet tanagers nest close to forest edges, their eggs are often pushed out of their nests by brown-headed cowbirds. Then the cowbirds lay their eggs in the nest, leaving the tanagers to raise the young cowbirds and increasing the cowbird population instead of the songbird population. Cowbirds are rarely found in the center of large forests. For more information, visit the Maryland State DNR Forest Service's "Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Animals."

Dogs and cats can be a threat to native wildlife populations. Observation of free-ranging domestic cats shows that some can kill over 1,000 wild animals per year. Some of these kills are house mice, rats and other species considered pests, but many are native songbirds and mammals whose populations are already stressed. It is suggested that cat-lovers keep only the minimum number of free-ranging cats needed to control rodents. Studies have also shown that cats that live exclusively indoors live longer and healthier lives. Free-ranging dogs can join together in packs and chase deer and other mammals, causing serious disruptions in native populations. Dogs should always be under the control of their owners.

Carrying capacity is the ability of the habitat to support a given number of healthy animals. Carrying capacity is frequently used in reference to deer populations. When the number of deer in a given area exceeds the carrying capacity for that area, the deer population impinges on the well-being of other plant and animal species and conflicts with land-use practices as well as human safety and health.

While most of us enjoy seeing a graceful white-tailed deer, their increased numbers have led to increased damage to ornamental plants, gardens, and commercial crops and a greater incidence of Lyme disease. As a general rule, deer consume about 3 percent of their body weight in forage each day. This may seem a small amount, but when taken as buds, leaves, tender shoots and flower parts, the impact on horticultural and garden plants can be significant. Where deer are abundant or crops are especially valuable, an 8-foot fence is the only sure way to protect crops. Shorter fences in conjunction with vegetation management, repellents, and dogs can also be an effective means of managing deer damage. However, an overall reduction of the population is what is needed. An integrated deer management approach may include chemical means of birth control as well as hunting. More information is available from the following sources:

a) University of Maryland Extension's Bulletin 354, "Managing Deer Damage in Maryland," and University of Maryland Extension's Fact Sheet 655, "Resistance of Ornamentals to Deer Browsing." For more information on deer damage management, as well as information on controlling voles, beavers and geese, see our page Forest Threats.

b) Home and Garden Information Center - The Center provides publications and assistance to help Maryland homeowners solve horticultural problems, including wildlife damage. 

c) Wildlife and Heritage Service  - Wildlife Problems - The Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Division and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have teamed up to provide a toll-free phone number to report nuisance, injured or sick wildlife situations. Call 1-877-463-6497. They can provide advice and some resources to help you with wildlife damage problems. They do not handle problems with deer, bear, and other large species.

Maryland is home to nineteen birds which are classified as "Forest Interior Dwellers,” or FIDs. These birds have one thing in common: they require large tracts of relatively undisturbed mature hardwood forests to breed successfully. Foresters and loggers should abide by the following management recommendations:

• FID breeding grounds are not harmed by thinning out inferior trees or removing select trees of merchantable quality as long as the forest canopy is not removed in excess of 70% crown cover. Some regeneration harvests (areas that are cut over completely and left to regenerate naturally) are not detrimental to FIDs either. Regeneration harvests must be conducted on forest tracts that are over 100 contiguous acres in size. In addition, these harvests must be kept to the edges of the forest and done in less than 25 acre parcels.
• Many FIDs are cavity nesters and use dead trees, called snags, as homes. When conducting harvests, retain as many large snags (ten inches in diameter or greater) as possible.
• The breeding season for FIDs stretches from May 1 - August 31. Forest disturbances should be minimal during the breeding season.
• To limit fragmentation of forests, limit access roads in forest interiors and keep them narrow. Also maintain forested buffers along streams and shoreline so FIDs have protected access to water.

Grapevine is good for turkey and other wildlife. However, when left to grow, the vines will damage or kill trees by adding weight to the branches in the crown. This can cause the tree to be seriously damaged or killed when snow, ice, or strong winds stress the tree to the breaking point. Grapevines should be cut at the ground on trees that you desire to remain healthy and long-lived, either for timber, wildlife or aesthetics. When cut, the aboveground portion will dry out and break apart over time. They can be allowed to grow on less desirable timber trees to provide wildlife habitat.