What to Do If You See a Badger Close By:

• Stay Away: Don't try to get close or feed a badger.
• Keep Escape Routes Open: Make sure there are paths for the badger to run back to its home.
• Stay Calm: If a badger seems angry, quietly leave the area. They usually don't chase far.
• Admire Safely: If you see a badger in the city, enjoy watching it from a safe distance. It's probably just passing through.
• Help If Needed: If the badger looks hurt or sick, call the Yorkton SPCA.

What Badgers Look Like:

• Short and strong legs and a chunky body.
• Long face with black and white stripes.
• Small, round ears.
• Fur is brown, black, and white; they measure 60-75 cm (24-30 in) long and weigh 7-9 kg (16-20 lbs).
• Big front claws, about 5 cm (2 in) long.

How Badgers Act and Where They Live

• Badgers use snarling and hissing to scare threats away, but they don't usually attack.
• They live in burrows, often sharing them with animals like foxes and coyotes.
• Their homes are usually in open fields where they hunt a lot. They like prairies with sandy soil.
• Seeing a badger in a city is rare, but they might be seen in fall when looking for mates or in May and June when young ones explore.
• They are mostly alone and active at night but might be out during the day in spring when moms search for food.
• Badgers don't hibernate but slow down in winter.

What Badgers Eat

• Badgers dig to find food underground.
• They mostly eat pests like ground squirrels and gophers but can also eat insects, bees, and some plants.

Appearance of Beavers

• Beavers are the biggest rodents in North America.
• They have thick, dark brown fur with rough outer hairs and soft inner hairs.
• Their tails are large, flat, and paddle-shaped, looking scaly.
• Beavers have big, webbed back feet and smaller front feet with claws.

How Beavers Behave and Where They Live

• Beavers are mostly active at night but can also be seen during the day.
• They are great swimmers and can stay underwater for up to 15 minutes.
• They build homes called lodges and dams in lakes, streams, and rivers using branches, rocks, and mud.
• Beavers can cut down trees with their strong front teeth.
• They use their front paws for digging and carrying materials.
• Beaver dams create deep, calm water to keep away predators and make it easy to find food.
• Beavers usually have one partner for life, and they have one litter of babies each year.
• Baby beavers, or kits, can swim within a day of being born and stay with their family for up to two years.
• Most beavers can have babies when they are about three years old.

What Beavers Eat

• Beavers are herbivores, eating leaves, buds, and inner bark of trees.
• They also eat plants like cattails and water lilies.
• They like to eat aspen and poplar trees but will eat other trees too.

How to Manage Beavers

• Protecting Trees: Metal fencing around tree trunks can stop beavers from chewing them. The fence needs checking to ensure it doesn’t harm the trees as they grow.

• Trapping: Special traps can catch beavers. They are set on common beaver paths near lodges. However, trapping is usually a short-term fix because new beavers often move in where there’s a good habitat.

What is the City doing?

The City controls beavers in areas such as Jaycee Beach, the Ravine Ecological Preserve, and at the Deer Park Golf Course.

Coyotes are a normal part of Yorkton's environment. They help keep the ecosystem balanced by controlling rodents and rabbits. They are usually shy and avoid humans, but feeding them can make them less scared and lead to problems.

Identifying Coyotes

• Species: Canis latrans
• Size: Weigh 10-18 kg, can be up to 1.5 meters long, and about 60 cm tall at the shoulder, looking like a medium-sized dog.
• Appearance: Fur varies from reddish-brown to gray.

Where Coyotes Live and How They Behave

• Coyotes can be found in cities all over North America, often in parks and natural areas, but sometimes in neighborhoods too.

Coyote Seasonal Patterns

• January and February: Courtship and mating.
• Spring to Fall: Choose dens and raise pups.
• April and May: Birth of pups.
• Juvenile coyotes may leave their home area at any time.

What to Do if You See a Coyote

• Let the Coyote Leave: Give it an open path to escape.
• Keep Distance: Don’t approach or feed it.
• Stay Calm: Don’t turn your back or run, as it might chase.
• Keep Pets Away: This keeps both your pet and the coyote calm.
• Hazing Techniques to scare the coyote away:
  • Be Assertive: Keep eye contact, stand tall, wave your arms, and shout.
  • Make Noise: Use an air horn, bang pots, blow a whistle, or shake a can with coins.
  • Throw Things: Toss sticks, dirt, small rocks, or tennis balls near (not at) it.
  • Use Water: In warm months, spray with a hose or use water balloons.

What is the City doing?

• The City monitors and tracks coyote activity in Yorkton, and will place signage in areas with high coyote activity, such as den sites.
• We will retrieve injured, immobile, or trapped coyotes.
  (Note that a coyote in a backyard is not considered "trapped".)

How You Can Help Us

• Watch coyotes from a distance.
• Use fencing to secure your yard and keep gates closed.
• Don’t feed pets outside.
• Don’t leave small pets alone in the yard for long.
• Clean barbecue areas and places around bird feeders and fruit trees.
• Remove possible hiding and den spots.
• Install motion-activated lights.

Problems with Trapping Coyotes

• Trapping coyotes is difficult and often leads to capture of pets instead.
• Coyotes moved to new places have a tough time surviving, and taking them away can upset their family groups, inviting other coyotes to move in.

Coyotes and Disease

• Rabies is very rare in Saskatchewan coyotes. Bats and skunks are more common carriers of rabies.
• Coyotes can carry diseases like canine distemper and a tapeworms.
• It's important to regularly vaccinate and deworm your pets to protect them.

Coyotes and Pets

• Coyotes might seem aggressive towards dogs and cats, especially near their dens.
• A coyote might follow a person walking their dog if there are pups or a den nearby, known as "shadowing".
• Pet owners need to watch their pets closely and keep them under control when outside.

How They Look

• Fur: Dark brown or greyish-brown on top and pale grey or white underneath.
• Ears and Tail: Long ears with black tips and a white tail. In autumn, their fur turns white except for the ears.
• Legs: Strong, long hind legs.
• Size: Body is 56-65 cm (22-26 in) long, with a tail measuring 6.6-10.2 cm (4.0-5.5 in).
• Weight: Weigh between 2.5-4.3 kg (5.5-9.5 lbs). Females are a bit bigger than males.

Where They Live and How They Act

• Habitat: Native to Prairie provinces and common in cities.
• Activity: Mostly active at night but can be seen in the day.
• Reproduction: Can have 4-11 young multiple times per season.
• Young: Weigh about 100 g (3.5 oz), often confused with cottontails.
• Age of maturity: Young start eating solid food at 2 weeks, are weaned by 4 weeks, and become sexually mature around 7-8 months but typically breed after one year.
• Predators: Include coyotes, foxes, badgers, and birds of prey in.

What They Eat

• Herbivores: Feed on grasses and green plants.
• Winter Diet: Eat buds, twigs, and bark during winter.

Living with White-tailed Jackrabbits

• Common Sight: Well-suited to city life and often found in Yorkton.

Tips to Keep Jackrabbits Away

• Fix Fences: Repair open gates or broken fences to keep them out.
• Garden Protection: Use small fences around gardens, shrubs, and trees, especially in open areas like front yards.
• Advice: For more help, check with home and garden centers about managing rabbits on your property.

Leave Young Rabbits Be

• Young jackrabbits might look abandoned, but the mother usually returns. It's best to leave them alone. If you find an injured, trapped, or sick rabbit, call the Yorkton SPCA.

What to Do If You See a Fox Up Close

• Let It Leave: Make sure there is a path for the fox to escape.
• Stay Back: Never approach or feed foxes.
• Be Loud and Big: Yell or wave your arms to scare it away.
• Control Pets: Keep your pets calm and close to avoid stressing the fox.
• Call for Help: If a fox seems strange (like approaching people or looking confused), don't approach. Call the Yorkton SPCA.

What Foxes Look Like

• Tail: Big and bushy, about 70% the length of their body and head.
• Ears: Large and upright.
• Muzzle: Long and thin.
• Fur: Often red with yellowish tones; chin, throat, and chest are usually white. Colors can range from dark brown to white.
• Size: Body length is 45-90 cm (18-35 in), height is 35-20 cm (14-20 in), weight is 2.2-14 kg (4.9-30.9 lbs).

How Foxes Behave and Where They Live

• Foxes live in family groups but may move out to find their own space when they grow up.
• They have main dens and temporary burrows.
• Pieces of prey near dens can indicate fox use; dens smell musty when occupied.
• Foxes' home range is 4 to 8 square kilometres around their den.
• Foxes are curious and might get used to people.
• They make sounds from high-pitched whines to barks.
• Most active from dusk until dawn, they usually hunt in early morning or late evening but may be active anytime.
• Foxes use hearing to find and pounce on small prey.

What Foxes Eat

• Foxes eat both plants and animals, like rodents, birds, fish, fruits, and vegetables, adapting to available food.

Living with Foxes Around

• Foxes may like man-made structures and gardens in urban areas.
• Make your property unwelcoming to foxes by blocking access to places like decks and sheds.
• Use motion lights or sprinklers.
• Rearrange outdoor items in the yard.
• Don't leave pet food outside.
• Keep areas around BBQs, bird feeders, and fruit trees clean.

What to Do If You See a Muskrat Up Close

• Keep Your Distance: Muskrats aren't dangerous, but like all wild animals, they shouldn't be approached.
• Watch Your Step: When near wetlands and ponds, be careful, as muskrats dig burrows that can create hazards.
• Leave Them Alone: If you see a muskrat wandering around, it isn't a threat and should be left alone.
• Injured Muskrat: If you find an injured, trapped, or sick muskrat, call the Yorkton SPCA.

How Muskrats Look

• Fur: Short and can be brown, black, or grey; their belly might be a lighter color.
• Tail: Long and flattened vertically, as long as their body.
• Swimming: Tail moves side to side and can be seen on the surface of the water.
• Size: Length is 40-70 cm (16-18 in), and weight is 0.6-2 kg (1.3-4.4 lbs).
• Mistaken Identity: Sometimes confused with rats.

Where Muskrats Live and How They Behave

• Muskrats are common in aquatic areas around Yorkton, such as Jaycee Beach and the Ravine Ecological Preserve.
• They live in small family groups made up of a male, a female, and their young.
• Muskrats build small lodges in places with permanent water, like sloughs and ditches, using cattails, grasses, and mud.
• They may dig tunnels in banks of streams, rivers, and lakes if plants are not around.
• When scared in water, muskrats can dive and stay underwater up to 15 minutes.
• Muskrats usually stick to the same travel paths and stay near their dens, but young ones travel during ice break-up in winter to find new areas, sometimes moving up to 30 km.

What Muskrats Eat

• Muskrats are semi-aquatic mammals and mainly eat plants like cattails and grasses.
• They sometimes eat fish, mussels, and other small animals.

The City of Yorkton does not have a program for nuisance birds, but here are some helpful tips that can help deter them:

• Birds are driven by the need for food. Use inexpensive landscape netting or any type of lightweight net to cover trees and plants. Landscape netting allows ample sunlight for your plants while protecting them from the ravenous birds. The birds will soon realize there is a barrier between them and their target. Once they realize they cannot access the food, the birds will move on in search of other more accessible hunting grounds.
• Try deterrents such as plastic owls or hawks, rubber snakes, spinning Mylar whirligigs or wind chimes. These scare tactics can often make the birds move on. You can also find sonic emitters, electronic devices that let out high pitched sound, designed to drive birds away.

Some other deterrents that can be used are:

• Spray the nuisance bird with water from a garden hose
• Knock down or dissemble nests out of trees
• Install plastic or metal spikes on ledges, window sills or roof peaks
• Consider a chemical bird repellent if pigeons are already a nuisance
• Place chicken wire around areas, such as small attic windows, where pigeons are prone
• Use a transparent bird gel on branches and other roosting areas. Bird gel is a non-toxic sticky substance that makes the surface uncomfortable for the birds.
• For crows shine a laser beam at them. This will disturb them from their roosts temporarily but after continuous harassment, crows will avoid the area
• Hang a fake crow upside down with its wings spread out. Crows will avoid the fake dead crow.
• Use loud sounds to frighten crows away. Play a recorded audio of crow predators or crow distress calls.
• Scare crows away with reflective objects around your property. You can find bird tape that is designed as a visual deterrent to crows. Hang shiny streamers on poles throughout your yard or old cd's. Move them to different locations periodically to keep the crows from overcoming them as a threat.

How They Look

• Fur: Light brown to black with lighter fur underneath.
• Claws: Front claws are shaped for digging.
• Eyes: Almost always closed.
• Size: Body length is 17-25 cm (6.7-9.8 in) including the tail; weight is 90-100g (0.2-0.22 lb).

Where They Live and How They Act

• Cheek Pockets: Named for their cheek pockets lined with fur to store food.
• Native to Saskatchewan: Common in the parkland area.
• Tunnels: One gopher can make a tunnel network up to 75 square meters wide, used for finding food and mates.
• Breeding: Females have one litter of 4-6 young in May or June, and the pups leave in late summer or fall.
• Soil Mounds: Gophers create mounds of soil without visible entrances, using soil plugs to hide their burrows.
• Garden Pests: They can cause damage in gardens and fields by eating crops and making mounds.

Related Confusions

• Often called "moles" due to living underground, but true moles belong to the family Talpidae.
• The term "gopher" is sometimes used for Richardson’s ground squirrels and others.

What They Eat

• Herbivores: Eat a variety of plants.
• Feeding: Mostly underground, but sometimes on the surface.
• Gardens: Can damage vegetables, especially those with underground parts like carrots and potatoes.

Living with Pocket Gophers

• There may be cases where pocket gophers are not problematic and can be lived with.
• When needed, there are lethal and non-lethal ways to control them. For help, home and garden centers can give advice on managing pocket gophers on private property.

How They Look

• Fur: Dark brown with a lighter underside.
• Weight: Changes throughout the year; they weigh 200-400g (0.44-0.88 lbs) when they come out of hibernation and up to 750g (1.6 lbs) when ready to hibernate.
• Size: Body length of 30 cm (12 inches), including the tail.

Where They Live and How They Act

• Habitat: Native to prairie provinces and common in urban areas.
• Nickname: Called "flickertails" because they flick their tails when going into their burrows.
• Burrows: Live in close colonies, which can cause problems in sports fields, golf courses, parks, and near structures like sidewalks and patios.
• Hibernation Cycle: Males wake up from hibernation in March and set up territories before females wake up a few weeks later.
• Reproduction: Females have one litter a year, with 6 to 14 pups born in April or May. Pups stay in their burrows for 30 days and come out from late May to mid-June.
• Hibernation: Adults might hibernate as early as July, but first-year ground squirrels might not hibernate until September.
• Predators: In the parkland area, predators include badgers, coyotes, hawks, weasels, and foxes.

What They Eat

• Omnivores: Eat seeds, nuts, grains, grasses, and insects.
• In urban areas, they can cause issues by eating plants, but the main concern is the damage their burrows create.

Living with Richardson’s Ground Squirrels

• Richardson’s ground squirrels may not form colonies in residential yards, making co-existing possible.
• Sometimes, they need to be controlled. For advice, check with home and garden centers on managing them on private property.

How They Look

• Fur: Thick black with a white stripe down the back.
• Tail and Build: Bushy tail, short legs, visible claws; about the size of a cat.
• Footprints: Paw prints look a lot like a cat's.

Where They Live and How They Act

• Active Times: Usually active from dusk to dawn but can be seen in daylight during fall and winter.
• Homes: Often found under sheds, decks, and porches.
• Defense: Can spray a smelly oil; gives warnings like stamping feet, making noises, and raising tail before spraying.
• Health Risk: Can carry and spread rabies.

What They Eat

• Omnivores: Eat various things like pet food, insects, eggs, small rodents, plants, and birdseed.

Tips to Keep Skunks Away

• Food and Shelter: Remove foods and secure garbage, compost, bird seed, and pet food so skunks can't get to them.
• Block Entry: Use L-shaped barriers under sheds and structures to stop skunks from getting in.
• Clean Up: Promptly remove wood and waste that can hide skunks or attract insects they eat.
• Fences and Gates: Make sure these are well-maintained to stop skunks from entering your property.