MUMMYHUNTER / 123RF STOCK PHOTO
laundry, which has the human scent and
will cause the animal to change its path.
���Domestic pets left outside alone are fair
game,��� comments Dineen. ���Owners should
be more diligent with their pets and scare
away any animals if they see them. Keep
wild animals wild.���
Sue Ingalls, who is a biologist at the
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and
Wildlife, further notes that many species
are attracted to bird feeders, food left outside for pets, garbage, and compost piles.
Some of the wildlife might eat the food
source directly, but others will prey on the
squirrels that also eat from the bird feeder,
for example. Easy-to-access food sources
are one of the reasons that animals, such
as black bears, are extending their range
from the western part of the state.
This all leads to questions of how to
manage the increased populations of
wildlife. Of course, there are natural cycles
of weather, disease, and predation that do
impact the populations to a degree. For
example, the harsh winter Massachusetts
had in the 2010/2011 season killed a large
portion of the skunk population. Rabies
similarly killed a part of the raccoon population in the last decade. However, as biol-
28 ��� north bridge magazine
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SPRING/SUMMER 2013