Using Hardware Cloth As A Wildlife Barrier For Proactive Prevention
A correctly installed L-shaped hardware cloth bury is a project that
can help prevent many typical wildlife problems
around your home including skunks living under your shed, a opossum or rat under your deck.
(Above) Hardware Cloth Bury Around An AC Unit
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When you are dealing with animals such as skunks or armadillos, rock chucks and porcupines who can easily
dig one foot down, one foot across and one foot back up to get under a foundation – it can quickly become a time for war!
Air conditioners are a very common entry point for skunks, rats and other nuisance wildlife. Erosion often occurs
around the slab and the units are easy to dig under. The nature of sheds, sidewalks and foundations make them
tempting too.
As is often the case with wildlife problems around the home, the real
issue is often the structure itself, the wildlife problem
is just the symptom. If the symptom is treated without fixing the
problem your wildlife problems will quickly return.
This is just one of many reasons why trapping is seldom the best solution. And,
for around the same amount of money that a trapping company will charge to trap your
wild critters, you may be able to fix the problem forever by simply making a few preventative adjustments around your
home, building or other trouble area. A hardware cloth bury, also known as an L-shaped barrier, is a good way
to start proofing your home - a little work now can save you quite a bit of trouble later.
An l-shaped hardware cloth bury does not have to be a difficult project to do,
but it is very important to do it safely and correctly. We have provided some
helpful drawings, tips, instructions and photos below to help you get started, including
critter specific and cosmetic suggestions too.
Skunk Whisperer Ned Bruha first learned to do a hardware cloth bury as a child at the age of seven,
as a way to keep area chipmunks from burrowing into the graves of U.S.
Veterans located behind his childhood home. He also found it helpful for keeping
skunks, coyotes, badgers and snakes out of the family chicken house.
Address Your Wildlife Problem Before You Complete The Project
Safety and conservation are important and unavoidable considerations when taking on a hardware cloth bury project.
You do not want to assume that your animal has left the hole when if fact they may still be inside.
If the animal is still under the shed, building, deck or
trailer – be careful, you could get hurt. If you cannot evict the animal before you start, at least place plywood
all across the area where you are digging and working to keep the wild animals from approaching you.
And you don't want to trap the animal in the hole either, often they will die and
dead animals will certainly stink worse than your current wildlife problem! This is particularly important
at particular times of the year when babies or young may be unable to get out.
The Skunk Whisperer team has special video equipment that can be placed inside the hole that can sometimes
provide a picture of wether or not there may still be an animal or its babies inside the burrow.
The Solution
If you want to get around the problems and safety issues caused by a trapped wild animal, be sure and
give the animal a way to exit, preferably without them having a way to get back in. To do so,
cut an appropriately sized hole for your animal in a straight-bottomed "U" shaped pattern,
folding the hardware cloth up or down to allow the animal to leave without injury. If you cannot tell if
the animal has left, call
a qualified wildlife control professional such as The Skunk Whisperer® and have them affix a
one-way door onto your hardware cloth bury to confirm that the animal cannot re-enter once it has exited.
Once there is no activity for several days (depending on various factors) have the professionals come back,
remove the 1-way door and "sew" your hardware cloth back together with galvanized wire and patch it solid.
The Hardware Cloth Bury - Important Tips And Instructions
Choosing A Size
Always use the stronger 1/2" galvanized hardware cloth, you will need this strength to help guard against larger
critters such as skunks and armadillos. However, you will also want to add an additional layer of 1/4"
hardware cloth to help protect against smaller nuisance wildlife too, such as snakes, rats and mice. The
1/2" will help give the 1/4" structure. Your 1/2" cloth should last well in excess
of 10 years, but your 1/4" will last less time and should therefore be monitored for continued exclusion success.
Do not attempt to save money using a less expensive material such as chicken wire.
If you are going to do it, do it right the first time or plan on re-doing it again soon.
You can typically buy a 50’ roll of 1/2" galvanized hardware cloth at most major hardware
stores such as Westlake Ace Hardware for around $60.
Choosing A Horizontal Width For Your Buried Cloth
A common recommendation is around 1 and 1/2 feet from the structure out, however,
animals such as porcupines, badgers, woodchucks, armadillos and rock chucks may require more width.
You can achieve this extra protection by simply overlapping the first piece of cloth with another and connecting it by
twist-tying the two pieces together for additional width.
Plant And Garden Concerns
In areas where you want to keep plants you must carefully cut your hardware cloth around the plants, being careful
not to harm the plants or yourself. It important to remember
that these areas will be vulnerable to wildlife, because it always quite
possible that critters will take
advantage of the opening in the hardware cloth and dig up the plants to
gain access to the area under your home, deck or concrete slab. Another option you can try is to
bury the horizontal cloth deeper in the dirt offering plant roots more room to expand, therefore
eliminating the need to cut holes in the cloth.
Attaching The Cloth To Structures
We use fender washers on screws to affix cloth to structures in most cases, including concrete foundations.
We use magnetic 1/4" nut drivers with 1/4" hex head screws to allow us a free hand to hold the cloth in place.
When we encounter rocky ground or places where concrete is in the way, we
use a concrete bit on our drill and fasten the hardware cloth directly to that surface, above or below the ground as needed.
Mobile Home Considerations
The nature of mobile home setups make them particularly inviting to wildlife and they can be a challenge to protect.
Consequently, a hardware bury cloth project is a little more difficult for mobile homes than it is for slab based structures.
First, you will want to address any holes in your skirting or your bury project will be waste of both time and money.
We have found that concrete fiber siding such as CertainTeed and James Hardy board are perfect for
trailer skirting. It can touch the ground without rotting for over 75 years. Be careful how you affix
the hardware cloth to the concrete fiber siding as it is fragile. But the siding is very strong when properly
framed out and animals do not like chewing on it.
Cosmetic Solutions Depending upon the situation, a hardware cloth bury can sometimes be visually unattractive.
For applications where it can be seen – such as on decks and outbuildings,
there are many cosmetically sound solutions. For instance, you can use lattice to cover the hardware cloth.
Utilize vines or other plants to draw attention away from your wildlife-proof feature.
Spray painting the wire cloth a like color to the wall or using black plastic vinyl dipped hardware cloth are
also attractive options in certain settings.
A Sample Problem The air conditioning unit to the right developed a problem due to erosion issues
which occurred because there were too many trees overhead, producing a situation that
did not allow grass to grow. There was also a lack of properly installed gutters that contributed to the erosion.
Eventually rats made their home under this air conditioner concrete slab and it now needs a
hardware cloth bury. Simply backfilling dirt would not be enough as the critters would just dig it back out to
recreate their home. The photo at the top of the page shows a properly completed AC unit hardware cloth project.
An important reminder: When it comes to preventing wildlife issues,
just remember, all wildlife wants is 3 things: food, water and shelter –
remove the food, water and shelter and your problem will likely go away.
The Bury Wildlife Exclusion Process - Step By Step In Photos
Below you'll find a photo essay of a project done for a home
located next to a river (particularly inviting to wildlife),
a home that has routinely had skunks, rats and opossums living under its decks
for over 15 years.
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