Habitat Management is Predator Management

Written by: Chandler Strickland

Edits by: Pierce Young

Managing predators and their effects on game populations has been a familiar topic for landowners and land managers for as long as humans have managed wildlife. Common control practices that are implemented to attempt to decrease predator numbers include trapping and opportunistic hunting. However, unless habitat management for nesting or bedding cover is prioritized first, trapping is implemented on a landscape scale, and trapping is continuously conducted year-after-year, it can be difficult to truly see positive gains in game populations, especially when trying to manage for predators with larger home ranges.

The Relationships Between Predators, Prey, Trapping, and Habitat Management

One common mitigation factor that is often overlooked is the relationship between predation rates and habitat management. Predators do eat fawns, predators do eat gamebirds, and nest predators do destroy nests of wild turkey and bobwhite quail. However, in most cases it is best to see predation more as a symptom than a cause. The cause is often poor habitat and therefore the symptom of that problem is increased opportunities for predation.

Research has shown that increased removal of predators will often not increase game populations, if the habitat is not managed to provide cover. For large predators, like coyotes, studies have shown with increased trapping, coyote populations fill back in quickly with increased recruitment rates, competition between collapsed coyote territories, and due to the long distances transient coyotes will travel to find a vacant territory. However, research has also shown that predation rates decrease when habitat cover is increased. For smaller nest predators, like raccoons, skunks, and opossums, trapping in addition to habitat management for cover will see increased gains, moreso than with habitat management alone.

Managing Habitat to Mitigate for Predation

Predators are an inevitable factor in most landscapes, but their success will depend on how well the surrounding habitat is managed for optimal vegetative structure and ground cover. What can be done from a habitat management perspective to reduce the negative impact predators can have?

Increase sunlight - Managing sunlight is what drives plant communities. Thinning, clearing, or select cutting timber stands will open overstory canopies for sunlight to promote understory growth for fawns to hide and gamebirds to nest and brood.
Disturbance - Whether in open field habitats or upland timber stands, prescribed fire is a great tool to promote early successional growth, and keep it in the ideal stage for nesting and bedding. Burning on a 2–3 year return interval will ensure plant communities remain in various stages of growth for wildlife species to use for cover.
Patch diversity - Dividing a property into burn units with varying fire return intervals can enhance habitat diversity and stagger fawning and nesting/brood rearing opportunities. This approach makes it more challenging for predators to focus on and locate prey.
Patch size and shape - Ensuring that patches of cover are not stretched out too thin, and that the patches are not too small or too big, will help ensure nests and fawns are protected. The shape of the patches should be relatively equal on all sides (like a circle or a square) so that interior space for hiding is optimized. However, if patches are less than 3-5 acres, it still may be relatively easy for predators to find prey, no matter the shape, because interior space is also reduced. On the other hand, if patch sizes are too large, this decreased the diversity of a property and the benefits as previously mentioned are reduced.

Recognizing quality habitat as the primary factor in predator management can help you reach your goals for your target wildlife species.

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