OHIO DEPAR TMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION OF WILDLIFE · PDF fileOHIO DEPAR TMENT OF...

Wildlife Crop Damage ManualOHIO DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES

DIVISION OF WILDLIFE

ContentsDamage / Description Crop Page

Small Mammal Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seedling Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Squirrel Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seedling Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Small Mammal Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maturing Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Crow Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seedling Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Insect Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seedling Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Water Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seedling Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Squirrel Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mature Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Squirrel and Small Mammal Damage . . . Mature Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Bird Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mature Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Raccoon and Woodchuck Damage . . . . . Mature Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Deer Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mature Corn . . . . . . . . . . . 10–12

Beaver Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mature Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Insect Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mature Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Water Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mature Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Bird Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mature Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Deer Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Soybeans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Turkey Complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Soybeans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Non-wildlife Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Soybeans, Wheat, Oats . . 19–22

Deer Grazing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Winter Wheat . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Raccoon and Deer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Watermelon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Deer Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christmas & Apple Trees . . . . . 24

Deer Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pumpkin, Cantaloupe . . . . . . . 25

Deer Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grapes, Sweet Potatoes . . . . . 26

Goose Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Soybeans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Birds Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tomatoes, Peaches . . . . . . . . . 29

Deer/Crow Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Field Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Turkey Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christmas Wheat . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Japanese Beetles Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sweet Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Raccoon Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Field Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Skunk Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lawn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Squirrel Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Field Corn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Groundhog Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Apple Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Vulture/Crow Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baled Hay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Turkey Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oat Hay Bales . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Turkey Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oat Hay Bales . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Raccoon Damage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Domestic Turkeys . . . . . . . . . . 40

Bob TaftGovernor, State of Ohio

Samuel W. SpeckDirector, Department of Natural

Resources

Michael J. BudzikChief, Division of Widlife

The Division of Wildlife offers equal opportunity regardless of race, color, national origin, age, disability or sex (in educational programs). If youbelieve you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility, you should contact: The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office forDiversity and Civil Rights Programs-External Programs, 4040 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 130, Arlington, VA 22203; or, the Ohio Department of NaturalResources, EEO Office, 1930 Belcher Drive, Columbus, OH 43224.

April 2001

Introduction

The Ohio Revised Code authorizes the Division of Wildlife to manage wildlifefor the benefit of our citizens. Providing quality service to agricultural producersexperiencing wildlife damage is one of the important aspects to meeting thismandate. It is critical that Wildlife Officers and other employees accurately iden-tify and communicate the cause of crop damage. Determining the cause ofwildlife crop damage may be easy. Convincing the owner of the crops to acceptthe evaluation is often more difficult. When employees investigate wildlifedamage complaints, it is important they remain open-minded. Evaluate complaintsby inspecting the crop with the person making the complaint. Many times, aproducer’s knowledge about wildlife damage is limited to what he sees in hiscrops and to what he hears from other producers. Point out how there are manysimilarities in the appearance of crop damage caused by different species of wild-life. Throughout most of Ohio, deer can regularly be observed in field and sweetcorn where damage is found while the corn is in the milk stage. However, unseenbirds, raccoons and groundhogs may be causing the majority of the damage.When the corn becomes dry, deer will continue to eat it. On the other hand,raccoons, groundhogs and particularly birds feed on corn much less frequentlyafter it is dry. If damage is blamed on the wrong species of wildlife, the solutionapplied will not abate the problem.

Wildlife Officers have received significant training in wildlife management andidentifying wildlife damage. Unless they grew up on a farm, however, they mayhave limited knowledge or training about agricultural practices and the cropsthey often evaluate for damage. On the other hand, crop producers often haveextensive training, experience and knowledge about the crops they grow. Theirinformation and knowledge about wildlife is usually limited to what they see andhear. This difference in background and training sometimes makes effective com-munication difficult.

Evaluating complaints of wildlife damage in agricultural crops is an importantpart of every Wildlife Officer’s job. The photographs and narratives in this manualshould be used as tools to help accurately identify the causes of crop damage. Itis by no means a complete document. You are likely to encounter damage thatis not shown in this manual. By design, we can easily add new information andupdate the manual.

Return to Contents Page Wildlife Crop Damage

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Wildlife Species CausingDamage: Small mammals

Crop: Corn seedlings

Description: Raccoons,skunks, squirrels, chipmunks,and mice feed on thedeveloping seed of cornseedlings. Damage appears asa row of small holes wherecorn seedlings are planted.This type of damage can beginimmediately after the seed isplanted and continue until theseed disappears from theseedling. Photograph number1 shows the typical pattern ofsmall holes found in cornfields.This kind of damage is mostfrequently found along theedges of fields with heavybrush or woody cover.

Wild turkey like to forage in newly plowed and cultivated fields and farmers assume they aredigging the holes and eating the corn seed and seedlings. The Division of Wildlife has found noevidence to indicate that wild turkeys cause this kind of damage.

Wildlife Species CausingDamage: Small mammals


Description: Chipmunks andmice are too small to dig a largehole and pull the soil in onedirection. They often dig in acircle around the plant as shownin photograph 2. They dig downto the seed, eat it, and manytimes leave the plant intact.

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Wildlife Species Causing Damage: Squirrel


Description: Both of these photographs showthe results of squirrels digging in cornfields.Squirrels dig holes that are two to five inches indiameter and the soil is often pulled in onedirection. Squirrels can find corn seeds beforethe plant emerges through the surface.Raccoons and skunks may dig holes that aresimilar in appearance. Raccoons sometimes diga continuous trench along the row searching forseeds. Division of Wildlife employees haveobserved and collected squirrels digging inseedling cornfields. The squirrels’ stomachscontained masticated corn seeds.



Description: Another example of squirreldamage.

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Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage:Small mammal

Crop: Corn

Description: Smallmammal damage inseedling corn can resultin reduced stand densitywhere the damageoccurred. This type ofdamage is usually foundin cornfields adjacent togood squirrel habitat.

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Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage: Crow


Description: Like small mammals,crows like to eat the planted seeds incornfields. Crows dig around the stemof the corn seedling with their bill andattempt to pull the seedling and theattached seed out of the ground. Inwet or sandy soils this strategy worksmoderately well. In dry or heavy soils,the seedlings often break off at thestem just above the roots. If the plantbreaks before they can dislodge theseed, crows will usually stop diggingand move to another plant. Crows donot appear to eat the plant. Likemammals, crows target the seedattached to the plant. This photographshows the hole dug by a crow, thediscarded corn seedling, and tracksmade by the tips of the crow’s feet(see arrows).

Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage: Crow


Description: In dry or heavy soils theholes crows dig are sometimesdifficult to find (bottom-center ofphotograph – note red arrow). Holesdug by crows are usually not as neator as deep when compared to theholes dug by mammals.

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Wildlife Species Causing Damage:Wireworm


Description: Wireworm damage is mostcommon in May and June. They are mostcommon in muck soils or soils that containhigh amounts of organic matter. Wirewormsdamage corn by hollowing out the seedsbefore they germinate and by drilling holesinto the base of the plant. The upperphotograph shows wireworm damage (theholes in the leaves) that happened before theplant emerged. The lower photograph showswireworms and the seeds they were feedingon.

Wildlife Species Causing Damage:Wire worm


Description: Wireworms also attack theseedlings and seeds.

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Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage:None–Water Damage


Description: Thisphotograph illustrates anexample of water damagein seedling corn. Notewhere the corn seeds haveemerged beyond the watersaturated soil.

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Crop: Ripening corn

Description: Photographs on this page showtypical feeding patterns of squirrels in corn.The two upper photos show views oftenencountered in the field. Right and lowerphotos show how squirrels usually eat only thegerm (seed bud) from each kernel. Squirreldamage in mature corn usually occurs alongwooded field borders.

Closer viewof squirrelcuttingsshown inupper leftphoto.

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Wildlife Species CausingDamage: Squirrel and smallmammals

Crop: Mature corn

Description: Thisphotograph is typical ofsquirrel and small mammaldamage to mature corn.This kind of damage mayoccur while the stalk is stillstanding. It often occursafter the stalk is knockedover.

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Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage: Deer and birds

Crop: Mature corn

Description: The ear of corn in thisphoto illustrates bird and deerdamage. Birds often sit on top of theear and pull away narrow strips ofhusk until they reach the kernels.They feed by pecking the pulp out ofthe kernel, leaving the hollow shellbehind. The shredded husks andhollowed kernels are typical of birddamage. Most bird damage happenswhen the corn is soft in the milk stage.Crows, red-winged blackbirds,boat-tailed grackles, and starlings willcause this kind of damage.

A deer also bit off the end of this ear.Generally the deer damage occursbefore the bird damage.

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Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage: Raccoon and woodchuck

Crop: Mature corn

Description: Woodchucks and especiallyraccoons will climb on cornstalks to reach theears. This kind of damage almost always occursduring the milk stage of ear formation. Healthymature corn plants can support the weight ofsmall raccoons and woodchucks. Larger animalswill cause the cornstalk to break and fall. Notethe mud on the husk and leaves of the standingplant and the masticated corncob on theground (see arrow).

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Wildlife Species Causing Damage: Deer

Crop: Milk stage corn

Description: White-tailed deer prefer to eat theears of field and sweet corn plants. Usually, deerdo not cause measurable economic losses byeating the leaves and stems of mature cornplants. Typically, deer take one or two bites fromindividual ears and move on to another ear. Deerwill eat corn beginning when the ears form untilthe crop is harvested. Peak damage usuallyoccurs while the ears are in the milk stage. Thisphotograph illustrates an ear bitten by a deer.This is fresh damage.


Crop: Mature corn

Description: This photograph shows an ear ofcorn where the tip of the ear was bitten off(probably one bite). The ear shows some newgrowth after the damage occurred. This ear willproduce corn if the damage occurred aftergermination was complete. The damage exposesthe ear to weather and other kinds of wildlifeand insect pests. This damage probably occurredthree to five days before the photograph wastaken. This is recent damage.

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Crop: Mature field corn

Description: This photograph shows an earof corn where the tip was bitten off just asthe ear began to form. After the damage, theear continued to grow as indicated by thestaggered husk. The outer husks stoppedgrowing while the inner husks continued togrow with the ear. This ear will likely besmaller than normal and may not developkernels. This is old damage.

Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage: Deer

Crop: Mature corn

Description: This photographshows an example of deerdamage that occurred afterthe ear stopped growing.Note how the inner husks didnot grow after the damage,indicating the ear hadstopped growing. Cattle andhorses can also causedamage that looks like this.Cattle and horses will leaveobvious tracks.

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Crop: Mature corn

Description: This photograph shows twodifferent types of deer damage to maturecorn. After it stopped growing, a deer bit offthe end of this ear (blue arrow). Note theblack center of the cob. The center of afreshly exposed cob is white. Mold or funguseventually causes the center of the cob toturn black after it is exposed.

Deer will eat the loose kernels from dryingcorn (red arrow).

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Wildlife Species Causing Damage:Deer

Crop: Mature corn

Description: Several fresh deer trackswere found at the base of the cornplant in this photograph. Deer caneasily remove the loose dry kernels.

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Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage: Beaver

Crop: Mature corn

Description: Cornfields planted nearrivers, large streams, wetlands, andlakes are susceptible to damage frombeaver. Beaver damage usuallycoincides with the ears developing onthe stalk and may continue throughharvest. Both photographs show typicalbeaver damage in corn. The heightabove the ground at which the stalk iscut off can be an indicator of the size ofthe beaver. The clean angular cut stalksare conclusive for beaver damage.Beaver will often drag the stalk to theirlodge, near water or adjacent to someother kind of cover before they begin tofeed.

Wildlife Species Causing Damage: Beaver

Crop: Mature corn

Description: A closer view of beaver damage–note the clean angular cut.

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Wildlife Species Causing Damage: Corn borer

Crop: Mature corn

Description: Corn borers feed in the whorlsand joints of maturing corn plants. They embedinto the stalks as the tassels begin to emerge.This photograph shows how corn borers feedinside the stem joint. Note the dark stainsaround the edge and the small hole in themiddle of the stem.

Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage:Corn borer

Crop: Mature corn

Description: Thisphotograph shows typicalcorn borer damage. Cornborers feed on cornweakening the plant at thestem joints. Storms and highwinds often cause the plantto break off at theweakened joints.

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Crop: Mature corn

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Crop: Mature corn

Description:Another example ofwater damage inmaturing corn.

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Description: This photograph shows a good example of poor seed germination and plant healthdue to flooding after the corn was planted. The light green color of the corn plants indicate anitrogen deficiency condition.

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Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage: None

Crop: Sweet Corn

Description: Scare tactic.Example of stringingmylar tape over sweetcorn to scare blackbirds.

Wildlife Species CausingDamage: None

Crop: Sunflowers

Description: Scare tactic.Mylar tape strung oversunflowers frighteningblackbirds.

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Crop: Soybeans

Description: Deer feed in randompatterns in soybeans, usually grazing onthe uppermost (new growth) leaves of theplant. Deer seldom feed on the pods orbeans. Continuous grazing, especially toyoung or stressed plants, can have animpact on developing beans. Thisphotograph illustrates light grazing onyoung soybean plants.


Crop: Soybeans

Description: This photograph illustratesmoderate deer grazing on maturingsoybean plants. Notice the loss of upperleaves and the numerous leafless stems.


Crop: Soybeans

Description: Thisphotograph illustrates heavydeer grazing on soybeans.Heavy grazing on the leavesreduces each plant’s ability toproduce a normal yield ofbeans. Note how the ends ofthe grazed stems are black.Freshly grazed stems aregreen. The black tipped stemsindicate the damage is notfresh.

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Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage:Turkey

Crop: Soybeans

Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage:None

Crop: Soybeans

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Description: Most complaints of turkey crop damage in corn and soybeans are actually caused byother animals. This photograph shows a turkey dusting area in a soybean field. This kind ofdamage is usually insignificant. Turkeys used dusting areas in this field regularly, prompting thelandowner to conclude they were feeding on his soybean crop.

Description: This photograph shows a turkey’s gizzard and its contents. Division of Wildlifeemployees observed this turkey apparently feeding in a soybean field before it was killed. Thelandowner felt that turkeys were feeding on his soybeans. Laboratory analysis concluded thegizzard contents were waste grain from the previous growing season, Japanese beetles, and wildplant seeds. Additional evaluation determined that Japanese beetles were clinging to the undersideof the soybean plant leaves.

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Wildlife Species Causing Damage:None–Planter Malfunction

Crop: Soybeans

Description: This photographshows an area in a soybean fieldwhere the planter malfunctionedand failed to drop seeds.Equipment malfunction cansometimes appear as wildlifedamage. Note the varied densitiesof the soybean plants around thebare area. This crop was plantedlate in the planting season and thesoils contained high amounts ofshale.

Wildlife Species Causing Damage:None–Chemical Burn

Crop: Soybeans

Description: This photograph showsthe effects of excessive chemicalapplication. Note the blisters anddeformed leaves.

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Crop: Winter wheat

Description: All three photographs show apartial view of a winter wheat field taken fromthe same vantage point on three differentoccasions. Grazing was heaviest immediatelyadjacent to wooded areas and virtually absentfrom the center of the field. The upper photoshows moderate grazing in late January.

Description: The middle photoshows the same view of the samefield taken in late March. Newgrazing was extremely light andthere were no obvious differencesin the wheat plants whencomparing the previously grazedand ungrazed areas.

Description: The lower photo is thesame view of the field, taken inearly July. The previously grazedareas appeared just as healthy andvigorous as the ungrazed areas. Inmost instances, winter wheat canwithstand moderate grazing withoutimpacting the yield. Heavy grazingin conjunction with severe cold andno snow cover can damage winterwheat stands.

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Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage:None–Crop Residue

Crop: Winterwheat

Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage:None–Crop Residue

Crop: Oats

Description: Thisphotograph shows an areaof corn crop residue in oats.Based on the shape and thewell-defined edges, the areamay have been missedwhen the crop was planted.

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Description: Harvesting machines often leave piles of crop residue in fields. When minimum andno-till planting practices are followed in the next crop, these piles of old residue can retard thegrowth of the new crop. In many instances the seeds will germinate and the plants eventually grownormally. This photograph, taken in late March, shows a winter wheat field with a large area ofsoybean crop residue. On a subsequent visit in early July, Division of Wildlife employees could notfind any indication the crop residue had impacted the plants.

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Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage:None–Wind Damage

Crop: Wheat

Description: Wind,heavy rain, and haildamage in maturegrain crops isrelatively common.High winds, rain, andhail cause individualplant stems to breakunder the weight ofripening grain.

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Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage: Raccoon

Crop: Watermelon

Description: Raccoons areopportunistic and feed on a varietyof plants, animals, and insects. Thisphotograph shows raccoon damageto a watermelon. Note the fruit andseeds on the outside of the melonand the leaves.

Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage:Raccoon / Deer

Crop: Watermelon

Description: The thick toughrind on watermelons makesit difficult for most wildlife toreach the fruit. Deer andraccoons are capable ofbreaking through the rind.Note the raccoon tracks onthe undamaged melon. Deerprobably fed on the twodamaged melons causingthem to rot.

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Wildlife Species CausingDamage: Deer

Crop: Christmas Trees

Description: Deer willoccasionally browse on newlyemerged growth on youngconifers, especially the leader. Inmany cases, this type of damageis observed on trees along theouter edge of a plantation andusually found on other treesnearby. This photo is a goodexample of the tearing andrough edges left behind whendeer feed on woody vegetation.

Matt O

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Crop: Apple Trees

Description: Deer willbrowse on the twigsand buds of small treesmost of the year, butthis sort of damage ismost prevalent duringthe winter and earlyspring. Stems of fruittrees are very sturdyand tough for deer tochew through. Whenthe twig is bitten, deertend to pull on the budwith their lower teeth totear it off. When thishappens the end of thetwig will exhibit afrayed, uneven cut. Thisphoto depicts typicaldeer damage (notearrow).


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Crop: Pumpkin

Description: Deer occasionallybite into ripening vegetablesand fruit. Note the large chunksthat were removed and eaten.Deer have no top teeth andonly have the use of their lowerincisors. The imprint of theselower incisors can be seenalong the edges of the areadamaged (note arrow). Once theflesh of the plant is exposed, itwill then attract birds, insects,and other mammals to feed onit. One bite in such a productwill make it unmarketable.

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Crop: Cantaloupe

Description: Another example ofdeer damage to fruits andvegetables. This is an excellentphotograph showing the imprintsleft by the lower incisors. This isfresh damage since the flesh ofthe cantaloupe is not dried out ordiscolored.


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Crop: Grapes

Description: This browse was onlyfound on the new, tender shootsand leaves. Most of the damage wasscattered along the outside edge ofthe vineyard and at a height of 3-4feet from the ground. This indicatesthat the deer were feeding as theymoved along. Note the nipped stemis still green indicting fresh damage.

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Crop: Sweet Potatoes

Description: This damage occurredwhen deer began feeding on the top ofthe plant and pawed out the exposedsweet potato. Deer tracks were evidentall around the plant. The discoloration inthe damaged area indicates that this isold damage.


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Wildlife Species Causing Damage:Goose

Crop: Soybeans

Description: The majority of soybeandamage cases involve young, tenderplants located next to ponds or golfcourses that are intensively mowed. Thisincident involved Canada geeseconsuming maturing plants just beginningto bloom. Some plants were damagedwhen they were small and continued togrow and recover from daily feeding.Note how all the leaves and portions ofthe stems were consumed.

Wildlife Species CausingDamage: Goose

Crop: Soybeans

Description: Anotherphotograph showingextensive goose damage tomaturing soybeans.

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Wildlife Species Causing Damage:Canada Goose

Crop: Soybeans

Description: This photo shows thestandard pattern for crop damage involvingCanada geese. Note the bare ground nearthe edge of the field and how the plantsprogressively get larger as they move awayfrom the edge of the pond. Typically theplants turn yellow due to the stress. Adistinctive yellow to green color can beobserved.

Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage:Canada Goose

Crop: Soybeans

Description: Close-upfrom previous photoshowing leaves andstems browsed bygeese. Droppings andfeathers are other goodindicators that geesehave caused thedamage.

John RockenbaughJohn Rockenbaugh

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Wildlife Species CausingDamage: Birds

Crop: Tomatoes

Description: Most birddamage is easily spottedin fruits and vegetablesfrom the holes peckedinto their skins. Small,deep holes, 1/4 - 1/2inches in diameter, withrough, serrated edgesusually are goodindicators of bird damage.

Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage: Birds

Crop: Peaches

Description: Ripeningfruit is a target for awide variety of birdspecies. Most damagecan be recognized bythe spearing andjabbing marks left bythe bills. Extensivedamage occurs as thebird feeds on the softflesh inside the skin ofthe fruit. Note the “deertrack” impression leftbehind on the upperpeach when the birdtook two swipes with itsbill.

Dave Schott

Matt O

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Crop: Field Corn

Description: Deer will occasionally biteoff the tops of corn less than one foothigh. This example shows the normaltearing exhibited along the leaf blades.This plant will eventually mature, but willbe stunted.

Wildlife SpeciesCausing Damage:Crows

Crop: Field Corn

Description: Crowdamage in corn occursthe majority of thetime in the outer 3 or 4rows of a field. Notethat almost all of theears display the classic“firecracker” lookexhibited when birdspull back the husk instrips to expose thekernels. Blackbirddamage to corn ismore likely to occur inthe interior of the field.

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Dave Schott

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Wildlife Species Causing Damage: Turkey

Crop: Christmas Wheat

Description: This is the first photo in aseries of five showing an area of newlyplanted wheat in which turkeys were dustingand scratching. This photo defines the smalldepressions (dark areas) left behind whenthe turkeys dusted themselves. This cornerof the field exhibited a large amount ofsmall stones which were possibly sought outby the turkeys for grit.



Description: This fall photo is an expandedview of the wheat field edge whichexperienced the bulk of the dusting andscratching. Note the number of small brokenrocks in the soil.



Description: This photo, taken the followingspring, shows areas where some of thedusting areas failed to grow any wheat. Thissite showed no other sign of disturbancesince the initial investigation.

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Description: This photo was taken prior toharvest. Damage to the wheat appears to beminor in this corner of the field.



Description: This is the final photo showing oneof the more extensive dusting areas. The dustingareas did affect the growth of the wheat in smallspots but the majority of the plants in thisparticular incident did germinate.

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Wildlife Species Causing Damage:Japanese Beetles

Crop: Sweet Corn

Description: Japanese beetles begin feeding onmaturing sweet corn by clipping off the silk andworking down to the kernels. Note the cluster ofbeetles at the top of this cob. The silk is usuallyfound laying on the ground or on the leaf asshown here.

Wildlife Species Causing Damage:Japanese Beetles

Crop: Sweet Corn

Description: This photo shows how cleanly thesilk has been chewed off by Japanese beetles.Deer are sometimes blamed for this type ofdamage to sweet corn. Again, note the silklaying next to the ear.

Luther Miller

Luther Miller

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Wildlife SpeciesCausingDamage:Raccoon

Crop: Field Corn

Description: These ears of milk stage field corn illustrate the incomplete chewing pattern typical ofraccoons. Note the “bite-out” areas and skips.

Barb

Gra

ves

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Wildlife Species CausingDamage: Skunk

Crop: Lawn

Description: This photoshows severe damage toa golf course fairway.Skunks actively forage forinsects, earthworms, andgrubs by peeling backlayers of sod. The resultscan be extremely costly.Deer are occasionallyblamed for this kind ofdamage. Jason Snyder70

Wildlife Species CausingDamage: Skunk

Crop: Lawn

Description: This photoshows additional skunkdamage in whichhundreds of holes weredug instead of peelingback the sod. This type ofdamage commonly occursprimarily in the fall.

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Jason Snyder


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Wildlife Species CausingDamage: Squirrel

Crop: Field Corn

Description: This damage wasdetermined to be a squirrelsince several ears had beenremoved from the stalks anddragged up into the tree.Numerous ears of corn werefound hanging in the tree limbsand a pile of cobs was found atthe base of the tree.

Wildlife Species Causing Damage:Groundhog

Crop: Apple Tree

Description: Damage to the trunkof this tree was caused by agroundhog chewing on the bark.The fresh damage is indicated bythe exposed orange coloredcambium layer. This caused theoverall growth of the tree to bestunted. Note the groundhog den atthe base of the tree.

Matt O

rtman

Dav

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Wildlife Species Causing Damage:Vultures

Crop: Baled Hay

Description: Rolled bales of hay that arewrapped in air-tight plastic are sometimesdamaged by turkey vultures. Decaying hayor possibly dead animals trapped in thesebales emit enough of an odor that vultures,and occasionally crows, will peck holes andtear away sections of plastic. The holesallow moisture and air into the bales whichcan deteriorate the hay. Because of thesimilarity in size, vultures are oftenmistaken as wild turkeys.Ke

n Sw

icka

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74

Wildlife Species CausingDamage: Crows

Crop: Baled Hay

Description: This photo showsthe red and green discolorationthat can possibly develop froma fungus that develops whenair and moisture come incontact with the hay. Thefungus will render a largeportion of the hay unusable forforage. The plastic on thisparticular bale was puncturedby crows, although turkeyvultures will tear plastic as well.

Dav

e Sc

hott

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Wildlife Species Causing Damage: Turkeys

Crop: Oat Hay Bales

Description: These bales were rolled out of anoat cover crop that was just cut prior toripening. The turkeys attempted to remove theoat kernels that were still attached to the stalksand pulled out portions of the bales on theopen ends. The tops of the bales were alsodamaged by turkey scratchings. Tracks,droppings, and feathers were found along thebase of the bales.


Crop: Oat Hay Bales

Description: Another view showing the extentof the damage to the ends and tops of thebales. This type of damage can make it difficultto lift and haul each bale without it fallingapart. It should be noted that this damagewasn’t noticed until after a heavy snowfall.

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Crop: Oat Hay Bales

Description: Photograph of turkey droppingfound on the top of hay bales.

Wildlife Species CausingDamage: Turkeys

Crop: Oat Hay Bales

Description: Photograph ofturkeys scratching bales onthe same farm shown inphotographs 76 and 77.These turkeys were mostoften seen on top of or nearthe bales during the latemorning hours.

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Wildlife Species Causing Damage: Raccoon

Crop: Market Turkeys

Description: This incident involved a fencedin free ranging turkey operation that wasexperiencing five to seven turkey kills a night.Most of the turkeys were eaten where theywere killed and in most cases picked clean asnoted in this photo. Coyotes were firstsuspected, but a nighttime investigationconfirmed that a small group of raccoonswere attacking individual turkeys that weresingled out of the flock.



Description: This photo illustrates how thecarcasses were picked clean of any flesh.Predators typically focus efforts on the softorgans of birds first and then to their muscletissue.



Description: Some of the carcasses weredragged to a nearby fence. The raccoonsattempted to pull them under this fence withlittle success. The farmer in this particularinstance utilized shooters, with permissionfrom the Division of Wildlife, to spotlight andkill some of the raccoons to reduce thenumber of turkeys killed.

Matt O

rtman80

Matt O

rtman81

Matt O

rtman82

Wildlife Crop Damage

Wildlife District One1500 Dublin RoadColumbus 43215Phone: (614) 644-3925FAX (614) 644-3931

Wildlife District Two952 Lima Avenue, Box AFindlay 45840Phone: (419) 424-5000FAX (419) 422-4875

Wildlife District Three912 Portage Lakes DriveAkron 44319Phone: (330) 644-2293FAX (330) 644-8403

Wildlife District Four360 E. State StreetAthens 45701Phone: (740) 594-2211FAX (740) 592-1626

Wildlife District Five1076 Old Springfield PikeXenia 45385Phone: (937) 372-9261FAX (937) 376-3011

Division of Wildlife Headquarters1840 Belcher DriveColumbus 43224-1329(614) 265-6300 (Voice)1-800-750-0750 (Ohio Relay TTY only)1-800-WILDLIFE

Division of Wildlife Districts

Notes

1

★

★

★

★

★5 4

2 3Defiance

HenryWood

Ottawa

LucasFultonWilliams

Sandusky

Paulding

Putnam Hancock

SenecaHuron

Erie Lorain

Cuyahoga

Medina Summit

Portage

Mahoning

Trumbull

Geauga

Lake

Ashtabula

Richland

Ashland

WayneStark Columbiana

Carroll

TuscarawasHolmes

Knox

Harrison

BelmontGuernsey

Muskingum

Licking

Crawford

Morrow

Delaware

Franklin

MercerAuglaize

ShelbyLogan

Darke

MiamiChampaign

Hardin

Wyandot

Madison

Union

Marion

Clark

Preble Montgomery

Greene

Fayette

Pickaway

Warren ClintonButlerRoss

HighlandHamiltonClermont

Pike

SciotoAdams

Fairfield Perry

Morgan

Noble Monroe

Washington

Athens

Vinton

JacksonMeigs

Gallia

Lawrence

Jefferson

Van Wert

Allen

Brown

Hocking

Coshocton

Wildlife Crop Damage

Notes

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