Non-gardeners have funny ideas about what a pest is: usually something that gets into your unsecured garbage, something that has a “bad reputation,” something that they haven’t seen before and isn’t necessarily cute…

If you garden, you’ll necessarily have food and maybe some shelter for insects and wildlife — and that means you’ll have visitors. Not all of them are pests! With some experience, you’ll know which animals and insects are, and which are merely hazards of gardening. Here I discuss both nuisance and beneficial wildlife.

There are a lot of strategies to attract the animals and insects we want, and repel the ones we don’t. And sometimes, an act of welcome will reduce the nuisance effect.

For instance, putting out a dish of water for the squirrels will reduce the number of tomatoes and cucumbers they steal — because your vegetables are an easy source of water on a hot, thirsty day. They’ll go for the water bowl, so put it out sooner rather than later, and the birds will benefit too. (But you still want to put netting on your fruit!)