G.R.I.P.H utilizes human presence accompanied with numerous aversion conditioning methods and tools to teach animals to not do things that are considered unwanted. Depending on the person involved whether it be a livestock producer, land owner or concerned citizen the definition of unwanted can be very broad. To start you must find out what unwanted means to the people that are being affected. You must be respectful and open minded in this process everyone is unique and will have a unique set of issues that they are being faced with based on what they want to do on and around their property. Second you must identify what kind of animal you are dealing with. Each species will have different characteristics, behaviors, abilities etc. Even the individual animal will have their specific behavior attributes that must be considered. Once these variables are defined you can now form a conflict mitigation plan. These are formed with respect to both party’s interests.
If you condition instead of eliminate it is a better option. Conditioning the specific animals around you to not operate on your landscape in these unwanted manners can be greatly beneficial to you. Using nonlethal aversion conditioning methods allows an animal to live through a stressful situation and learn from it. Not only that but also to pass that trait off to offspring and other members of its respective species. When you use lethal take you remove that immediate problem and leave a void in the surrounding ecosystem. This void will be filled in with another animal that most likely will not be conditioned and you will start the whole learning process over again. Using aversion conditioning methods and allowing that animal to live and learn, and pass on that behavioral trait is a much better option for both human and animal. The antithesis would be never really dealing with it and becoming a part of a perpetual cyclical occurrence that only interferes with your lifestyle and costs the lives of animals.
The different forms of aversion conditioning are broken down into two main groups environmental and direct. Both forms will be negative in origin and administered in varying levels. Whether using environmental or direct stimulus animals will be initially dealt with in the least invasive methods in most cases. This is to help insure that the animal being dealt with doesn’t become habituated. If done properly there should always be another level of consequence for the animal to progress to prior to lethal removal. The progression of the level of invasiveness shall directly correlate with the animal’s reaction to conditioning methods utilized. All measures will be taken to help condition the animals away from acting out unwanted behaviors. But with that being said, G.R.I.P.H understands that lethal removal has to remain as a tool in the tool box to deal with extreme situations. We just want to make sure that all responsible measures were prescribed and performed prior to that step being
taken.
Tools in the tool box.
Here are some examples of a few of the tools that are utilized in these conditioning methods. Combing these tools to accomplish your specific goals for each unique situation is imperative. Using just one method without anything accompanying it will eventually prove ineffective. Each species of animal will react differently to each form of negative stimulus, another consideration to think about when building a conflict mitigation plan. Adapting and developing different methodology is very important to produce the wanted outcome of positive coexistence between humans and animals. Each situation is it’s own and in an almost mercurial state. It is our actions and how we deal with the challenges of living with wildlife that will help animals figure out how to exist with us. If left to their own devices, they will pick the path of least resistance just like us. By incrementally increasing the risk to gain ratio we can effectively make another choice that doesn’t conflict with our wants to become the easier path.
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Pyrotechnics
These can be anything from a large fire work being shot from hand held launcher. Or a much larger pyrotechnic can be shot from a 12 gauge shot gun. These come in many various sizes and styles. Most though are both audible and visual stimuli’s. Obviously being a pyrotechnic there is some inherent dangers involved in using them. Proper licensing,training regarding the safe usage and storage or these are a requirement. |
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Human presence
This is probably the most useful option especially when stacked with other deterrents. When you have boots on the ground at the appropriate times there is nothing more valuable. This is because we can help guide the situation in the desired direction for both human and animal and dynamically react to any circumstance that arises at any time. This is key to proper prevention. |
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Radio activated guard boxes These are devices setup to emit loud obnoxious noises through built in speakers. Once a radio collared animal comes into a predetermined distance from a RAG box a receiver inside the box trips the alarm so to speak. Some of the boxes also incorporate lights that will come on in conjunction with the speakers. This is a form of environmental aversive conditioning. |
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Environmental lighting
This can come in the form of devices like Fox lights. Fox lights are lights that have a photo sensor on them and automatically come on in low light and dark environments. They emit different colored lights in erratic patterns. Large automatic\motion lights can be utilized to blanket an area with light. Most predators are crepuscular or nocturnal and therefore spend most of their time hunting in dark or low light environments. When you take away their ability to stealthy navigate areas the areas become less pleasant. Erratic light patterns create a chaotic environment to most wild predators. |
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Different forms of physical contact
These also come in various forms, rubber bullets, rock salt loads, capsaicin filled paint balls etc. The main point of these are to directly haze an animal away from a certain area. Generally the animal is pursued in accompaniment with physical contact. This is one of the most dangerous forms of conditioning due to the fact that you have to be in close proximity to the wild animal, that and you are probably making it agitated to say the least.
This is usually used in extreme situations. This method can only safely be performed by trained individuals and is not a tool for everyday citizens to try to implement on their own. Again proper training regarding the safe usage and storage or these are a requirement.
These also come in various forms, rubber bullets, rock salt loads, capsaicin filled paint balls etc. The main point of these are to directly haze an animal away from a certain area. Generally the animal is pursued in accompaniment with physical contact. This is one of the most dangerous forms of conditioning due to the fact that you have to be in close proximity to the wild animal, that and you are probably making it agitated to say the least.
This is usually used in extreme situations. This method can only safely be performed by trained individuals and is not a tool for everyday citizens to try to implement on their own. Again proper training regarding the safe usage and storage or these are a requirement.