With the reopening of most travel destinations, there is going to be an influx of tourists as studies show that 81% of adult Americans plan to travel for summer this year, most of whom aim to travel locally. This is good news, marking the recovery of local tourism. However, with this influx of tourists comes the need to revamp your properties and make sure that these are managed properly.
For property owners who offer home rentals for vacation goers, it’s important to keep your property wildlife safe. Not only will this keep your guests safe from wild animals, but it will also ensure that the natural ecosystem surrounding your area remains a haven for local animals and birds. Here are the things you can do to keep your property safe for guests and wildlife.
Avoid Harmful Cleaning Chemicals
One of the often go-to ways to make sure that your home rental is clean is to use chemical solutions, which often promise quick effects in removing stains and dirt on the visible areas of your property, such as your counters, floor, and windows. However, some chemicals used for cleaning external areas, such as windows, are linked to bird infertility. As well, some cleaning products also contain chemicals that accelerate plant growth, which leads to dense vegetation that can interfere with animal life. More so, even humans are affected by these compounds, given that volatile organic compounds found in these chemical cleaners can exacerbate allergies and asthma.
To make sure that your property is wildlife safe, make sure that you use environmentally-friendly cleaning products to clean your interior and exterior spaces. Use a homemade solution to clean surfaces outside your home, such as a paste made from baking soda and water, or a disinfectant made with white vinegar and water, to clean tough spots on windows and doors. To further protect local avian life, you should also consider having windows that are designed to reduce bird strike since birds can get injured or killed from flying into windows. Consider replacing ordinary glass windows with UV-reflective glass, which is visible to birds but still look clear and transparent to the human eye.
Plant Native Species
If your property has a lawn or a backyard, one way to make sure that the wildlife surrounding your area is safe is to plant native species of trees and bushes. Often, some non-native plant species are introduced to an area to serve as a form of pest control. However, these non-native species of plants tend to reproduce rapidly, which can have damaging effects on the local flora and fauna of your property. One example of this is the beach vitex, introduced in Gulf Coast around 2004 and 2005 as a decorative plant, which rapidly overtook native plant species and has since been a cause of several environmental problems.
The Gulf Coast is an ideal place for a lot of local plant varieties, and planting these not only beautifies your property but also ensures that the local wildlife surrounding your area remains safe. You can check the list of recommended and prohibited plants by the Gulf Coast’s Beautification Board as a reference. These native plants can support a healthy environment as well as serve as food and shelter for your local wildlife. As well, local plant species can withstand the local climate, so maintenance remains relatively easy, too.
Keep Your Property Litter-Free
Finally, one of the simplest ways to keep your property wildlife free is to ensure that it is free from any form of litter. Littering can have severe effects on wild animals, as they may end up being poisoned by soiled food or food containers that can be ingested. As the littering rate of cigarette butts is over 60%, it goes to say that littering is also a fire hazard. Keeping your property litter-free does not only benefit the wildlife around your area, it also ensures that your guests are safe from any unwanted animal encroachment.
As such, make sure that you have a strict no-littering policy in your house rental. Also, one reason why people litter is the lack of trash receptacles in the vicinity. Make sure that trash bins are visible and accessible to your guests. This way, you make it easier for them to put their trash away without littering. This will also benefit you, as clean-up of your property becomes easier.
Making sure that a property is wildlife safe should be a priority for owners of vacation home rentals. Not only will this benefit your immediate environment, but it will also make your property more appealing to guests.
