Wildlife in California is an important natural resource that many people appreciate in their natural habitats and strive to protect. However, sometimes vertebrate animals can become pests in our homes, gardens, schools, parks, and landscapes and management efforts are needed.

But identifying what has burrowed under the porch, eaten the fruit on your trees, or caused holes in the lawn can be difficult if you don't see the culprit in action. If you think you have an animal pest but are not sure what it is, the new UC IPM Wildlife Pest Identification Tool will help you narrow down potential vertebrate pests using signs such as typical damage, tracks, and droppings (scat).The results will show you information on identification and biology with links to more information including management options.

The Wildlife Pest Identification Tool focuses specifically on vertebrate pests and covers 21 common animal pests. To use the tool, select the signs (damage, tracks, or droppings) that you are observing. The tool filters out the possible pests based on the signs you choose. More photos occur on each pest page to help confirm the pest. Once the pest is confirmed, you can read more about how to prevent and manage this pest.

”I was pleased to find that it's also easy to use on my Samsung phone; so often we whip out the phone when we're in the garden or out in the field, and with this tool we can look at the images on the screen at the same time we're looking at the evidence in our gardens.” —A Wildlife Pest Identification Tool user

Feedback from users of the Wildlife Pest Identification Tool has been very positive. “[This is] better than anything else I’ve seen.” “Simple and effective.” “I was pleased to find that it's also easy to use on my Samsung phone; so often we whip out the phone when we're in the garden or out in the field, and with this tool we can look at the images on the screen at the same time we're looking at the evidence in our gardens.”

Partial funding for the development of UC IPM’s Wildlife Pest Identification Tool was from the United States Department of Agriculture Crop Protection and Pest Management (USDA CPPM) Grant Program.