How to see which wildlife visits your balcony
Read the clues first
- Small, tidy holes in pots. A squirrel burying or digging up food, usually by day.
- Pots tipped over, soil everywhere by morning. Most likely a raccoon.
- Droppings along the railing or above the door. Pigeons resting there.
- A sharp smell at door frames, or digging with a buried “gift”. A cat, marking or using the planter as a litter box.
Clues tell you where to look. A camera tells you who it was, and whether it comes back.
Who comes when
Squirrels, pigeons and sparrows keep daytime hours, with squirrels busiest in the morning. Cats come and go at dawn, dusk and through the night. Raccoons are mostly nocturnal, so if the damage appears overnight, that’s your suspect.
Where to point the camera
- At the scene, not the view. Aim at the planter or stretch of railing that gets visited, one to two metres away.
- Away from the sun. A camera facing bright sky turns every visitor into a silhouette.
- Away from people. Keep the street, the neighbours’ windows and the next balcony out of the frame.
- Mounted firmly. A camera that sways in the wind, or sees plants moving, records leaves all day.
After dark
Most of the interesting visits happen at night. Trail cameras use infrared and record in black and white. A camera without infrared needs some light: a porch lamp or the glow from the street is often enough at dusk. Skip the flash, which startles animals.
Don’t bait them
Seed or scraps bring more visitors, and the wrong ones: pigeons, squirrels and raccoons. Toronto asks wildlife watchers not to bait, feed or lure animals, and Montreal prohibits feeding wild animals. Watch whoever comes anyway.
Which camera
| Type | Good at | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| Bird feeder camera | Close-ups of the birds you feed | Relies on seed, which draws pigeons and squirrels to a balcony |
| Trail camera | Cheap, rugged, infrared at night | Records every movement, people included; you sort the clips |
| Security camera | Live view and alerts | Needs power and points at people as much as animals |
| Camera that recognises animals | A gallery sorted by species, people left out | Recognition needs Wi-Fi and some light |
Sources
- City of Toronto: ethical wildlife viewing and photography asks people not to bait, feed or lure wildlife, and not to use a flash.
- Ville de Montréal: birds and other wild animals notes that feeding wild animals is prohibited in Montreal.
- Gouvernement du Québec: raccoon (French) notes that raccoons are mostly nocturnal.