Wild animals invade crops to fulfill needs such as food and protective cover.
Converting a field from conventional tillage to direct seeding changes the habitat characteristics of the field. In particular, a direct seeded field has much less mechanical disturbance of the soil and usually provides plant cover a growing crop or crop residue all year. Although limited research has been done on this topic, these changes likely affect the level of some types of wildlife damage. Damage caused by these burrowing rodents is usually far more detrimental to crops, soil stability and general land management than that caused by birds or grazing animals like deer. Burrowing rodents are often permanent residents of land where a particular crop is grown.