Consider the story of Dave and Debbie Houser, who live on top of a mountain near Pennsylvania State University. It's not a wild place, but it is a rural landscape. Just past their yard is some of the best black bear habitat in the area, full of alder and berries with lots of dennable holes under the boulders and treefall.
A few Halloweens ago, Dave and Debbie had their most unforgettable trick-or-treaters -two 150-pound black bear cubs having a grand time in the garbage cans underneath the bedroom window. Judging by their size, Dave assumed they had already left their mother, and told Debbie to watch them run once he turned on the porch light. As an added measure. He thought he'd go outside and give them a vocal scare.
He was thus unprepared as he stepped out his front door and into the face of the cubs' mother, a 300-pound sow busily engaged with the Housers'jack-o-lantern. His presence of mind intact, he loudly suggested she leave the yard, but she just looked at him. "All of a sudden, the light must have finally scared her and she took off," Dave says.
Meanwhile, Debbie was enjoying the cubs' reaction to Dave's yelling. The young bears were doing a Laurel and Hardy imitation, both trying to get away by squeezing behind a ladder propped against the house, instead of heading for the woods.
"We found two-liter bottles chewed and even a glass peanut-butter jar they worked on that had a single tooth hole in it," Debbie remembers. So now the Housers keep their trash inside until the last minute. They see no need to call wildlife authorities. 'As far as I'm concerned, we moved in with the bears," Dave says.
A bear in the yard certainly does make for a good happy-hour tale. But when it comes to wildlife stories, a lot of ours are more on the order of bats in our belfries, rabbits in the lettuce, and snakes in the rock garden. We've got skunks spraying the dog, and mice making a nest out of the relic teddy bears in the attic. We've got "nuisance" stories.
You can't blame the animals. They have to live too. And the only way they know to do that is to eat what they find and sleep where they can. Every time we turn a field or forest into a development, we chew up their habitat. But many animals are so resilient that they just wait until the digging's done and move right back in. They don't understand land deeds.
It's not that they want to be near humans; but from us, they can find a cozy nest for the birth of their young, or an easy meal in our gardens, our barns, even our homes. Discover an animal invader, and it becomes a question of philosophy. You, the homeowner, have to decide whether to: a) ignore it and hope it will go away; b) kill it; or c) resolve the problem by removing the animal and the attraction.
As a state wildlife biologist, Karl J. Lutz saw the results of fatal reactions. Now a wildlife consultant on animal /residence conflicts in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Lutz says that many's the snake he's had to identify from four or five pieces in the bottom of a coffee can. "It's the thinking that the only good snake is a dead one. Or you can fill in the blank with any species, if it causes a problem. People are too quick to grab the gun or poison," he says.
He knows too well the effects of pesticides designed to offer immediate relief, and says that the first chemical compound he'd ban is Rozol, a rodenticide used to kill bats. When this anticoagulant powder is dusted in dwellings to be ingested by, bats during their preening, it can also penetrate directly through human skin, leading to internal bleeding and birth defects.
Pennsylvania veterinarian Chris Karper's personal nightmare poisons are those used to kill unwelcome birds, such as starlings. He's seen so much secondary poisoning of raptors from eating toxic prey that he's worked up his own outline of assessment and treatment for poisoned raptors.
The good news is that in an effort to fight off the untold millions of dollars in property destruction that animals cause every year, some creative, non lethal techniques have been developed to get you out of the wildlife shelter and breadline business and keep your wildlife -lover's heart intact.
In fact, humane animal removal can be considered a growing cottage industry in the United States. There is no national record of how many companies have sprung up in America, but those in the profession say they know it's becoming a competitive market.
"There is continued growth in this business," says wildlife ecologist Don Althoff, owner of McKinzie Scientific, an Ohio wildlife-damage-control company. He counts off the reasons: "Number one is expanding urban sprawl, and number two is adaptability of animals to our lifestyles But number three is that "a lot of wildlife biologists could not get state or federal jobs and they recognized & need for this type of work," he says.
Mike Janotta. Owner of Southwestern Wildlife Services, in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania, is a perfect example. As a vector (or disease-carrying organism) control official for the local government, he saw the need for someone to help homeowners with problems that his office didn't cover. He bills his business as "humane animal removal and relocation But, he says. "a lot of it is education," and he offers quick lessons in natural history on every call. Lutz agrees, saying that half the battle is teaching a homeowner that an animal may not be a negative addition to the homestead, but actually might be doing them a favor if left alone.
Janotta estimates that a large portion of his clientele is compassionate toward wildlife. "Seventy-five percent want to see the animal live. They don't want it injured, they just want it away, and they don~t want to do it. And 15 percent of that 75 are even fanatical about not hurting it," he says. But, the other 25 percent "don't care" what happens to the animal, just so long as Janotta. Removes it.
How do you know you've got a problem? Well, it can hit you over the head, literally, as may be the case when a chimney-dwelling raccoon falls out of your flue as you light the fireplace. Or, you may go into the cellar and find a black A mother raccoon and her cubs work through a trash-can meal. A secure metal can with an animal-proof lock cuts the chances of waking up to a garbage-strewn lawn. Rat snake coiled up on your washing machine.
Those wayward animals may be singular events of confusion, or they may be clues that lead you to a whole family of "masked bandits" in the chimney or gaping holes in your cement foundation. "Never assume that just because you've removed the animal, the problem is solved," Lutz says. In many cases, it's not over yet. If you only deal with the animal, you may have served eviction, but you left the "for rent" or "free eats" sign in the window.
It isn't enough to remove the raccoon that invades your garbage can every week. By displaying your trash in a paper bag reeking of pork-chop grease during late-night, prime wildlife-feeding hours, you're begging for attention. Reduce the attraction by securing your trash in a metal can with a raccoon-proof lock on the lid, and in one easy step you've eliminated the attraction and saved yourself the problem of animal removal.
Or take a bat that wakes you up in the middle of the night. It probably wouldn't be much effort to cautiously catch the flying mammal with an insect net, and then let it slip out your back door. While you're doing that, consider why it's there. What was the attraction? And then, probably most importantly, how did it get in?
In many cases, the patient homeowner, with a little common sense, can handle his or her own control. But there are points to ponder when removing an unwanted animal. First, if you've done all you can to remove the attraction, and the animal still remains, how will you get it out? Many varieties of species-specific live traps are sold at hardware and specialty animal stores, or can be rented or borrowed from the local animal shelter or dog warden. Often a simple box-type trap, a live trap will restrain an animal in an enclosure without hurting it. Follow the directions closely, especially in the use of baits and in vigilance in checking it for success.
Once you've caught it, where will you take it? It may be illegal in your state for you, an un-permitted trapper (even live-trapping is trapping), to capture that raccoon and drop it off in the woods. It could also be a death knell for that animal if you relocate it to a habitat that wont sustain it. To separate an animal from its food source -especially during critical times such as winter preparation -is as fatal as poison.
Finally, consider the rest of the family. Knowing something about that animal's biology may clue you to search for babies. Don t remove a nursing mother or nurturing father. Allow the parenting to be completed, and you may find that E your "problem" may remove itself in due course. That, then, 2E would be the appropriate time to make the household repairs that keep you from becoming a nursery next season. And, never believe that you could make as good a parent. Orphaned or injured animals should be brought to a qualified wildlife rehabilitation center.
Suppose you'd rather not remove the animal yourself, or you're not sure that there isn't a bat colony in your attic. Who are you going to call?
Try looking up bat removal in the Yellow Pages, and you'll quickly see your dilemma. There's nothing between baskets and bathing suits. Ditto for animal removal. But turn to pest control, and you'll find display ads for companies with chemical-sounding names. They'll cheerfully take the unpleasantry off your hands, but probably with Rozol.
If you fancy yourself one of Janottas 75 percent who want the animal to live, don't dial a company that shows a 11 pest" with a big X over it. When Janotta gets a bat call, he starts by calming his caller. "I explain that chances are it is not rabid. (Actually, based on random sampling, less than I percent of North American bats have been shown to be rabid.) I tell them it's confused, blinded by the light. If it's just one, I tell them let it land, contain it in one room, cover it, and carry it outside. But I warn them to be careful; bats are easily injured. At that point, most say 'No, can you come out?"' he says.
When he gets there, he removes the bat. But then he turns into a house detective, searching for entrances, evidence of other individuals, and, as part of the package, he patches up the entry holes, disinfects the area, then gives a two-year bat-proofed guarantee.
That's the kind of animal-removal expert you want. But you may have to be a detective yourself just to find him. Try the local government health officer, the local SPCA shelter, or your state's wildlife or game bureau. In a number of states, removal experts must be permitted by the state. Often, the wildlife officers cant respond to the calls themselves, but can refer you to someone who will.
Call your specialist, but don't give your address until you know this is the person you want, It may be hard to remain calm when you're sure you're being invaded by a horde of animals, but there are some questions you should ask: Will you hurt the animal? How do you intend to remove it? Where will you release it? Can I leave it on my property? What if you find babies -what can I do until they are old enough to leave? What chemicals are you planning to use'? Will you examine my home for reasons why the animal is here? Will you recommend animal-proofing techniques and conduct the repairs? You can sense pretty quickly if your expert knows the natural history of his quarry. You'll know if he or she is simply a "pest" remover. There are even some who would use a leghold trap to remove a raccoon in your attic. These are not humane removal specialists.
Says Lutz, "It might take a little time, a little money, and a lot of patience, but there are humane ways out of every problem-animal situation. A creative person could consider it a challenge to his ingenuity' "
He adds one other thouht that he urges all home- owners to ponder before taking steps to remove some critter they find unsightly. "They should ask, 'Is that all I'm worried about- I just doff t like its looks" They should consider that the animal may offer a mutually beneficial co-existence, such as is often the case with snakes that eat rodents or insects; or bats that eat an amazing amount of insects, " With a little observation, he says, it might turn out the animal and the family can peacefully coexist. Or it just might be enough to simply enjoy the animals for what they are.