To trap or not to trap, that is the question

A phone call I received today was a rather unique one. The woman had gone to her basement door last night to see what her dog was getting excited about and when she opened it a small creature streaked past her and into the basement. At some point this morning he had found his way upstairs and into a bathroom which is where she trapped it as she made her phone call for advice.

Normally we don’t recommend using the “answer to every problem” live-trap to solve conflicts between people and their wild neighbors. This situation proved difficult however, as the animal was clearly hiding in a room far from the nearest outdoor exit in a house with 2 large dogs.

We determined that the wayward creature was likely a weasel. The plan was to locate a very small live-trap baited with canned cat food and place it in the closed room. In these situations we always advise homeowners to do their best to locate the point of entry and close it if they can (in this case it was a coincidence involving a door so it was an easy solution) and then release the animal to a safe corner of their property. We’ll come back to this story in a moment.

The next call I received was from a woman who had a Virginia Opossum in a live-trap. She had successfully trapped and “relocated” 3 in the past week and wondered if there was something less time-consuming that could relieve her of the midnight garbage raiders. Our conversation was a helpful one; I explained to her that not only was relocating these animals a lot of work for her, but it was also not the best solution – nor legal! After our discussion, she had a number of recommendations that she was going to set out to implement. Because the animals were getting into the trash, other than putting straps, locks or bungee cords on the container, one option was for her to contact her waste disposal company to find out if she could exchange her current receptacle for a clean, new one that didn’t have such a strong odor, or barring that, taking the time to thoroughly clean the one she was using. She was also going to try leaving the lights on in the area the receptacles were kept to force any potential raiders to commit their crimes in the light. Because she was not providing any other food sources (neither her nor her immediate neighbors were feeding birds or other pets outdoors) these few tactics should do the trick.

Opossums are by nature nomadic and they generally only stay in one area if they consistently find food there. They are not picky when it comes to food, but if they can’t find enough they will move on to other areas where they can. Keeping up food and implementing small things that change the landscape that animals are used to or startle them when they least expect it are often all it takes to solve conflicts in a humane manner. Even if being humane isn’t your top priority (why are you reading this blog then?), the safety, hassle and legality of trapping and relocating animals should be.

The second woman thanked me for all of the information and I think that she will have a much better week now. Back to the first caller. Shortly after we talked she had gone to the bathroom to check on the status of her uninvited guest and brought with her a heavy bag and a piece of bologna. When she opened the door he was peering around a corner at her so she instinctively tossed the bologna into the bag and held it in the doorway in front of her. Surprisingly, he was hungry enough to be fooled with her behind the door and voluntarily walked right into the bag to enjoy his feast. She was able to safely bring him to the long grassy area in the back of her property and release him back to his home and duty of controlling the rodent population there.

Two different traps, two different reasons, and at least two happy endings. If you have a friend or a neighbor experiencing conflicts with their wild neighbors and considering using a trap to solve them, suggest that they give their nearest wildlife rehabilitator a call for advise that may be better for both them and the animals.

A Happy Ending

The evening of Tues, March 10th I received a phone call at home from Department of Natural Resources Game Warden Dave Walz. I live in Jefferson County and have often met Dave to pick up injured animals to bring to the Center. Dave had rescued an owl that had been tangled in netting at a game bird farm near Ashippun.

He had cut the owl free but didn’t know how long it had been struggling or how severely it was injured. Since it was late, we made arrangements for him to let the owl rest overnight with him and then he dropped it by my house early the next morning for me to bring to the Center. The next morning I discovered it was a small male Great Horned Owl and that he was pretty grouchy about being in captivity.

Upon examination, Animal Care staff discovered minor abrasions and a sprained leg and wing from struggling while tangled in the netting. We wanted to give him a couple days to recover, but we were also concerned to get him released to origin as soon as possible.

Why would we send him back to the area where his injuries had occurred? First of all, raptors are territorial and that was his territory. Also, if he had a mate, she would be sitting on their babies to keep them warm. As the male in the family, he would be expected to do most of the hunting for her and the babies in addition to himself. While he was here we had several warm nights so hopefully mom could safely leave the babies for a short while to hunt.

On Sunday, March 14th after work, I drove Mr. Great Horned (as we lovingly referred to this stout little guy during his stay) back home. There was a long gravel driveway to a ridge that dropped away towards the property where I parked my vehicle. He was footing (grabbing with his talons) the door in his excitement by this time. I opened the door, he took one hop onto the road, then threw out his wings and flung himself into the air.

He soared off the ridge, down over the valley, past a pond and landed in a tree to get his bearings. It was so beautiful to see him fly off into the sunset. I hope he got back to his mate in time to help care for his young - Although I do wonder just how he will explain his absence of several nights to his mate. “Really, honey, I was hunting for mice and this stuff grabbed me. And then these aliens abducted me and took me somewhere and performed medical procedures on me…”

Guest Blogger LR

Here's a sneak peak at someone you'll be hearing about in the next couple of weeks... stay tuned

"Bad" Raccoons

“We have had problems with some ‘bad’ raccoons. They have been getting into the dumpster for our residential living unit and when employees leave at night they are on the porch sometimes and they don’t run away.”

Okay, although raccoons are notorious for being mischievous and opportunistic, I didn’t realize they had begun to form gangs. That said, I explained to her that because raccoons are so smart, part of the reason they have been exhibiting these behaviors is because the employees and residents of her building have allowed them to do so.

The first thing I recommended to her was to evaluate any possible food sources. The dumpster is an obvious target so I suggested they talk with management for the building and perhaps their waste disposal company as well, to look at fencing or locking options that would prevent or limit the access these raccoons have to the garbage within. If this were an individual residence, often the best solution is to put off putting the garbage out until shortly before it is to be taken away, but as this situation wouldn’t allow for this type of set-up we have to be creative. Sometimes just requesting a replacement dumpster with new lids and a clean exterior that cuts down on the smells attracting the raccoons is all that is needed.

Additionally, I explained that the most logical explanation for these animals hanging out around the buildings, aside from the plentiful food source, is that they simply feel comfortable there. Much of the year, especially in the colder months, raccoons live fairly solitary lives and usually only find themselves living in close proximity to other raccoons in urban settings which offer up much more varied and abundant food sources. This could also be a group of juveniles or a family whose kits were born unusually late in the season, but their behaviors were not uncommon to those that we hear of regularly. The fact remains that when the individuals within the building saw these raccoons on the porch – likely looking for food scraps – night after night, choose to stay inside rather than scare them off by turning on lights, making noise, or even just opening the door, they unwittingly made the culprits feel more at home. I explained that they could also try placing ammonia or synthetic predator urine scents in and around the frequented areas to make them feel uneasy as an added incentive to the other strategies to be implemented.

The final thing I suggested was that she speak with the other people who regularly encounter these animals and try to share with them the information I gave her. My philosophy is that once you understand how to live with your wild neighbors, you will begin to understand how to live without them – in your space that is. The raccoons weren’t the problem, the abundant and easily accessible food source coupled with areas where the animals felt safe made for an ideal habitat, urbanity aside. This is why we never recommend relocating animals. Not only is it almost never actually as humane as you would like to think (a large portion of animals that are relocated do not survive for any number of reasons in addition to the law prohibiting the release of wild animals without permission), it is almost never successful as most situations fall into the same category as the one I’ve just been describing. Once the “perpetrators” are removed, the territory is then left open for others to claim and the cycle will inevitably continue.