What do wildlife rehabilitators do with wild animals?

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What happens to the wildlife that rehabilitators catch will very much depend on the animal itself. Certain animals, particularly rats and mice, will require culling, rather than trap and release operations. These rodent populations are constantly on the rise, and it is necessary to perform this cull, using snap traps, to keep numbers down. If you were to release an animal such as a mouse or a rat back into the wild, there’s a good chance that it will just come right back to your home. Rats are keen chewers, and they will chew through many materials, including concrete and drywall, in a bid to access your home. This is even more so the case if it can sense pheromones left behind by previous rodents, or itself.



You can’t cull other animals in the same way, however. Bats are protected creatures in many states across America, and at certain months of the year, you aren’t permitted to even disturb them, let alone cull them. With bats, and many other wild animals, trapping and releasing isn’t successful, so exclusion devices are the way forward. When you use these, the animal needs to sort out its own problem. It can find a new place to live, eat and drink in its own time, and you won’t have had too much of a part to play in it.

A reliable and reputable wildlife rehabilitator will do everything in his or her power to deal with the animal invasion in the most humane way possible. These exclusion traps are a much more humane method than many of the others that are presented to you, and it also doesn’t leave you with the problem of what to do with the critter once you have captured it.

There are a lot of legalities surrounding wild animals and the removal of them. You don’t want to get yourself in trouble for the action you take, so make sure you have researched everything that you will need to do. If you are using traps, what traps do you need? Are you allowed to use those traps? What are you legally permitted to do with the animal once you have captured it? Where will you release it?

There are a lot of questions surrounding wild animals and wild animal control, and that’s why we would always recommend that you seek out professional advice before doing anything too drastic. We have seen a lot of homes in a lot of messes because homeowners went about their wildlife removal measures the wrong way. For the record, the wrong way will involve the animal retreating even further into your home, into places that you won’t be able to easily access. Once that animal dies, it will decompose there, and until you find it, it will continue to kick up that awful stench.

Wild animal rehabilitators should also do what is right, by both the animal in question, and the homeowner. If the animal is injured, it must be worked out whether or not that animal can be nursed back to health. If it can, some animal rehabilitators will do just that. If the animal cannot be made better, it will be euthanized in such a way that it does not feel any stress or pain.

Wildlife rehabilitators should never use poison in their efforts to remove wild animals from your property. This can have a detrimental effect, even more so than the animals alone, and this applies to both commercial and residential properties.

For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How To Guide: Who should I hire? - What questions to ask, to look for, who NOT to hire.
How To Guide: do it yourself! - Advice on saving money by doing wildlife removal yourself.
Guide: How much does wildlife removal cost? - Analysis of wildlife control prices.
animals in the attic
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