Wildlife Trapping - Let Me Out!

08.29.2003 - "LET ME OUT!" bellowed the trapped opossum. "No!" I said. "YES!!!" hollered the critter. "Not until you're relocated to a state-approved wildlife preserve at least ten miles from your capture site!" I shouted. "OKAY!" said the opossum, "BUT COULD YOU AT LEAST GIVE ME A CIGARETTE WHILE I'M IN HERE?" True story.

I am a nuisance wildlife trapper by trade.  I do not trap wild animals for the fur or the hides or the meat or for fun.  I am a professional wildlife control expert who solves problems between people and wild animals.  This means that I do prevention, damage repairs, exclusion, waste remediation, and all kinds of animal problem tasks.  It also means that I often trap wildlife.

First of all, I only use live cage traps.  I do not want to kill any wild animals.  I relocate them far from the capture site.  While this does put some stress on the animal, I aim to be as humane as possible.  I check traps every morning, and I never leave an animal in a trap for more than half a day.  All animals get relocated each evening.  I never harm animals, nor do I expose them to unnecessary heat or cold.

Wildlife trapping should only be conducted by a state licensed and trained professional.  There's many reasons for this, many of them legal reasons, but also, there's many considerations when it comes to wildlife trapping.  If it's the simplest of cases, and everything goes right, yes, the standard homeowner who knows nothing can do it.  Just put down a trap, bait it, and problem solved, right?  The truth of the matter is that there's exceptions in almost every case.  Type of trap, type of bait, type of animal, location, time of year, all of these variables count.  Most amateurs end up catching the wrong animal (such as the neighbor's cat), or something goes wrong. Something always goes wrong if you don't have the proper experience or equipment.  Animals don't get caught at all, they escape, they reach through the cage and cause damage or injury, they die, etc.  The worst is when an ignorant person just doesn't know what's going on.  I've seen thousands of such cases - such as a person who trapped and removed and even killed several squirrels in his yard, because he heard noises in his attic - which turned out to be a mother raccoon with several baby coons.  Had he even had the knowledge of the right type of animal to trap, and bought the correct type of trap, and caught the mother raccoon, he'd have been left with five baby raccoons to squeal and starve and die in his attic, and cause a bad odor.  I could go on, but in short, a lot goes into wildlife trapping, even if it seems simple, and it's not a job for amateurs.

Do it yourself: Visit my How To Get Rid of Opossums page for tips and advice.
Do it yourself: Visit my How To Get Rid of Raccoons page for tips and advice.
Do it yourself: Visit my How To Get Rid of Snakes page for tips and advice.
Get professional help: Visit my Nationwide Pro Directory of wildlife removal experts.

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