[Wildlife Control] Movin' In

The population of wildlife, as well as the conflict with man, is greatly increasing. Since urban boundaries are expanding, we, the urban pest management professionals, are stepping into new areas to help our customers deal with the new surprises that are in and around homes.

COYOTES. One of the newer pest challenges within more urban settings is managing coyotes. One of my customers called because she had seen a coyote in her yard and feared for her children and pets. When people think their kids or animals are at risk, it prompts them into action and they become open to the thought of pro-actively dealing with such pest problems.

Coyotes stir up a lot of fear. They can have quite a range in which they roam and look for food. Problems arise when the food happens to be the neighbor’s cat or dog. About a year ago, in my area of St. Louis,, a woman was walking her dog when a hungry coyote took the dog right off the leash. That incident moved a community to allow trapping and six coyotes were caught. Unfortunately, coyote trapping is not pretty and the traps cannot be put just anywhere. If you put a trap in the wrong place you could end up on the evening news and quickly gain a bad reputation. Before I take a job, I look it over and weigh whether or not it is worth doing. You do not want to put your company on a chopping block.

BATS. I have dealt with bats for more than 10 years, but this summer, while performing inspections, I have seen more young bats lying dead below the entry area of buildings than ever before. I have seen it several times this year, and the most probable cause is the frequent severe weather we have had. Thunderstorms and lightning have been occurring sometimes as often as once or twice a week. During the summer people begin to hear or see bats and sometimes they find droppings on the ground. Usually, all you have to do is look up and you will find their entry spot.

Bat droppings are easy to identify. They look like rodent droppings, but if you squeeze them they are dry and will powder or break apart. (Mouse droppings are hard and don’t powder.) When you find bats in a structure this time of year there is not much you can do. By late August the young bats in the colony are big enough to leave the structure, allowing you to seal the building and install an escape tube to let the bats leave the structure and not get back in. They will then move to a new location until they find a place to spend the winter.

The challenge can be when you’re called out to remove a bat from the inside of a house in June or July. It could be one bat that was flying around outside near lights getting dinner when someone opens the door and it flies in. Sometimes it gets into the structure because it’s part of a colony living in the house, but we hope to seal any gaps to stop that from happening. You should not install escape tubes until late August, when juvenile bats are old enough to fly.

SQUIRRELS. I used to think the trapping season for squirrels was over by April, but this summer we still found intruding squirrels waking up our customers early in the morning. We perform an inspection and if we find that squirrels have taken up residence, the trapping program begins. Mid-summer squirrels are sometimes difficult to manage because the food supply is plentiful. People are filling their bird feeders and the squirrels are having a party on the feed. Various summer fruits also give them many options to feed upon. Different baits must be used to lure these squirrels into traps.

RACCOONS. Raccoons are increasing in number as they are becoming increasingly bolder. They think it’s fine to enter through a "doggy door" to share the dog food with the family pet. One of my customers recently told me of her encounter with a raccoon. One evening, she went into the garage to put the trash in the can. When she opened the door there was a raccoon eating out of the can. She screamed to high heaven. The raccoon just looked at her as though he was thanking her for bringing more food. To her amazement, her screaming did not make the raccoon budge. It didn’t take long for her to call to have that raccoon removed.

I once did a job at a house where the raccoon came down the chimney, opened the damper, entered the house and went to the kitchen looking for something to eat. She got up on the counter and broke all the canisters one by one, tossing them to the floor. When she finished, she climbed back up in the chimney for a nap. You could see this by the black foot prints everywhere she went. She didn’t just stop there. After her nap the raccoon came out again and walked over the white carpet to the bathroom to get a drink from the toilet. Then she went back to the kitchen, opened the pantry, and began to open up the boxes and eat. The raccoon ate to her heart’s content. The next day, the guy that picked up the mail came into the house finding it all torn apart with foot prints all around that lead to and from the chimney. Black foot prints were all over house. I put out a trap and she preferred the pantry food. I blocked off the chimney and made it so she had to go in my trap. The next day I caught the mother raccoon and was able to reach over the damper and remove the young from the chimney.

This type of problem can be scary, but in Missouri, where I live, we don’t have to worry about raccoons with rabies. Many states have a serious risk of rabies from raccoons. Handling that threat requires many states to put down everything that is trapped.

CONCLUSION. General animal problems seem to be increasing. Are you up to the challenges ahead? Are you ready to rescue customers with invading squirrels, raccoons, bats, etc.? If you are, you are entering into an arena that is really fun. I love to do this type of work. It fulfills the urban hunter in me. People that are good at performing animal control must be very creative and inventive. It’s a different type of service technician who will be successful at animal control. The technicians at our company are trained in both nuisance wildlife and insect control.

I believe animal control is rewarding for both your company and your technicians. I hope you will also.

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Controlling coyotes and foxes

In agricultural settings, coyotes continue to cause damage to livestock, poultry and certain fruit crops (e.g., melons). Coyotes will attack and kill sheep, calves, chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, and the infirm or young of other bred animals. In residential communities recently developed from subdivided farmland, woods, hills, prairies, and deserts inhabited by coyotes, these predators are known to hunt and kill dogs and cats left outside after dark. Foxes prey on turkeys, chickens, ducks, geese, pheasants, and the eggs of these birds. They also prey on young pigs, lambs, and small dogs and cats. Foxes also carry rabies. Like coyotes, foxes often move from outlying rural areas into more urbanized settings in search of suitable harborage and prey.

Options for controlling coyotes and foxes include:

Exclusion. Residents of housing developments that fit the above description should keep their dogs and cats indoors at night or contained in securely fenced yards, protected from roaming coyotes. Coyote barrier fences should be at least 5½ feet high, constructed of no larger than 6- by 4-inch mesh heavy-gauge wire, have outward-angled wire overhangs and buried wire aprons. Electrified fences of similar dimensions have proved to be effective in deterring coyotes from invading the enclosed pastureland and corrals. The smaller size of foxes often necessitates a smaller wire mesh size for use in barrier fences.

Harassment/Intimidation. The installation of bright security lights over corrals and other sites dramatically reduces the frequency of nighttime predation by coyotes to livestock kept in those areas. Also, having two or more trained (large breed) guard dogs on the property is an effective way to keep coyotes away from livestock.

Live-Trapping. Dirt sets using staked leg-hold traps (Nos. 3 or 4) on coyote trails and near den entrances constitutes an effective measure for capturing coyotes. The strategic placement of snares concealed among tall vegetation and brush along trails is another proven method for taking coyotes. The live-trapping devices of choice are leg-hold traps (Nos. 1-1/2 , 1-3/4 , and 2 double coilspring and Nos. 2 and 3 double longspring) in dirt-hole sets, as well as snares.

Shooting. Where legal and safe, shooting coyotes is an effective way to reduce local coyote populations.

Fumigants. Some states allow the restricted use of powdered sodium cyanide-filled capsules, loaded into an M-44 spring activated ejector device, to poison coyotes. This method is equally lethal to dogs and should be used with extreme caution with respect to protecting nontarget animals.

Carbon-monoxide- and carbon-dioxide-generating gas (smoke) cartridges are registered in some states for use in fumigating coyote dens. All den entrances should be covered and secured while using this method in order to maximize fumigant/asphyxicant penetration and concentration in the dens and to prevent coyotes from escaping. — Excerpted from the 9th Edition of the Mallis Handbook of Pest Control. To order a copy of the Mallis handbook, visit www.pctonline.com/store or call 800/456-0707.

The author is president of Holper Pest & Animal Solutions, St. Louis, Mo. He can be reached at jholper@giemedia.com.