Looong review of my experience with Urban Trapping Wildlife Control.
Background: I'm an animal lover. Currently owned by 4 cats,1 snake and 2 fish. I feed hummers and songbirds, and there's a few large trees on my corner mobilehome lot, which has housed several generations of raccoons. The coons know they're safe on my property, as well as the opossum and skunks. Aside from the occasional accidental skunking, we live pretty harmoniously (I think they sometimes get their 'TreeBnB' reservations mixed up and there's simply too many "cooks in the kitchen")
After a plumber "forgot" to put a piece of lattice back up under my deck, I noticed the smell of decay coming up through the vent in my guest bathroom. I was sure someone had crawled under the house, penetrated the undercarriage and died, but the smell hadn't gotten completely unbearable like it would normally if an animal was decaying. Then I started seeing a juvenile raccoon on the deck stairs that appeared wobbly, weak, blind and also stunk badly. Local wildlife rescue never responded to my calls. After 5 nights of seeing this poor, sick creature on my property, he appeared in the daytime, looking pretty terrible. I contacted Urban Trapping Wildlife Control and Dan responded within minutes, said it was likely distemper (extremely contagious to other raccoons, skunks, dogs, and other species, but this strain isn't passed to cats or humans) and he could be here in 30 minutes.
Long story even longer, Houdini (yes, we named him, after he alluded Dan in the crawlspace) was caught the next morning in one of two traps he had set up. Dan was kind and knowledgeable, efficient and skilled, realistic about the situation, but very understanding of my affinity for this raccoon. He didn't laugh or scoff when I asked him to "talk sweet" to Houdini and even gave him some marshmallows to enjoy during the pick-up process.
When he picked up Houdini, he did a perimeter check for weak spots, and fixed the open lattice left by my plumber. During Houdini's evasion, he inspected the undercarriage and determined there weren't any decaying creatures he could see or smell, but it appeared Houdini had made himself a nest where he was pooping, peeing, sleeping and probably playing Fortnite for daaaaays, hence the bad smell.
I realize I'm adding some comic relief to this review, but the facts are no laughing matter: the current distemper outbreak has wiped out thousands of raccoon and other wildlife families in a very short period of time because it is INCREDIBLY contagious and is passed via bodily fluids and communal feeders. It's almost always fatal and infected wildlife are humanely euthanized after capture.
Why would I shell out cash for a dude to come to my house on a Sunday night to trap a random animal that isn't my pet?
Because I want to see animals doing their thing in another 20 years. I want people to respect wildlife, and try to cohabitate effectively. I don't want the wildlife population in my area wiped out. I don't want my neighbors to lose their precious pups to distemper, and if I have to spend some cash to do my part, I will.
We share the land with these creatures. "Share" is a generous term: In reality, we chew up and spit out 99% of the land and resources, yet we're kind enough to allow wildlife to retain a tree, bush, or crawlspace under the shed here and there.
My suggestions:
*Do not feed your pets outside.
*Do not leave food for wildlife on or around your property.
*Do not keep or leave any standing water, ponds, buckets, planters or any other vessel that can be used to drink from, as these are breeding grounds for distemper.
*Vaccinate your dogs against distemper.
*Do NOT allow them to eat or drink from anything outdoors that may have been used by wildlife and could be infected with distemper and...
*Watch your dogs for signs of illness: lethargy, diarrhea, wobbly, weak or disoriented behavior, and/or yellow or green discharge/crusties from eyes/snout and please contact your vet ASAP if your dog displays any of these symptoms.
Finally, if you have a wildlife issue on or around your property, give these people a call. Their expertise is epic.
Thanks Dan! read more