Humane wildlife removal exists to ensure that animals aren’t harmed when they’re returned to their natural habitat. This process can be tricky, but it’s essential to ensure the safety of all creatures involved. The process becomes even trickier when baby or infant animals are involved.
These creatures rely on their mothers for sustenance, and the moms will often use all the resources at their disposal to ensure the safety of their young. For more information on the importance of a humane removal process during baby season, make sure to read on.
The Importance of Baby Season
Wildlife, particularly the pests that make their way into your home, don’t typically give birth to a single child. Instead, they give birth to a litter of infants who need protection, food, and warmth. Raccoons, for instance, usually have around three or four offspring in each litter. However, it’s not unusual for their brood to contain as many as nine babies.
There are two main concerns here when it comes to humane removal. First, as the number of animals inside your home grows, so does the potential for damage. The damage can be anything from feces-based contamination to structural damage to the home. To repair this damage, homeowners can expect to spend up to several thousand dollars.
The second main concern, of course, is the health and safety of the animals. If every newborn isn’t removed, the mother may expend considerable time and energy attempting to return and save the lost member of their litter. The baby animal, too, may be left unable to care for itself. This can lead to an inhumane outcome.
So, with this in mind, it’s always better to exclude wildlife mothers before they give birth. For most animals, this tends to happen in late winter or very early spring. While humane removal is possible afterward, the risks increase dramatically.
The Signs of Baby Animals
Much like baby humans, baby animals tend to make their presence known. They’ll chirp and cry for their mother’s attention. If they’ve grown enough to move around, you’ll also hear their claws clatter in your ceilings or walls.
If you walk the exterior of your home, you’ll likely find signs of the animal’s entry into your home. This can take the form of bent siding or damaged vents. You may even find the mother wandering for food, since they tend not to go far from their litter.
The Removal Process
At Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control, we take the safety of these creatures very seriously. We’ll search every nook and cranny to ensure that we’ve found every baby. We’ll then carefully remove them by hand, as they typically aren’t mobile until they’re around 6 weeks old.
During this process, we’ll also take steps to ensure the mother knows where her babies are. She must know that all of her children have been found and removed, otherwise she’ll expend considerable effort to return to your home, even after we’ve sealed up any entry points, to find any missing child. We also take caution not to spook her too much, since the goal is for her to return later on to fetch her litter.
We use a baby box as a temporary shelter to protect the babies. If we’re able to remove the mother, too, we’ll do that humanely. If we aren’t able to remove her, we’ll install a one-way door that allows her to leave but not re-enter. We’ll then place the baby box next to the door, so she’ll see her children as soon as she leaves. She can then take them to a new den outside of your home.
Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Removal
It’s important to take steps to humanely remove any wildlife from your home as soon as possible. As you can see above, the process becomes more time-intensive and difficult, though not impossible, as soon as the mother gives birth. Call us today so we can assess the situation inside your home and get to work humanely removing any critters.
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