The housing industry is booming, with new homes, neighbourhoods, and subdivisions being built on a daily basis. While all that construction may be good for the economy, it often has devastating consequences for wildlife. As cities and towns continue to grow, they encroach further and further into natural wildlife habitats. Wild animals are being driven away from their native environments and into residential areas, causing the animals to seek shelter wherever they can, including inside homes.
While no homeowners want to share their homes with local wildlife, most people believe that trapping and relocating these wild animals is a safe and humane wildlife removal method, especially when compared to poison, baits, and other means of extermination. However, trapping and relocating wild animals often puts the animals and their habitats in grave danger. In many situations, the trap-and-relocate method has fatal consequences for wildlife and their young, while providing only temporary solutions for homeowners.
How the Trap-and-Relocate Method Works
When wild animals are present in someone’s house, a trap-and-relocate wildlife worker typically places cage-type traps in or around the property and waits for the animals to enter the traps. When the animals are trapped, they are transported in the traps to a different location, and released.
At first thought, this may seem like a viable solution. The phrase “trap and relocate” leads many people to imagine wild animals “rescued” from an unfriendly urban environment and then released to live out their days in a safe, park-like nature preserve. Unfortunately, trapping and relocation rarely leads to such a happy ending.
Why Trapping and Relocating Wildlife Does More Harm Than Good
Contrary to common belief, there are many ways trapping and relocating wildlife can result in dangerous or even deadly consequences:
1. Remaining in a Trap Can Be Harmful to Animals
Using the trap-and relocate method usually means that the animal will have to spend an extended period of time in the trap before it is relocated. The wildlife control technician is not always able to collect the traps right away. If there are multiple animals present, the worker may wait until all animals have been trapped.
Traps are often located in places where they are exposed to the elements.. Animals confined to these traps for days may face heat stroke or frostbite and can die from exposure, thirst, or starvation. Furthermore, being stuck in a trap is extremely stressful for a wild animal. Most animals spend their time in the trap trying desperately to escape and can seriously injure themselves in the process.
2. Relocation Can Separate Mother Animals From Their Young
In some cases, a wild animal spotted in someone’s home is a mother who is out looking for food while her babies remain in an off-site nest or den. When the mother is trapped and relocated far away, the baby animals are left without food or protection and aren’t likely to survive. Meanwhile, after relocation, the mother will spend her time frantically searching for her family.
3. An Unfamiliar Environment Is Dangerous for Relocated Animals
When wild animals are relocated to a new environment, they have no sense of their surroundings, no idea where to get water or food, and no knowledge of nearby predators. They may also be subject to territorial attacks from other animals. This unfamiliarity puts them at risk, and can be fatal.
4. Relocation Alone Does Not Prevent Future Wildlife Invasions
For homeowners, trapping and relocating wild animals is a temporary fix at best. It’s imperative to figure out how and why the animals moved in and take quick action to thoroughly remedy the situation. Otherwise, new animals will soon move in to replace the relocated animals. There are many attractants left behind by animals, including scent, food storage, and access to shelter that other wildlife are drawn to. Furthermore, wildlife are smarter than most of us realize, and there is a chance they will simply return within a few days. Relocation doesn’t address the root of the intrusion.
Choose a Company Skilled in Humane Wildlife Removal Methods
At Skedaddle, we prioritize animal proofing your home to prevent any further invasions, while keeping the animals safe in the process. By excluding wildlife from your home without relocating them, we preserve the biodiversity in your neighbourhood, while keeping your family and your property pest free.
The only humane use for a trap is to transport an animal directly outside of a home, in the neighbourhood it belongs in. We have decades of experience using safe, humane methods to remove unwanted wildlife from homes and keep them out for good. Contact us right away if you experience wildlife in your home.
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