You may have seen the recent news articles on raccoon trapping, in particular the concerns surrounding people taking the task into their own hands.

We understand resident's frustration due ongoing nuisance wildlife, however removing animals is often not the answer. 

Instead addressing the reasons why animals are on your property is the first step to ensuring a permanent solution. Have a look around to remove attractants and reduce harbourage. Have a wildlife professional out to assess your structure for long-term pest proofing or overall site management.

Appearing to be a quick fix, live trapping and relocation of wildlife causing conflict will not solve the problem. 

By removing an individual through trapping, a void is created for new animals to move in as the site will remain ideal habitat and will now be vacant and clear of competitors. 

Trapping is also not the cheapest option, multiple visits will be required to identify or habituate the conflict animal/s to the equipment, and the possibility of multiple family members who become trap smart pretty quickly witnessing how one of their members in distress after getting caught requiring extended service time. Free-roaming cats will also waste your finances as the traps are not species specific! 

If you are lucky enough to capture and remove all nuisance individuals from site, it won't take long before more move in leaving you back at square one – even more frustrated and now out of pocket.

From an animal perspective pest control companies often paint the image of trapping and relocation as a snow-white happy ending with the animals roaming free in the forest to make people feel good, however this is rarely the case on the animals' end. 

Live trapping and relocation is an inhumane practice which should only be used in extenuating circumstances. Removed individuals will be left in unfamiliar territory where they will need to fight for space and not know where to find food often leading to death through injury or starvation; or they will simply need to be euthanized in accordance with the regulations as rerelease may not be possible.

Its important to remember that wildlife are protected by the BC Wildlife Act. Arrange to have a professional in to effectively solve your problem and advise of the best way forward - for both the residents and animals alike.