When Should You Call Animal Control vs Wildlife Removal

Most people will encounter a wild animal on their property, sooner or later in their life. And it’s important for those people to know when to call a wildlife removal company like Wildlife X Team and when it’s appropriate to call animal control services. Since not everyone knows the difference between the two, this article is meant to clear that up. It will hopefully answer any questions you might have about which company handles which services, and save everyone (both you and the removal company) precious time and effort.

So, what does a wildlife removal company really do?

First things first, let’s delve into common wildlife removal services, and what animal situations can be handled by wildlife removal. Typically, a wildlife removal company handles the removal of common nuisance wildlife from both residential and commercial properties. While some employ lethal removal methods, others do so humanely, using live trapping and exclusion as pillars for safe and cruelty-free removal.

Why cruelty-free wildlife removal?

While in the past, it was not uncommon for wildlife removers to employ lethal removal methods, attitudes have shifted in more recent years, with an increased focus on treating intrusive animals with decency.

The main idea behind this is that the wild animal that’s causing you such trouble is only looking for food, water, or shelter. Most wild animals, despite what you may think, aren’t geared towards attacking you or your pets (and will typically actively avoid a confrontation). In truth, most of these nuisance animals are simply looking to feed and protect themselves, and many modern wildlife removal services don’t think they deserve to get killed for that.

So nowadays, many wildlife removal companies focus on removing the wild animal (together with its cubs, as is often the case), and relocating it to a safe location, where it won’t bother humans anymore. Furthermore, most modern wildlife removal services are geared toward prevention. As such, they will inspect your property to determine the animal’s entry point (often a missing roof shingle, crack in the wall, broken window, etc.), as well as what attracted the animal to your home. Often, homeowners don’t realize it, but they have food left out in the open or easily accessible water sources (a pond, leaky pipe, and so on).

This will help the homeowner take action against future infestations.

What kinds of animals do wildlife removal companies deal with?

 

While the exact list may vary from company to company, most wildlife removal services handle:

• Raccoons;
• Bats;
• Squirrels;
• Birds;
• Rodents;
• Armadillos;
• Snakes;
• Opossums;
• Birds;
• Coyotes;
• Skunks;
• Beavers;
• Bobcats;
• Badgers;
• Chipmunks;
• Bees;
• Foxes;
• Scorpions;
• Iguanas;
• Wasps;
• Lizards;
• Moles;
• Voles;
• Termites;
• Cockroaches;
• Insects;
• Wild Hogs.

That’s a pretty extensive list of wild animals and pests to handle, though if you don’t see the animal you’re dealing with on the list, it would probably be a good idea to contact your local wildlife removal company, and ask directly. But before you do that, read on to find out what animal control services do, so you can know if they’d be more appropriate for your situation.

What do animal control services do?

Animal control is actually a governmental agency charged with the care of dangerous and misplaced animals. Your local animal control services handle strays, trapped animals, as well as dangerous (potentially rabid) pet animals that are endangering human life.

What animals do animal control services handle?

If you’re having trouble with an animal that is typically domesticated, then animal control services would be the people to call, as they deal with:

• Cats;
• Dogs;
• Ferrets;
• Other Domesticated Animals.

In other words, if you’re concerned about a dangerous or malnourished stray dog, you want to call your local animal control services. They will come along and pick up the dog. They will then take it to the vet, and make sure it gets its necessary shots, and also that it’s treated for any health conditions it might be suffering from. Once that’s handled, it will also be animal control services that make sure the dog is placed in a dog shelter, where it can get found by a loving forever family, and adopted into a happy home.

Animal control services also handle more terminal cases, such as rabid or injured animals. They’re the people to call if you are dealing with a rabid dog, but also with a cat trapped underneath your home. If you encounter a typically domesticated animal that appears aggressive, you’ll want to reach out to animal control services.

They are also the people to call if you see someone mistreating a dog or a cat. If you suspect someone in your community of dog and cat abuse or neglect, we recommend that you give a quick call to your local animal control center. They will then arrive to investigate and if deemed necessary, remove the animal from the abuser, and see it’s placed in a better home.

However, animal control services won’t be able to do much about that raccoon that keeps stealing from your backyard. These people are simply not trained to handle such situations, and if you do call an animal control line about any of the wild animals we mentioned earlier, they’ll probably decline, and refer you to a wildlife removal service, instead. Similarly, if you call a wildlife removal service about a mistreated or rabid cat, it’s unlikely they’ll come out themselves, but rather that they will refer you to your local animal control services.

It’s not that one company doesn’t care about the other animals. It’s just that the services required in dealing with an intrusive coyote, for instance, are different from rescuing a malnourished cat. Hopefully, now you understand the difference between wildlife removal and animal control services and have a better idea of who to call. If you’re dealing with an animal not mentioned here, but that wouldn’t typically make a good pet, it’s probably best to call a wildlife removal service.

Photo by Yana Moroz x pexels.com