Trapping not always the solution for pests

While some people think a trap is the best solution to get rid of a wild animal, animal care experts say it can be the worst choice.

People sometimes use cage traps in their attics for capturing small animals such as raccoons and squirrels. They are usually released unharmed, but a Windsor animal care manager said it is important to let the animal move out by itself.

Ellen Hedges is an animal care manager at Erie Wildlife Rescue who has worked with this group for over 30 years. She said they do not encourage trapping and relocation. They prefer to let the animal move out by itself, especially in winter where the animal may lose its shelter and food storage.

“Get the animal to move out on its own. There is really no good time to be doing this,” said Hedges. “Because in the winter if you want to move an animal, you would be moving it to a place where it did not know where to find food and didn’t know where to find shelter and it could likely starve.”

Erie Wildlife Rescue is a volunteer-based, registered charity that supports and gives medical care to injured and sick wild animals. They also care for wild babies that have been separated from their mothers, according to their website.

Hedges said using some scare tactics should be useful to getting the animal to leave without trapping them.

“You want to put a light, bright light and a radio nice and loud and then the last thing is some rags that is soaked in cleaning ammonia,” said Hedges.

When people call to ask who can they contact to set a trap, Hedges said they do not give them a phone number for any particular company because of some abuse situations they have had to deal with.

“We heard horror stories about animals being left in traps by companies,” said Hedges. “Not all companies are humane.”

Some people have experienced having a wild animal in their attic but did not know the procedures to help them without contacting an expert.

Maram Mostafa, a housekeeper, said trapping is bad choice because it sometimes leads to death.

Mostafa said she had a squirrel in her attic and tried to ask for help from the community housing corporation who sent a pest control agent to set a trap.

She said the trap was for removal of the squirrel, but she was worried about the animal because of the cold weather and, unfortunately, the squirrel died in the trap.

“I tried to rescue him since he got into the trap by calling the community housing who said the squirrel is used to the cold weather,” said Mostafa. “I asked for help from other sources such as the humane society, but it was New Year’s Eve and the service was slow which sadly lead to his death.”

From her experience about trapping, Mostafa said it is not a good idea.

“It ended by the squirrel’s death which made all my family members upset. Traps are not good to be set outside and they should be the last solution,” said Mostafa.

There are many examples of trapping incidents across Canada. According to the furbearers, MyKawartha, castanet.net websites, those include a dog who died in the grib of a Conibear trap in January 2017 in Ontario, and another dog who survived a snare trap in the Kelowna area in British Columbia.

The Ontario government has set rules for municipalities regarding wild animal control that want to use licensed hunters or trappers. Hired hunters or trappers must comply with the conditions of their licence, follow hunting and trapping rules and follow any local by-laws, according to the Ontario government website (Wild animal control; rules for municipalities).

If you find any wild animal at your home, you can contact either the Erie Wildlife Rescue at 519-735-3919 or the Windsor Humane Society at 519-996-5751.