Tag Archives: Animal Control

Animal Control, Raccoons, Wildlife Control

Rabid Raccoon? Who You Gonna Call?

Recently a motorist in my neighborhood saw a raccoon standing in the roadway, foaming at the mouth and growling at cars. Raccoons are know carriers of rabies so the man called police, who referred him to animal control, who passed him to public health, who sent him to natural resources, which told him, “Shoot it if it’s on your property.”

Seems like you’re on your own if you see a rabid raccoon in your neighborhood. Shooting a dangerous animal might make sense in the wilds of Wyoming, but in my crowded city neighborhood, it’s not smart, safe or legal. Police deal with wild people, not animals. Animal control focuses on cats and dogs and isn’t equipped to handle wildlife. Local wildlife centers will tell you how to capture a wounded animal so you can bring it in for treatment. This is great for baby birds, but I wouldn’t want to get that close to a sick raccoon.

Raccoons are known carriers of rabies and canine distemper. Rabies can be passed to humans and other animals. Distemper is not contagious to humans but can be transmitted to other animals.

If you come across a rabid, sick or wounded raccoon or other wild animal, it’s best to call an animal control company immediately. Wild animals are unpredictable and dangerous. Don’t put your family, children or pets at risk, call Stern Environmental.

Animal Control, Nuisance Wildlife Control, Raccoons

The Bandits Are Back!

She’s back! We have a neighborhood raccoon who specializes in finding “inconvenient” living quarters. The past few years she’s favored my neighbors’ hollow porch columns, nesting there and raising several broods. For most of the spring she perches on top of the columns, giving my neighbors the evil eye and hissing at them as they enter and exit their home. She’s just protecting her babies (who you can hear crying through the brick walls of the column), but it’s still annoying — and potentially dangerous. Raccoons carry rabies and have been known to charge humans who come too close to their nest.

She spent a winter in my chimney before I had it cleaned and capped. She dug out a burrow under another neighbor’s storage shed and terrorized her inquisitive cat. And now she’s moved into my garage. I don’t go into my garage very often in the winter. It’s an old style barn-door building of questionable structural integrity, but it makes a handy place to store my gardening tools, the bikes and assorted bits of odd lumber. Unsuspecting, I walked into its dark recesses yesterday to fill the bird feeders. From the dim recesses at the back of the garage, I heard a sharp hiss. Then I saw two eyes glowing in the dark. She’s back!

There’s little in the do-it-yourself line you can do that effectively gets rid of raccoons. They’re not easily intimidated by humans. I’ve tried ammonia, mothballs (I can still smell the stink in my attic), ultrasonic gizmos, even a radio blaring Nine Inch Nails. I’ll admit that did get that particular raccoon to leave for awhile, but she came back. I think after a few days, the music kind of grew on her. I thought about trying some of the predator urine sprays you can buy, but after one whiff I decided living with a raccoon might not be so bad.

Raccoons are destructive and leave all kinds of nasty creepy crawlies in their nesting areas. They have a pungent odor you’ll never get out of the floor boards. They’re a critter you don’t want to mess with. If you’re unfortunate enough to be selected as a raccoon’s new home, give Stern a call and let the experts move your “guest” along. Try to do it before she has her litter. Squalling raccoon babies are a sound worse than nails on a chalkboard!

Animal Control, Groundhogs

Beware the Groundhog

Punxsutawney Phil may have seen his shadow and ducked back into his burrow for six more weeks of snooze time, but groundhogs in New York, NYC, Manhattan and New Jersey are starting to emerge from their dens. After their long winter’s nap, they’re hungry and your tulip garden looks mighty tasty.

If tulip time comes around and all you see is a few green stems sprouting from last year’s unraked leaves, blame it on the groundhog. Members of the squirrel family, groundhogs can chew through a garden in one feeding. The proficient tunnelers can even attack your garden from underneath, feasting on bulbs that will never get their day in the sun. Voracious feeders, groundhogs eat nearly two pounds of vegetation a day, generally feeding in early morning and evening.

Once established, groundhogs can be tough to get rid of. You certainly don’t want to try to remove them from their den yourself. They’ll take a taciturn view of your efforts and since they carry rabies you should be circumspect about bearding the proverbial groundhog in his den. This is a job for the pros. Call Stern; we’re your groundhog removal experts. Our experts use humane trapping methods, and we offer 24-hour emergency service. Click here to find out more about our groundhog removal services.