Recent Coyote Sightings Have Dog Owners Spooked [News Blog]

From: Chicago 5

Coyotes and raccoons appearing to have no fear of humans or large animals are growing in numbers across the Chicago area in recent months, prompting warnings from police and wildlife officials.

The latest warning comes from Hammond, Indiana, where police say a resident shared photos of a coyote they say could have a viral disease known as distemper.

“Coyote walked right up to me and my 60lb lab mix with no fear on the trail south of Cabelas,” police said the caption for the photos read. “Those with small dogs should take caution while walking in the area.”

The police department also warned dog owners to “use discretion if walking in this area, especially with small dogs.”

Read more Recent Coyote Sightings Have Dog Owners Spooked [News Blog]

Summer 2018: How to Protect Your Family from West Nile Virus

Origin of the Virus

West Nile virus was first identified in 1937 in Uganda in eastern Africa. It was first discovered in the United States in the summer of 1999 in New York. Since then, the virus has spread throughout the US. Researchers believe West Nile virus is spread when a mosquito bites an infected bird and then bites a person.

Symptoms onset

If you have West Nile virus, you will typically show the first virus symptoms within 3-14 days of being bitten.

How do you know if you have West Nile virus?

Symptoms and signs of West Nile virus include fever, headache, body aches, skin rash, and swollen lymph nodes. Severe symptoms and signs may include stiff neck, sleepiness, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, and paralysis. Most cases ofWest Nile virus infection are mild and go unreported

Read more Summer 2018: How to Protect Your Family from West Nile Virus

Coyotes Take Over Swanky New York Neighborhood [News Blog]

Jump to our post “How to Keep Your Pets Safe from Coyotes”

 

Read more Coyotes Take Over Swanky New York Neighborhood [News Blog]

Don’t Feed Coyotes: State Wildlife Officials Warn Residents to Keep Small Pets Safe [News Blog]

HOLIDAY — At 6:30 a.m. on a day last November, Wanda Dean woke up to her hysterical and tearful 89-year-old mother.

“Wanda, they got him!” she yelped. “They tore his head off.”

When Wanda went to inspect her mother’s backyard, Morris, the stray cat her mother cared for, was dead.

“Half of him was gone,” Dean said. “I was thinking, ‘This is what my mother just came and saw.’”

In the weeks before the incident, the mother-daughter duo heard claims from neighbors that four coyotes had built a den on the edge of a golf course less than a mile from her mother’s Holiday home. But coyotes in Florida, especially Pasco County, were a novel idea to them until that day.

Last year, Pasco County had 33 coyote-related calls to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, according to data they recently released.

In 2017, the wildlife commission’s Wildlife Assistance Program received 792 coyote calls statewide, nearly 100 more than two years prior. So far in 2018, the program has received eight coyote-related calls from Pasco County.

Coyotes are not a new neighbor, officials said. They likely were first brought to Florida in the 1920s to train hunting dogs.

The pointed-ear, 20- to 30-pound Canis Latrans was a western species, but expanded its range to north Florida in the 1960s and 1970s, according to the wildlife commission.

Pasco and Hernando counties began seeing coyotes in the 1980s, officials said, when the animal’s range expanded rapidly throughout the state. Now, coyotes are considered a naturalized species in all 67 Florida counties.

Coyotes have expanded across the nation because of the decline of other predator populations, a wildlife commission spokesperson said, and changed habitats because of urban development and agriculture.

While coyotes may be new to some, the wildlife commission said it is common for coyotes to coexist with humans in neighborhoods, especially in urban areas. Coyotes may even help maintain a balanced ecosystem by controlling populations of rodents and other nuisance wildlife.

Humans probably can be blamed for the coyote expansion by reducing the animals’ natural habitat, said Raoul Boughton, assistant professor in the department of wildlife at the University of Florida. Yet, urban areas are full of resources for the scavenger animals, he said, including pet food, bird seed, garbage, rodents and stray cats. Reports from golf courses, cemeteries and baseball fields are common, but coyotes go where food is available.

“Urban areas are rich in food resources to a coyote who will eat just about anything,” Boughton said. “And why hunt, when you can scavenge from people?”

That is why residents with small pets must be careful.

Coyotes are becoming less afraid of humans, Boughton said, because people keep feeding them.

“Most attacks that have occurred on humans have been because a coyote has been habituated to human contact,” Boughton said.

Residents should treat coyotes like they would an “unknown, non-leashed dog,” he said.

Attempts to remove coyotes are “inefficient and ineffective,” the wildlife commission said, because new coyotes populate where others have been removed. The species can produce more pups per liter to repopulate.

For many residents, the coyote presence in Pasco County has been a myth, but Dean wants other Pasco residents to know the threat of coyotes is real. What happened to her and her mother can happen to them and their small pets, too.

“When they experience first-hand, their own pet,” she paused, looking down. “It is one of the most horrendous things I have ever experienced.”

Contact TyLisa C. Johnson at tyjohnson@tampabay.com. Follow @tylisajohnson.

So Residents with Small Pets Must Be Careful

Coyotes are becoming less scared of humans, because people are feeding them.

 Please be advised:

Coyotes will eat dogs, goats, miniature horses, horses, sheep, cows, or ANY farm animal.

Beware-of-coyotes-sign.jpg

How to Decrease the Chances of Seeing a Coyote while Walking your Dog

  1. Wait until the sun is already up before walking the dog in the morning,  and in the evening, walk the dog prior to the sun setting.
  2. Do not let your dog out in the yard without observation, before sunrise or after sunset.
  3. Make sure that your dog will reliably come when he is called.
  4. Walk the dog along with other people, and in well-trafficked areas.
  5. Remember the times of the year when coyote activity is heightened. That is Feb-May- give or take.
  6. Have the pet spayed or neutered – or be sure to keep a super close eye and reliable leash on the animal.

WORRIED ABOUT COYOTES?  

Call 1-866-263 WILD!

BONUS

There is a protective vest available for pets. You can find it here: https://www.coyotevest.com/

Click here for the coyote vest https://www.coyotevest.com/

 

Read How to Keep your Pets Safe From Coyotes Part II

 

IF YOU ENCOUNTER A COYOTE:

  • Don’t turn your back, and don’t run. They might chase you and they can run up to 40 mph.

  • If the coyote moves closer use the method known as “hazing.”

    • Blow a very loud whistle.

    • Clap hands loudly and stomp feet.

    • Throw sticks or rocks at their feet.

    • If you don’t have anything available, act large ie. open your jacket, raise your arms and yell.

  • Don’t engage a coyote that is cornered, injured or with pups – instead slowly walk away backwards.

Follow all of these tips to keep you and your pet safe.

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc is fully licensed and insured. We are a locally and family-owned business that has been operating in Manatee and Sarasota county for 20 years. We are the REAL experts with the long term EXPERIENCE that can save you from costly mistakes. Don’t trust your home or budget to a new guy on the block. Call today to speak with a trusted professional.

tap phone# to call from your mobile device

1-866-263-WILD OR 941-729-2103

 

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc
1329 10th Street East Palmetto, Florida 34221
(941) 729-2103

Snakes Alive! 31 pound Burmese python devours 35 pound white-tailed deer fawn in Florida. – News Blog

NAPLES, Fla. — Patrick Riley, Naples, FL Daily636555228362449747-1---Burmese-python-captured-in-Southwest-Florida-with-large-prey-item-.JPG

For Burmese pythons — one of South Florida’s most notorious invasive species — few meals are too big. But new research by scientists suggests the snake might be snacking above its weight class.

While tracking pythons in Collier Seminole State Park in Collier County, a group of wildlife biologists from the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and land managers from the state park stumbled upon an unsettling discovery: An 11-foot Burmese python that had devoured a white-tailed deer fawn weighing more than the snake.

The 2015 finding, which has since been peer-reviewed and is set to be published in the Herpetological Review this month, is believed to be the largest python-to-prey ratio documented to date, with the snake weighing 31.5 pounds and the deer 35 pounds, said Ian Bartoszek, wildlife biologist and science coordinator for the Conservancy.

“It almost did not compute,” he said during an announcement of the findings in the Conservancy’s snake laboratory Thursday.

More: Man crosses paths with two pythons on way to pick up takeout

More: Python hunt fuels fashion for Fla. business

“We were sitting there just trying to process that an animal this size could get its head around what turned out to be a deer. It’s surreal to see that in the field.”

When the researchers moved the snake out of the wild into an open area that day, the stressed python began to regurgitate the deer, Bartoszek said.

But had the snake’s meal been uninterrupted, the python would have eventually fully digested the fawn, which was less than 6 months old, he said. The python was later humanely euthanized.

Burmese pythons, which came to South Florida via the pet trade beginning in the late 1970s and were eventually accidentally or intentionally released into the wild, have had the delicate local ecosystem in a chokehold for years.

But the Conservancy’s recent discovery could spell more bad news for Florida’s already endangered panther population, Bartoszek said.

“White-tailed deer are the primary prey for our state and federally protected Florida panther,” he said. “That’s panther food.”

TO READ OUR POST ON THE 4 NON – NATIVE VENOMOUS SNAKES THAT LIVE IN  FLORIDA CLICK HERE 

snake-removal-siesta-key-FL
Rainbow Boa Constrictor

With Burmese pythons capable of reaching near 20 feet in length, finding a relatively small specimen successfully devouring a fawn heavier than the snake was “jaw-dropping,” Bartoszek said.

“It showed my team and myself what we were actually dealing with out tFrom left, Kathy Worley, director of science, Ian Easterling,here, what this python is capable of,” he said.

To be sure, Bartoszek said, the pythons, which are apex predators, have been known to swallow large animals, including alligators. What stunned the scientists was the predator-to-prey ratio, he said.

“We know that they’ll take adult deer now and then,” Bartoszek said. “If they’re tapping into young deer, then that just makes me a little bit worried that there will be additional impacts that we haven’t even considered yet.”

 

 

During a news conference on Thursday, March 1, 2018,

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials don’t keep records of python predator-to-prey ratios, said Carli Segelson, a spokeswoman for the agency’s division of habitat and species conservation.

“Pythons pose a concern for all native wildlife in Florida,” she wrote in an email. “Although infrequent, pythons are known to occasionally take a fawn or small deer, and this has been well documented previously. However, pythons are not believed to be a significant predator of deer.”

 The Conservancy’s python program, which launched about five years ago and is funded by private donors and the Naples Zoo, has researchers radio-tag pythons and then follow them to other snakes during breeding season to remove them from the wild.

As of last month, the Conservancy’s team has removed hundreds of adult Burmese pythons with a combined weight of more than 10,000 pounds in Southwest Florida.

Parallel to the Conservancy’s efforts, the South Florida Water Management District launched a python elimination program last year, sending python hunters into district-owned lands in Miami-Dade, Broward and Collier counties to track down the snakes and remove them.

 

SNAKE REMOVAL EXPERTS: Available 24/7

Call 1-866-263-WILD!

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc is local, family owned and fully licensed and insured. 

Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/opinion/ci_31652011/snakes-plane-emotional-support#ixzz56YvYuSUv

WORRIED ABOUT SNAKES? Call 1-866-263 WILD!

Or easily contact us by clicking here. 

 Nuisance Wildlife Removal, Inc. is very well known in the community as the GO-TO expert with the highest experience level in solving difficult insect and pest infestations efficiently and easily. We employ advanced technology such as thermographic cameras and Go-pro technology. This reduces the amount of damage to your structure and this will reduce the overall cost of your project.  

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc
1329 10th Street East Palmetto, Florida 34221
(941) 729-2103

 

Read more Snakes Alive! 31 pound Burmese python devours 35 pound white-tailed deer fawn in Florida. – News Blog

How to Keep Your Pets Safe from Coyotes Part II

How to Keep your Pets Safe From Coyotes

• Never feed coyotes. It is illegal and can cause them to associate people with food and lose their fear of humans.

• Secure garbage cans, and clean up pet food, fallen fruit and spilled bird seed.

• Walk dogs on short leashes, especially at night.

• Don’t allow small pets to roam freely.

• During dusk and dawn, be careful taking small pets into wooded areas.

And although they don’t typically attack humans, your pets may be at risk. They may view a large dog as a rival, and since a cat is such a small animal, they could be viewed as prey. This would hold true also for small dogs. It is suggested that you should NOT leave your pet out doors unsupervised. The most important times to recognize this are at dusk, dawn or overnight. You should definitely keep cats indoors and dogs on a leash. Your trash should most certainly be kept under a tight lid– and not left exposed in any way to a roaming coyote. If you have any fallen fruit from your fruit trees– that should be picked up! Be aware of any areas you have that they could use as a den. For example close up open areas under your deck. To proactively keep them out– installing a fence is one tactic you could take. Fences should be 6 feet tall, to prevent them from just jumping right over.. and 18 inches deep to keep them from digging underneath.

To read “Six Steps to Keeping Your Pet Safe from Coyotes Click Here.”

 If you encounter a coyote, here is an example of hazing.

 

WORRIED ABOUT COYOTES? 

Call 1-866-263 WILD!

 

IF YOU ENCOUNTER A COYOTE:

  • Don’t turn your back, and don’t run. They might chase you and they can run up to 40 mph.

  • If the coyote moves closer use the method known as “hazing.”

    • Blow a very loud whistle.

      Blow a whistle if confronted by a Coyote. [Manatee Sarasota County]

    • Clap hands loudly and stomp feet.

      ΩClap hands loudly if confronted by a coyote. [Lakewood Ranch Sarasota Bradenton]

    • Throw sticks or rocks at their feet.

    • If you don’t have anything available, act large ie. open your jacket, raise your arms and yell.

  • Don’t engage a coyote that is cornered, injured or with pups – instead slowly walk away backwards.

Follow all of these tips to keep you and your pet safe.

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc is fully licensed and insured. We are a locally and family-owned business that has been operating in Manatee and Sarasota county for 20 years. We are the REAL experts with the long term EXPERIENCE that can save you from costly mistakes. Don’t trust your home or budget to a new guy on the block. Call today to speak with a trusted professional.

tap phone# to call from your mobile device

1-866-263-WILD OR 941-729-2103

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc
1329 10th Street East Palmetto, Florida 34221
(941) 729-2103

Six Steps to Keep Your Pet Safe From Coyotes

Coyotes were considered a western species in the US, but expanded their range to north Florida in the 60’s and 70’s according to the wildlife commission.  The wildlife commission states that it is now common for coyotes to co-exist in neighborhoods due to the decline of any predator populations. Humans, are most likely to blame for the coyotes expanding their territory as we have reduced their available natural habitat. Keep in mind that urban zones are typically filled with easily available food resources. So for a coyote who is ready to consume just about anything, why hunt for food? Scavenging is much easier.

So Residents with Small Pets Must Be Careful

Coyotes are becoming less scared of humans, because people are feeding them.

 Please be advised:

Coyotes will eat dogs, goats, miniature horses, horses, sheep, cows, or ANY farm animal.

Beware-of-coyotes-sign.jpg

How to Decrease the Chances of Seeing a Coyote while Walking your Dog

  1. Wait until the sun is already up before walking the dog in the morning,  and in the evening, walk the dog prior to the sun setting.
  2. Do not let your dog out in the yard without observation, before sunrise or after sunset.
  3. Make sure that your dog will reliably come when he is called.
  4. Walk the dog along with other people, and in well-trafficked areas.
  5. Remember the times of the year when coyote activity is heightened. That is Feb-May- give or take.
  6. Have the pet spayed or neutered – or be sure to keep a super close eye and reliable leash on the animal.

WORRIED ABOUT COYOTES?  

Call 1-866-263 WILD!

BONUS

There is a protective vest available for pets. You can find it here: https://www.coyotevest.com/

Click here for the coyote vest https://www.coyotevest.com/

 

How to Keep your Pets Safe From Coyotes Part II [Coming soon]

 

IF YOU ENCOUNTER A COYOTE:

  • Don’t turn your back, and don’t run. They might chase you and they can run up to 40 mph.

  • If the coyote moves closer use the method known as “hazing.”

    • Blow a very loud whistle.

    • Clap hands loudly and stomp feet.

    • Throw sticks or rocks at their feet.

    • If you don’t have anything available, act large ie. open your jacket, raise your arms and yell.

  • Don’t engage a coyote that is cornered, injured or with pups – instead slowly walk away backwards.

Follow all of these tips to keep you and your pet safe.

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc is fully licensed and insured. We are a locally and family-owned business that has been operating in Manatee and Sarasota county for 20 years. We are the REAL experts with the long term EXPERIENCE that can save you from costly mistakes. Don’t trust your home or budget to a new guy on the block. Call today to speak with a trusted professional.

tap phone# to call from your mobile device

1-866-263-WILD OR 941-729-2103

 

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc
1329 10th Street East Palmetto, Florida 34221
(941) 729-2103

Snake Trapped in a Beer Can [News Blog]

 

Stewart Gannt – News for Kids

A TIGER snake with a taste for Australian beer found itself trapped while trying to drink from a can this week.

The venomous* reptile slithered into the can in Wyndham Vale in Melbourne’s western suburbs and became stuck.

Stewart Gatt — aka Stewy the Snake Catcher — said its head was trapped.

 

Stewart Gatt, the snake catcher, frees the tiger snake from a beer can. Supplied image
Stewart Gatt, the snake catcher, frees the tiger snake from a beer can. Supplied image

 

The residents who found the snake in trouble tried to free it themselves. Not a wise move as getting the snake free was not easy — even for a professional.

“It was awkward*,” Mr Gatt said.

“The snake was in enough it was stuck in the can. If you cut the wrong spot you could hurt the snake. It is a very delicate* situation.”

Mr Gatt tried to reassure the snake that he was there to save it, not that it helped.

“Yeah mate, I know you are in pain. Just relax for a minute,” he said in the video.

“Stop struggling for a minute. Relax mate, I am saving you.”

The residents who found the snake in trouble tried to free it themselves. Not a wise move as getting the snake free was not easy — even for a professional.

“It was awkward*,” Mr Gatt said.

“The snake was in enough it was stuck in the can. If you cut the wrong spot you could hurt the snake. It is a very delicate* situation.”

Mr Gatt tried to reassure the snake that he was there to save it, not that it helped.

“Yeah mate, I know you are in pain. Just relax for a minute,” he said in the video.

“Stop struggling for a minute. Relax mate, I am saving you.”

TO READ OUR POST ON THE 4 NON – NATIVE VENOMOUS SNAKES THAT LIVE IN  FLORIDA CLICK HERE 

SNAKE REMOVAL EXPERTS: Available 24/7

Call 1-866-263-WILD!

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc is local, family owned and fully licensed and insured. 

 

The snake with its head stuck deep inside the can. Supplied imageThe tiger snake tied to bite the can. Supplied image

 

WORRIED ABOUT SNAKES? Call 1-866-263 WILD!

Or easily contact us by clicking here. 

As Mr Gatt cut a hole in the can, the snake popped its head through and tried to bite the can.

“Snakes are deaf so I have no idea why I was doing it. I was talking myself through it really,” Mr Gatt said.

“I do not know what the fascination* with snakes and cans is. He was thirsty and probably wanted a dark spot and once he sticks his head in, he cannot stick his head out again.”

Mr Gatt has been caring for the tiger snake since the rescue and is expected to release the animal this week.

“We are going to make sure there are no ongoing injuries,” he said.

Tiger snakes are highly venomous, quick to bite when cornered and very common around most of Victoria, much of New South Wales, far southeast Queensland, Tasmania, southeast South Australia and southwest Western Australia.

 

 Nuisance Wildlife Removal, Inc. is very well known in the community as the GO-TO expert with the highest experience level in solving difficult insect and pest infestations efficiently and easily. We employ advanced technology such as thermographic cameras and Go-pro technology. This reduces the amount of damage to your structure and this will reduce the overall cost of your project.  

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc
1329 10th Street East Palmetto, Florida 34221
(941) 729-2103

 

Read more Snake Trapped in a Beer Can [News Blog]