Spring is the season where everything is born anew, the wildflowers are in bloom, insects are buzzing around, and baby animals are born. Read more Baby Wild Animals are Usually Not Orphans
Spring is the season where everything is born anew, the wildflowers are in bloom, insects are buzzing around, and baby animals are born. Read more Baby Wild Animals are Usually Not Orphans
This raccoon will conquer you. Thinking about the raccoons, most of us think pesky creatures that just make you go through the bags of garbage and filth. But Melanie (Melanie) puts an end to these offensive misconceptions, reports the Chronicle.info with reference to the Telegraph. Read more The Net is Delighted With Raccoon Riding a Bike [News Blog] Raccoon Trapping and Removal Sarasota
Opossums get a really bad wrap. If it isn’t bad enough that their tails look like they belong on an oversized rat… they sometimes drool and play dead. Opossums are nearly harmless fellows… and their only defense is to look horrid in an attempt to scare you away! So, opossums are getting a bad bio for a lot of reasons. However, they DO actually have redeeming qualities and I would like to share a few of them with you. If you have an opossum that has gotten into your house, please don’t try to catch it on your own. You need a professional to come and capture the animal and remove it from your Sarasota, or Lakewood Ranch location.
Almost ALL wild animals can carry rabies — however for the Opossum, it is extremely- rare. Why is that? Because their body temperature is too low for the rabies virus to live.
Opossums are like the sanitation department of the wild. They are omnivores, and often will consume things that other animals leave behind and will not eat. Having them around is kind of like having a clean up crew!
Did you know that opossums are immune to the venom from all snakes? A venomous snake can not hurt an opossum, it just doesn’t affect them! What this means is that possibly in the future, scientists will discover an antibody – or anti-venom that can be injected into humans!
The slow moving Opossums are an attractant to ticks…. So what you may say? Well, those ticks cling to the fur and make a tasty snack to their host later on. Opossums find them delicious eating thousands of them each season. With Lyme disease becoming more and more prevalent, having opossums around can actually be of benefit to humans. Opossums stay fastidiously clean, eating 95% of all the ticks off of their own bodies.
So, what do you think? Opossums are really not the “bad or the ugly guys” that many make them out to be!
If we can ever answer any questions for you about opossums, let us know! We are open 24/7 – 365 at 1-866-263-WILD or easily contact us by clicking here.
Read more Settling the Myths from the Truths about OPOSSUMS! [Removal Lakewood Ranch, Sarasota]
Story Credit: Mirror
Luke KentonTim Friede has inflicted himself with more than 200 bites from snakes that could kill within minutes in bid to help develop life-saving vaccines.
A scientist claims he’s ‘immune to venom’ after allowing himself to be bitten by the world’s deadliest snakes hundreds of times.
Tim Friede has inflicted himself with more than 200 bites from snakes that could kill within minutes in a bid to help develop life-saving vaccines.
He claims he is the only person in the world who could now survive back-to-back snake bites.
The 39-year-old has even taken on a sub-Saharan Black Mamba, which is widely considered the ‘world’s deadliest snake’, with a bite that could result in a very painful death within 15 minutes.
He claims he is the only person in the world who could now survive back-to-back snake bites.
The 39-year-old has even taken on a sub-Saharan Black Mamba, which is widely considered the ‘world’s deadliest snake’, with a bite that could result in a very painful death within 15 minutes.
He claims he is the only person in the world who could now survive back-to-back snake bites.
The 39-year-old has even taken on a sub-Saharan Black Mamba, which is widely considered the ‘world’s deadliest snake’, with a bite that could result in a very painful death within 15 minutes.
Read more Scientist ‘becomes immune to snake venom’ [News Blog]
Elvin Rodriguez’s 9- and 10-year-old sons were playing basketball at dusk on the driveway at their Tavares home when a nocturnal creature slipped through the fence.
After the raccoon started chasing the boys, the family’s dog, a 6-year-old boxer named Macho, came to their defense.
“I think he [Macho] knew, I think he heard the kids yelling and carrying on and he just jumped right in,” Rodriguez, 34, a Lake County Jail correctional officer, said Wednesday. Macho fought with the raccoon before Rodriguez, who grabbed his personal handgun, was “able to call him off” from the battle that left the dog with scratches around his eyes and ears. “Then it stopped for a minute, and hissed, and I was able to shoot it.”
The raccoon tested positive for rabies after the March 13 encounter, marking the fourth time in seven months a rabid animal has threatened Lake County residents.
“It didn’t sink in until afterwards; I was just trying to make sure the kids were OK,” Rodriguez said. “It [rabies] can be very serious.”
In September, a 74-year-old Clermont man was wearing flip-flops and shorts, picking up fallen branches outside his home near Lake Minneola, when a rabid fox lunged at him. He beat it off with his iPhone, dazing it, before fatally shooting it with a .22-caliber pellet rifle. And last month, another rabid raccoon was reported to be in Fruitland Park, according to the Florida Department of Health in Lake County.
“Rabies is a potentially fatal disease. It is important not to handle wild animals, to be aware of unusual acting animals and to keep pets vaccinated against rabies,” department administrator Aaron Kissler said.
Macho is now quarantined in the kennel on Rodriguez’s property until April 27. Read more Dog Stops Rabid Raccoon from Chasing Kids [News blog]
March 12 (UPI) — A Brazilian man who came face-to-face a thirsty armadillo offered the animal some water from his bottle and the encounter was caught on camera.
The video, recorded Thursday in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, shows the man pouring water out of a bottle as the armadillo thirstily laps it up.
The filmer said the man offered the armadillo some water because it appeared to be thirsty.
“I was expecting a friend to come work and when he arrived, he saw an armadillo and grabbed a bottle of water to give to the animal,” the filmer wrote.
Armadillos are considered living dinosaurs, that are left remaining from previous eras, and the only mammals on the earth that have their own built-in suit of armor.
Armadillo Trapping to avoid the Health Risks Armadillos
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Check out our Animal FAQs from our customers!
These tips will help you live in harmony with nature and prevent injuring a baby animal or causing it to be orphaned.
Truth be told, an open chimney or dryer/stove vent is considered an “open house” invitation from a wild animal’s viewpoint. Why? Because they make appealing places to have young and are generally cozy environments. Don’t be shocked or too surprised if you should happen to find some guests in your chimney this spring… If you can possibly let them be- just temporarily- that would be one option. However, once the babies have left, then you should have the area decontaminated and the chimney should be closed off or capped.
A word of caution: NEVER attempt to evacuate the chimney by smoking out the animals… it can have deadly consequences. Baby animals may not be able to get out on their own.
Most birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Act and cannot be killed or moved. Unless you are able to exclude birds out early, prior to them laying eggs, you must leave them alone for a few weeks until the young are able to fly on their own.
There is a way to humanely attempt to provoke the animals to leave and they are as follows:
Before commencing to spring clean out your attic, check around for any animals that might have taken up residence there.
Don’t even try to evict any animals– there could be babies and you never want to separate mama from a baby wild animal. Since wild animals can cause a lot of damage not to mention some serious health risks, you may need professional help to determine the species of the animal and legally trap and relocate the family of guests. This is the safest, best and most humane way of solving this problem of animals in homes.
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Windows and Sliding Doors
Sometimes birds can fly right into glass pane windows or sliding glass doors. To avoid this you can place a visual deterrant or obstruction of Mylar tape from the top of the glass outside in front of the window.
There are special places that animals like to come in to your home from. Check behind appliances, anywhere that pipes enter into the building. Some animals can get in to even a 1/2″ to a 1/4″ hole or crack for example snakes or mice. Cover up those holes with insualtion, paper, cloth– then give it a few days and see if those materials have been pushed out. Afterwards seal up those gaps.
In order to protect baby wildlife you should walk around the yard before mowing to take a look. You are looking for things like turtles, and nests of baby rabbits. Turtles are fine to gently relocate. However rabbit nests should be left alone, so that the mom rabbit can be sure to return to the same place when she returns to feed them. They’ll be grown up and ready to live on their own in just 3 weeks. A great tip is to leave a safety zone of grass around the nest until they are gone.
Keep branches around your house trimmed in order to dissuade wild critters from climbing. Be sure to look carefully at the limbs for birds and squirrels prior to trimming. Make sure that there are no nests there. If by chance a nest is accidentally knocked out here are some guidelines for preserving the animals..
Retrieve the babies and the nest and move them to a secure nearby area.
If the nest is damaged, do your best to mend it or replace it with something of similar size.
It is ok to use a household container as long as it hasn’t been used previously for cleaners.
You could punch holes in the bottom of plastic containers to help for drainage.
Be on the lookout for the mother to come back. Do not worry that if a human scent gets on the babym it will cause the mother to reject it. That is a myth.
Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc is a locally and family-owned business that has been operating in Manatee and Sarasota county for 20 years. We are the real experts and have the long-time experience to prove it. Don’t trust your home or family to a new kid on the block. Call today to speak with a trusted professional.
To read part I of our Raccoon FAQ installment series “How to Get Rid of a Raccoon?” click here
Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc
Cori Brown – Contact Reporter
The Backyard Naturalist
A raccoon on the prowl for his next meal. (Cori Brown photo)
It’s 13 and counting. That’s the number of cute and furry black masked burglars raiding bird feeders (and anything else they can get) over the last six months in our neighborhood. Yes, the annual raccoon invasion is in full swing, as in bird feeders swinging right off of our trees and decks.
How do I know we’ve had 13 visitors? Our neighbor already caught 12 of them with wonderfully smelly cat food and a humane trap.
No. 13, however, is giving him a run for his money.
He’s eluded him for several weeks now and managed to snatch the cat food out of the trap multiple times to boot! Even worse, he’s learned to escape the trap by rolling it over to open the door. What a clever little devil he is!
As a result, those of us subjected to these nightly escapades must now remove our feeders and bring them inside. When you have a lot of feeders like I do, this can be quite a nuisance.
Unfortunately, if I don’t do it, there are consequences to be had. One too many times I’ve found feeders on the ground, some broken beyond repair and others completely gone, as in dragged away to who knows where. Maybe the raccoons have a secret cache of bird feeder parts that they’re selling on the black market.
What I do know is that their raids are costing me money and time. Good squirrel proof feeders can be expensive. So far, they’ve broken three of them but I refuse to get new ones.
Though none of the three now function as designed (the weight mechanisms that keep bigger birds and squirrels out no longer work) they still work well enough to keep the nemesis squirrels away. I plan to keep them as long as I can.
Most of the feeders are in the side yard where I can see them best. This is also where Navi, ever a dog on patrol, dreams of catching up with them and chasing them off. I naively thought that just her presence would scare them away but this obviously hasn’t happened. These guys are fearless!
What is it about raccoons that makes them so clever? The first thing I think of is their paws. They may not have thumbs, but highly sensitive touch receptors on their dexterous fingers are right up there with our own hands.
Partner these sensitive paws with a quick-thinking brain and you have master manipulators at opening cans and doors, emptying containers and climbing up and down and all around to get whatever they want.
This brings me to another envious trait they have: adaptability. Life in the city is great, but suburban yards and country meadows will do just fine, too. From the poshest addresses to back street alleys to campgrounds, they roam with impunity and swagger.
Add to this their varied diet as omnivores and you have a one-two slam dunk. Being omnivores means they eat their veggies as well as meat (they are great role models for fussy eating kids). This is why they probably think they’ve died and gone to heaven when your garbage becomes their dining room table. Throw in the half eaten Tasty cake, leftover chips, hot dogs and French fries and you have the all-American junk food diet!
Now this makes me wonder, do they have a weight problem when these dream foods are so frequently at their disposal? I couldn’t find much information on this other than a story of sixteen fat and happy raccoons in Louisiana that were trapped and relocated away from people who were feeding them all kinds of sugary food. Some weighed between 30-40 pounds when a normal weight in the wild is 10-30 pounds.
In this way they are a lot like humans — too much of a good thing can be bad for you. Hopefully they returned to their normal diet of creatures like frogs, fish, birds, bird eggs and a variety of fruits, nuts and seeds.
Not realizing that aquatic animals make up such a large part of their diet, I can see another challenge in the offing. My new pond came through the winter quite well. I diligently kept the water flowing for the frogs, fish and snails that now inhabit it. All have grown and thrived in their new home.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the raccoons will avail themselves of the creek across the road rather than my pond for their freshwater cravings. I think I will put up a sign that says, “This way to the creek” to help them along.
In the meantime, I need to build a secure bird feeder storage box outside to stash away my feeders at night. My plan is to build a sturdy plywood box with a lock on it. Painting a nice family portrait of some raccoons on it would add ambiance, not to mention something for the real raccoons to talk about!
The health risks of raccoons should never be underestimated. Raccoons create enormous damage and transmit infectious diseases to Parrish adults, children and pets. Contact a licensed and insured nuisance wildlife management company for expert raccoon removal, raccoon trapping and raccoon exclusion services.
It’s important that you have that Parrish raccoon removed from your attic, crawl space, basement or other building location before things get out of hand. Raccoons contaminate building surfaces with urine and feces and chew up everything from electrical wires to support beams. If you hear noises in your attic, call a wildlife removal professional before a raccoon or some other wild animal causes significant damage or even a catastrophic fire.Wild animal droppings harbor dangerous parasites and foster the growth of mold and microbes. Raccoons are known carriers of infectious diseases that can be contracted by humans and pets.
• Raccoon Roundworm, or Baylisascaris, is a dangerous species of roundworm carried by raccoons. Millions of roundworm eggs are deposited into the environment through raccoon feces. Children and pets can easily ingest fertile eggs by coming into contact with infected soil, tree stumps and other seemingly safe locations. Once inside the body of an animal or human, the larvae migrate throughout the body and infect the brain, eyes, spinal cord and other organs.
• Rabies is a health risk commonly associated with wild animals. Rabies, which attacks the central nervous system, can be fatal if left untreated.
• Leptospirosis is a bacterial infection spread to humans through raccoon feces and urine. Common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, severe headaches, high fever, anemia, meningitis and organ failure.
• Salmonella is also spread through raccoon feces. Humans and pets can ingest the bacteria through incidental contact with infected areas. The symptoms of Salmonella poisoning include high fever, severe diarrhea and abdominal pain.
Raccoon Trapping and Exclusion
A wildlife management expert can humanely remove and relocate raccoons and other nuisance wild animals. Professionally trained wildlife removal specialists can also decontaminate building materials, repair all damage and permanently seal your home or business to ensure that the problem doesn’t reoccur. Local wildlife management companies provide expert raccoon trapping, raccoon removal and raccoon exclusion services in the greater Parrish area.
Need a raccoon trapper in Lakewood Ranch, FL or elsewhere in Manatee/Sarasota County?
Raccoons can gain entry to homes and businesses by squeezing through hard to detect gaps and holes in rooflines, HVAC systems and foundations. Rats, mice and squirrels breed and contaminate food and building surfaces quickly.
Check out our Animal FAQs from our customers!
Armadillos are considered living dinosaurs, that are left remaining from previous eras, and the only mammals on the earth that have their own built-in suit of armor.
Info credit: Answers Africa
Need armadillo trapping in Lakewood Ranch, FL or elsewhere in Manatee/Sarasota County?
Check out our Animal FAQs from our customers!