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<br style=3D"font-family: verdana, Arial; background-color: rg This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --Boundary_(ID_4zB3se83xrfy+TpXCydaYw) Content-type: text/plain; charset=Windows-1252 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable Hi Jeff & All, Nov 2, 2011 Dealing with nuisance wildlife no doubt involves difficult choices, = if they are relatively sparse. But with particular reference of Raccoons = I would, for several reasons, kill them.=20 Thanks to readily available garbage, which in earlier days would = have fed pigs or been guarded from Racoons by free-range dogs, Raccoons = have become abundant with numbers limited only by highway traffic and = plagues like the current distemper outbreak.=20 They are death to turtles, being expert at locating eggs, and no = doubt impact other wildlife.=20 The old saying 'those whom the Gods love die young' applies = especially to wildlife who with few exceptions will either die violently = or hungry, cold, injured or weakened by disease or parasites.=20 Yt, Dave Webster, Kentville =20 ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Jeff Hiltz=20 To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20 Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2011 10:29 AM Subject: [NatureNS] Relocating Wildlife?? I'm just curious on the good, the bad and the ugly of relocating = wildlife. Last year we were having issues with Raccoon's around our residence = here in Springhill, a family of Raccoon's had taken up residence in our = neighbor's garage. They had dug a tunnel and ripped a part of the garage = wall down and where living in my neighbor's old car that he has plans = for restoration in the future. Then in the evening the raccoon's were = stealing our suet's, suet baskets and knocking our feeders down and = being an overall nuisance. Frustrated with the damage that they had done to his garage and old = car, my neighbor told me that he had plans to kill the Raccoon's. After = hearing this and my wife and I being compassionate nature and wildlife = lovers, I told my neighbor that I will get a live trap from DNR and = relocate them to the banks of a river about 5 km outside of town. I waited until the raccoon's were grown enough that they were out and = fending for themselves, then set the trap up in the backyard and was = catching and relocating one raccoon a night. I did this for two weeks = relocating nine raccoon's until I wasn't finding any more in the trap = and not seeing anymore raccoon's around our yards.=20 My neighbor was happy and filled the hole and mended his garage and = hasn't had a problem since. On a message board that I frequent often I told my story of the = raccoon's and my relocating them. Then just recently another member of = the forum was telling us how he was dealing with a couple raccoon's = which got one of the other members thinking about reason's raccoon's = should not be relocated, he seems to have some very valid points but = even so, I would not have the heart to allow my neighbor to kill them or = to take them somewhere that will euthanize them. I know this forum has some very well educated nature and wildlife = persons and I would love to hear what the experts think. Here is the message that the other message board member wrote: Why is it sometimes necessary to euthanize a nuisance animal that has = been trapped rather than releasing back to the =93wild?=94 There are several biological reasons why it=92s generally not a good = idea to move wildlife to new areas. It is difficult to find rural areas = without any humans nearby. And moving wildlife only puts it into another = animal=92s territory, which can create stress, injury and even death. = Other reasons include the following: 1) Relocation can be stressful to wild animals. They may experience = elevated heart rates and breathing rates, high blood pressure, acute = changes in blood chemistry and depressed appetites. These factors, in = turn, may make them more vulnerable to disease or predation. 2) Relocated animals have no prior experience with their new homes, = which immediately puts them at a disadvantage for finding food and = shelter. Many wildlife species, such as bobcats, foxes, opossums and = raccoons, are common and widespread. That means when they become = nuisance animals there is no place to relocate them that doesn=92t = already have established populations of those animals. 3) Animals released in a new territory are often out-competed for food = and shelter by resident animals. 4) Relocating nuisance animals can increase the spread of disease. In = some cases, animals become nuisances when they get sick because they = look for easy sources of food and may become less fearful of people. = Just as we humans spread disease among our populations by traveling, = animals can bring diseases into new areas when they are relocated, thus = affecting the resident animal populations. 5) Animals that are relocated often leave the area where they are = released. Relocated animals may wander for miles, leading to further = interactions with wildlife and people.=20 I'm not saying we should just randomly go about trapping and killing = everything. But in situations where there are problem wildlife I'd = prefer to have them euthanized than released to a likely slow painful = death of starvation, disease or wounds from fights. That's my take on it.=20 Kristian Thank you!! Sincerely! Jeff in Springhill -------------------------------------------------------------------------= ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1411 / Virus Database: 2092/3991 - Release Date: = 11/02/11 --Boundary_(ID_4zB3se83xrfy+TpXCydaYw) Content-type: text/html; charset=Windows-1252 Content-transfer-encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dwindows-1252" = http-equiv=3DContent-Type> <META name=3DGENERATOR content=3D"MSHTML 8.00.6001.19154"> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=3D2>Hi Jeff & All, = =20 = =20 Nov 2, 2011</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2> Dealing with nuisance wildlife no = doubt=20 involves difficult choices, if they are relatively sparse. But with = particular=20 reference of Raccoons I would, for several reasons, kill them.=20 </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3D2> Thanks to readily available = garbage, which=20 in earlier days would have fed pigs or been guarded from Racoons by = free-range=20 dogs, Raccoons have&n