Th ongoing drought is not only affecting Clear Lake and all the people who live around it, but also the county’s wild animal population.
Animals such as skunks, raccoons, possums and even bears and coyotes are showing up in local backyards looking for water as well as food. There have been daily reports of raccoons living in sheds and garages and even beneath houses. One local resident said that within the past two weeks a family of five raccoons has taken up residence in his garage and he wanted to know how he could get rid of them.
The most common way to handle nuisance wildlife is to use a live trap. However, before purchasing one and catching an animal, it is important to consider what you have do with a live animal once it has been caught. According to The Fish and Wildlife Code for trapped animals, “Trapped animals are to be either released back into the immediate vicinity in which they are caught or to be killed immediately (California Code of Regulations — Section 465.5).”
The code lists kill methods that are prohibited to prevent undue cruelty. It is illegal in the state to relocate nuisance wildlife and most animal control agencies will not accept them (check with your local agency before trapping). In most situations involving issues with nuisance wildlife around your home, it is best to have a qualified pest control operator who is experienced and licensed in such work to take care of the problems you are experiencing. In some instances licensed trappers can do the work for free. The trappers will immediately kill any of the wild animals they trap. Residents can call the county’s agricultural office at 263-0217 for guidance.
In reality, just about all local residents who do trap skunks, raccoons and possums do not kill them but instead release them several miles from their homes. Most are not emotionally prepared to kill an animal. They do this despite the fact that it is illegal to release trapped animals in a different location from where they were caught.
A high percentage of residents with wildlife problems are elderly and they can’t cope with nuisance animals. For example, how is a 90-year-old person going to handle five raccoons sleep in his/her garage every night? A good example was last year when an elderly women called me and told me that a mountain lion was sleeping on her deck every night. She had contacted the authorities but nothing had happened.
There are ways to discourage these wild animals from coming into your yard. There is a chemical that you can spray around your garbage cans as well as other areas to keep them away. You can also mix some ammonia with water and spray it around the yard. Skunks and possums hate ammonia. You can also buy motion-detecting lights that are activated when an animal walks past them. Wild animals hate lights. Skunks, possums and raccoons spend most of their time roaming around after dark. You also want to keep all cat and dog food out of your backyard because that is the primary reason these varmints are visiting you in the first place.
Once a wild animal visits your backyard and finds food it will keep coming back. Most of these animals are small, weighing less than 20 pounds, and they aren’t dangerous but they could be carriers of various types disease. For example, skunks carry rabies, which is deadly to humans. If a bear visits your backyard that is another major problem. You don’t want to approach it because bears be very dangerous.
Part of dealing with wild animals is just part of living in Lake County and it isn’t going change in the near future.
