Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, we have an active and healthy skunk population. At WildCare Solutions we frequently get callers with questions about skunks and their habits. If you are having a problem with skunks give us a call, 415-453-1000 x23, we will be glad to help you with it.

Skunks Eat Slugs and Snails and Grubs and Bugs

In my neighborhood on the edge of Tiburon, California, we usually have a few resident skunks. I can always tell when they have been through my garden; all of the slugs and creepy crawlers have been picked off the flower pots. There will also be small, cone-shaped holes poked into the soft earth, a sure sign a skunk has been cleaning up garden pests.

Skunks Are Attracted By Outdoor Pet Food Bowls

Everyone loves a free meal and skunks are no exception. Pet food is designed to be extremely enticing and will attract rats, raccoons, opossums and skunks, not to mention larger predators that prey on smaller animals. Feed your pets inside.

Skunk Mating Season Begins in Early Spring

Winter is a good time to take a walk around the perimeter of your house to make sure crawl spaces are closed, vent covers are still secure and any open spaces under the deck or house are clear of brush and debris with plenty of light getting in. Come Spring, these are all places that skunks and raccoons will be inspecting when looking for new den sites to have their babies.

The PBS Nature Channel is airing their show “Is That Skunk?” again and you can see it here:

PBS Nature Channel Video About Skunks

Skunk Removal in Marin County
WildCare Solutions specialize in dealing with problem skunks throughout the Bay Area, including Belvedere, CA 94920 – Larkspur, CA 94939 – Corte Madera, CA 94925- Greenbrae, CA 94904 – Mill Valley, CA 94941 – Strawberry, CA 94941 – Sausalito, CA 94965 – Sausalito, CA 94966 – Tam Junction, CA 94941 – Terra Linda, CA 94903 – Tiburon, CA 94920

There are humane ways to remove a raccoon from under your house.

It is possible to get a raccoon family out of the crawl space behind the tub without creating orphans. At WildCare Solutions we understand this and we draw on our extensive experience to successfully remove raccoons from the home without having to harm them. And once the raccoon is removed from the crawl space, attic, or basement, WildCare Solutions has the skills and experience to clean up and seal up so no other animals can spot the ‘vacancy’ and move in next year.

Humane raccoon removal.

So many people still think the old method of trapping and removing a raccoon to another location is a ‘humane’ way to deal with problem wildlife. It isn’t. Trapping and relocating a raccoon, or a skunk, or even an opossum in California means the animal’s death.

It used to be thought that relocation of problem wildlife was a humane solution because the animal was being taken to a better place. But relocating a wild animal, any animal, is a cruel thing to do. An animal relocated doesn’t know where to find water, has no place to hide to sleep, doesn’t know where to look for food. Maybe there were young left behind, lost forever. The new location is probably some other animal’s territory and now this lost hungry animal must fight. After only a few weeks, the animal is weakened and vulnerable to diseases like rabies. And rabies is why it is illegal to trap and relocate animals in the State of California. If a trapper comes to your house and takes an animal away, that animal is killed. And what if the trapper caught and took away the wrong animal?

WildCare Solutions uses Exclusion to remove your raccoon problem.

Exclusion means getting that raccoon family out of your attic, out from under your house, out from a crawl space, and back outside where it belongs. Exclusion is so much more than just ‘raccoon removal’. Exclusion means making sure mom takes all of her young with her when she leaves, that no one is left behind or harmed. At WildCare Solutions we work hard to make sure you don’t get stuck with the same problem next year. We clean up and seal up so mama skunk doesn’t find the hole next spring. At WildCare Solutions we care about you living well with the bountiful wildlife that surrounds us all here in beautiful Northern California.

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Live Well with Wildlife!
Barbara Pritchard, WildCare Solutions

Raccoons In the House
WildCare Solutions specializes in humane solutions for problem raccoons throughout the Bay Area, including Belvedere, CA 94920 – Larkspur, CA 94939 – Corte Madera, CA 94925- Greenbrae, CA 94904 – Mill Valley, CA 94941 – Strawberry, CA 94941 – Sausalito, CA 94965 – Sausalito, CA 94966 – Tam Junction, CA 94941 – Terra Linda, CA 94903 – Tiburon, CA 94920 – Bolinas, CA 94924 – Corte Madera, CA 94976 – Fairfax, CA 94930 – Forest Knolls, CA 94933 – Kentfield, CA 94914 – Mill Valley, CA 94941 – Novato, CA 94949 – Ross, CA 94957 – San Rafael, CA 94901 – Stinson Beach, CA 94970 – Woodacre, CA 94973

The Hungry Owl Project To Present
“USING BARN OWLS AS A MEANS OF RODENT CONTROL”
at Sunnyside Nursery, San Anselmo, California

WHEN: Saturday, August 27, 2011, 11:00 AM
WHERE: Sunnyside Nursery,
130 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., San Anselmo, CA 94960
COST: Free
CONTACT: Alex Godbe, Director 415.454.4587

For Immediate Release: July 30, 2011, San Anselmo, CA. The Hungry Owl Project (HOP) will present “Using Barn Owls as a Means of Rodent Control at Sunnyside Nursery on Saturday August 27, 2011 at 11:00 AM. Alex Godbe, Hungry Owl Project Director, will give the presentation with Barn Owl Ambassador Wookie. The use of owls in the control of rodents and other environmentally safe controls will be discussed. The presentation is given in response to the discovery of an adult male Barn Owl found dying with confirmed rodent poisoning at Robson Harrington Park in San Anselmo in mid-July 2011. The poisoning of one or both of the parents of a nest of Barn Owl chicks means immediate peril for them as the hunting efforts of both parents are required to sustain the chicks. A family of Barn Owls in Marin County averages 5 owlets and 2 adult parents which together can consume up to 5,000 rodents in a four month breeding cycle.

Rodenticides are a danger to wildlife who, being natural beneficial predators of rodents, consume them and can be secondarily poisoned. The loss of a single owl can mean thousands of additional rodents present in an ecosystem. Rodenticides are also a danger to children and dogs and are environmental contaminants. The sale by retail stores of anticoagulant rodent poisons for outdoor use in any form accessible to children or dogs was outlawed on June 1, 2011 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

About the Hungry Owl Project
The Hungry Owl Project, www.HungryOwl.org, is a program of Wildcare, a 501(c) 3 non-profit, www.WildCareBayArea.org. Our mission is to reduce the need for harmful pesticides & rodenticides by encouraging natural predators, through conservation of habitat, erecting nest boxes when appropriate, through research & education, including live owl presentations, and by providing a resource of help and information on alternative methods of sustainable pest management.

Download the event flyer here: Hungry Owl at Sunnyside Nursery, San Anslemo

It is a common misconception that setting a havaheart trap is the best way to deal with a “nuisance” raccoon, skunk, fox or opossum.    

Trapping wildlife does not solve conflicts with our wild neighbors.  The long term, humane solution focuses on the SOURCE of what is attracting the animal.  What attracts raccoons, skunks, foxes etc is one of three things; food, water or shelter. 

Removing THE SOURCE of what is attracting the animal, and NOT the animal itself is the easiest, cheapest and most humane way to solve the problem.

When wildlife is trapped and relocated “someplace else”, most often the end result is the animal dying of starvation and thirst within two weeks.  Animals that are relocated do not know where the food and water sources are, and in addition, they are being dumped by humans into another animal’s territory.  This leads to territory fights that often result in serious injury and death to the relocated animal. If the animal that is trapped is a mother with babies, orphaned babies are left behind to die.  Relocation of wildlife is not humane, and doesn’t solve the problem since another animal will soon take its place because a territory has been opened up.   

Trapping wildlife is not a targeted approach—when you set a live trap with bait, other animals will be lured in by the food.  There is absolutely no guarantee the animal caught in the trap is the animal that is living in your attic or under your house!

In California, Wild Animal Trappers are Regulated by Law

In California the law is very clear under the California Dept of Fish & Game code.  If you are looking to hire a trapper to trap raccoons, skunks, foxes or other wildlife you must obtain written consent from all neighbors within 150 yards of your residence.  The trapper must carry this written consent at all times.  Title 14 CCR Sect. 465.5 (g)(3)

Relocation of wildlife is prohibited.  Animals must be humanely euthanized or released on site.  Wildlife can not be relocated Title 14 CCR Sect. 465.5

Any individual trapping wildlife for compensation is required to have a license from the California Department of Fish and Game.  The license covers the individual, not the entity.  The individual who sets the trap must be licensed, not employed by someone who is licensed.  Licensees must carry their licenses in their immediate possession while trapping.  CA Fish & Game Code 4005; 1054.2

All traps that are set must bear the California license number of the trapper.  Title 14 CCR Sect. 465.5 (g) and in reference to (f)(1)

WildCare Wildlife Experts Use Effective, Humane, No-Kill Methods.

Our wildlife specialists are trained to get the animals out from under your house, attic, crawl spaces etc without killing them. We make sure families are evicted as a group and that no babies are left behind.  Also known as a “Humane Eviction” our approach is the only solution that is focused on solving the problem for the long term. 

WildCare Understands What Attracts Skunks and Raccoons And We Are Happy To Talk About This With You.

Birdfeeders, feeding pets outside, fallen fruit from trees, untended wood piles, open compost pits and hording neighbors are all animal magnets. First the rats move in, and next the predators that feed on the rats. Cat doors left unlocked at night are another invitation to wild animals to spend more time in your neighborhood. Call us for a free consultation over the phone.

Maggie Sergio, Director of WildCare Solutions & Advocacy

WildCare Humane Wildlife Solutions are available throughout San Francisco, including Sea Cliff, Outer Richmond, Inner Richmond and Laurel Heights, and The Marina, Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights, Russian Hill, Nob Hill and North Beach

The Middle Way – Small-Time Predators with Big-Time Impacts

by Glen Martin — published July 01, 2011

The first encounter is likely to be olfactory rather than visual: You’re driving along and suddenly the car fills with an odor so rank, so palpable, it seems like a physical presence, a creature with black claws raking at your sinuses. Only one thing smells like that, of course–as the old Loudon Wainwright song put it so eloquently, it’s a “dead skunk in the middle of the road, stinking to high heaven!”

And for most Bay Area residents, that’s where it ends. Road-killed skunks are generally nothing more than minor if unpleasant distractions, gory little reminders that nature occasionally intrudes on our well-ordered suburban lives. But these highway casualties point to something larger. They are reminders of a great flux taking place at the edges of our awareness, one shaping our parklands, open spaces–even our backyards.

Gray Fox courtesy of Trish Carney

Striped skunks are mesopredators: carnivores of intermediate size. So are raccoons, opossums, gray and red foxes, feral cats, and coyotes–all Bay Area inhabitants. When considered singly, the impact of mesopredators may seem minimal. They don’t have the cachet of cougars or black bears. TV cameras don’t show up when a raccoon or opossum raids a garbage can. But what they lack in size, they make up in sheer abundance. They shape basic ecological processes by what they eat and by where and how they live. They demand our attention–even our respect and admiration–for their resilience and toughness. This, after all, is their time: In an increasingly urbanized world, the mesopredator reigns supreme.

In a 2009 article published in the journal BioScience entitled “The Rise of the Mesopredator,” the authors describe a phenomenon known as “mesopredator release”–the rapid population growth of intermediate-size mammalian carnivores in the absence of larger top predators. The Bay Area is an epicenter of mesopredator release. Mesopredators are happy to live with–and off–us. Our homes are often, quite literally, their homes. They thrive on our garbage, on the pet food we leave on our back porches, on the mice and rats our refuse attracts. For many mesopredator species, we are indulgent benefactors. For others, we are easily circumvented obstacles.

“One thing’s for sure,” observes Doug Bell, the wildlife program manager for the East Bay Regional Park District. “We have healthy numbers of them. In general, they are superb culture followers–we provide them everything they need. They flourish in urban interface areas, in our buildings and gardens.” Read More . . .

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Live Well with Wildlife!
Maggie Sergio Director, WildCare Solutions

Raccoons, Foxes and Skunk Removal
WildCare Solutions specializes in dealing with problem wildlife throughout the Bay Area, including Belvedere, CA 94920 – Larkspur, CA 94939 – Corte Madera, CA 94925- Greenbrae, CA 94904 – Mill Valley, CA 94941 – Strawberry, CA 94941 – Sausalito, CA 94965 – Sausalito, CA 94966 – Tam Junction, CA 94941 – Terra Linda, CA 94903 – Tiburon, CA 94920 – Bolinas, CA 94924 – Corte Madera, CA 94976 – Fairfax, CA 94930 – Forest Knolls, CA 94933 – Kentfield, CA 94914 – Mill Valley, CA 94941 – Novato, CA 94949 – Ross, CA 94957 – San Rafael, CA 94901 – Stinson Beach, CA 94970 – Woodacre, CA 94973

The Mother Raccoon Is Tearing At The Siding
The next thing they know, a mother skunk is frantically digging, or a mother raccoon is desperately dismantling the siding trying to get back to the babies. The starving babies are moving around under the house, crawling up into the walls, and slowly dying. When the hole is finally opened and mother gets back in, some of the babies are left behind as she makes a frantic escape with the few she can find. It is an awful experience, one we hope you never have to go through.

Call 415-453-1000 x23 For Help
If you think there is an animal living under a structure on your property, give us a call first, 415-453-1000 x23, before you try to resolve the problem. There is always a humane solution. There is always a way to take care of problem wildlife in a humane way.

Barbara Pritchard
WildCare Solutions
WildCare Bay Area

Humane Animal Removal

Animals Under My House
WildCare Solutions can get the animals out from under your house throughout San Mateo and the Bay Area, including Daly City, CA 94014 – Crocker, CA 94014 – Hillside, CA 94014 – Colma, CA 94014 – Southern Hills, CA 94014 – Daly City, CA 94015 – Merced, CA 94015 – Broadmoor Village, CA 94015 – Westmoor Park, CA 94015 – Brisbane, CA 94005 -South San Francisco, CA 94080 – Westborough, CA 94080 – Sunshine Gardens, CA 94080 – El Camino, CA 94080 – Serra Highlands, CA 94080 – Orange Park, CA 94080 – Paradise Valley, CA 94080 – Winston Manor, CA 94080 – San Bruno, CA 94066 – Crestmoor Canyon, CA 94066 – Lomita Park, CA 94066 – San Francisco Airport, CA 94128 and Millbrae, CA 94030

Here in Marin County, California, that would normally be a gray fox. While the gray fox often has a reddish cast to the coat, the legs will not show the black ‘stockings’ unique to a red fox.

The gray fox has strong, hooked, retractable claws that allow them to climb trees like a cat. Trees provide safe places for them to rest in urban areas, however, while a fox may climb like a cat, they are actually members of the dog family.

Gray foxes are nocturnal or crepuscular which means they sleep during the day and are active from dusk until dawn. Single gray foxes will sun themselves up in a tree during the day and sleep in hollow trees or stumps, or abandoned burrows, and in Spring, single foxes rarely sleep in the same place two days in a row. Proven safe resting sites are sometimes reused in Winter.

A Fox Is Digging Under Your Deck.

Foxes digging a den or checking out that dark, quiet space under your deck are usually planning a family. They will move on so enjoy the free rodent control while they take advantage of your deck–it provides much needed shelter.

In California, the typical breeding season of the gray fox can start as early as January and run as late as March. One to seven kits are born in March or April and are old enough to begin hunting and exploring with their parents by three months of age. The family group stays together until Fall when the kits reach sexual maturity. The family then disperses to find their own territories.

If you think you have a fox denning under your deck or any other structures on your property and you are concerned about it, call us at WildCare Solutions, 415-453-1000, extension 23.

Barbara Pritchard
WildCare Solutions

WildCare Solutions specializes in dealing with the humane removal of problem wildlife throughout the Bay Area, including Belvedere, CA 94920 – Larkspur, CA 94939 – Corte Madera, CA 94925- Greenbrae, CA 94904 – Mill Valley, CA 94941 – Strawberry, CA 94941 – Sausalito, CA 94965 – Sausalito, CA 94966 – Tam Junction, CA 94941 – Terra Linda, CA 94903 – Tiburon, CA 94920 – Bolinas, CA 94924 – Corte Madera, CA 94976 – Fairfax, CA 94930 – Forest Knolls, CA 94933 – Kentfield, CA 94914 – Mill Valley, CA 94941 – Novato, CA 94949 – Ross, CA 94957 – San Rafael, CA 94901 – Stinson Beach, CA 94970 – Woodacre, CA 94973

Could there be more than one?
Why is that skunk under your house and what can you do about it?
Rosy Chu talks to Maggie Sergio about this ‘stinky’ problem.

Living Well with Wildlife

Barbara Pritchard, WildCare Solutions

Skunk Removal in Marin County
WildCare Solutions specialize in dealing with problem skunks throughout the Bay Area, including Bolinas, CA 94924 – Corte Madera, CA 94976 – Fairfax, CA 94930 – Forest Knolls, CA 94933 – Kentfield, CA 94914 – Mill Valley, CA 94941 – Novato, CA 94949 – Ross, CA 94957 – San Rafael, CA 94901 – Stinson Beach, CA 94970 – Woodacre, CA 94973

Photo by Alyson Hurt

Coyotes in the Neighborhood Checklist

- Clean up your bird feeders and stop feeding the birds everyday. Birds do not thrive on seed diets and the seed that falls to the ground increases the rat population. Coyotes hunt rats. If you are feeding the rats, you are feeding the coyotes.

- Are any of your neighbors feeding the deer? Or feral cats? There is a connection here. Supplemental wildlife feeding can cause explosions in wildlife populations, like rats. If you know of anyone who is doing this, ask them to call us at WildCare. We’ll be glad to help with advice on helping wild animals to break the free-food habit.
- Stop feeding your pets outside, or leaving food outside for them while you are away. Chances are you are also feeding rats, which in turn is feeding the coyotes.

- Are your cats safe inside? House cats are not native and they are having a truly devastating impact on our song bird population. Letting your pet roam free outside puts that animal at risk; at risk from cars, at risk from any predator, including people. Most of us were drawn to Marin because we love nature and we want to live in harmony with our environment. Killing off wildlife because it is inconvenient is no longer an option. Living well with wildlife is.

- Call WildCare Bay Area for more information (415) 453-1000. WildCare can provide answers to your questions about Marin wildlife. We have people assigned to answer the phones 9am to 5pm every day of the week. We also have printed literature we will be glad to share with you covering everything from coyote-proofing your property to the courting habits of skunks. Call today.

Living Well With Wildlife
Barbara Pritchard

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You can read more about WildCare Solutions and the problems we solve here on the SFGate.

Living Well With Wildlife
Maggie Sergio

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Skunk Removal in Marin County
WildCare Solutions specialize in dealing humanely with problem skunks throughout the Bay Area, including Belvedere, CA 94920 – Larkspur, CA 94939 – Corte Madera, CA 94925- Greenbrae, CA 94904 – Mill Valley, CA 94941 – Strawberry, CA 94941 – Sausalito, CA 94965 – Sausalito, CA 94966 – Tam Junction, CA 94941 – Terra Linda, CA 94903 – Tiburon, CA 94920