Animal Advocates Watchdog

Treat wild 'guests' at cabin kindly

Treat wild 'guests' at cabin kindly
By Jan Shadick, The StarPhoenix August 5, 2010 Following is the viewpoint of the writer, a wildlife rehabilitator who lives in Saskatoon.

Summer is finally here, and with luck, many of us will head to the cabin and the lake for a bit of rest and relaxation. That means our wildlife get some company during their breeding season.

The squirrels that built a den in the attic are being evicted, and the raccoons in the chimney will have to move along. That fox, the one that was so cute taking scraps last year, has become a pest this year and needs to be "re-located."

Do you know what the provincial parks policy is regarding these animals? Many parks will remove "nuisance animals" and then kill them. This means that when officials trap and remove an adult animal, any number of young are left behind to starve.

Starvation is not a nice way to die.

Some parks have their own staff to carry out these activities, while others contract with the Ministry of the Environment, whose conservation officers kill the animals.

If you accept this outcome, please continue to notify park staff.

If this is not acceptable to you, consider other options such as encouraging the animal to move of its own accord, or living with it for a short time until it leaves when the young are old enough to be mobile.

I am saddened that the very places we set aside to save, to protect, and to enjoy nature become places to eliminate our wildlife.

Where are wild animals to go, if not to our protected parks?

I am confused by these policies. Live-trapping an animal to kill it within protected boundaries is senseless. Yet this is done for our "comfort," so that the animal does not detract from our enjoyment of nature. I am not sure what nature we are enjoying if we keep destroying our wildlife.

As a wildlife rehabilitator, raising orphans and restoring injured wildlife to health, I am appalled at the thought that I am returning these animals to the wild, only to have them killed because they are "in the way."

I work very hard to keep wild animals wild so that they do not approach people, and I take great care to release them far from habitation.

I would like to think they have a second chance at life.

Please carefully consider your response to our wildlife who also want to enjoy the park and who live there year-round. If you would like alternatives for dealing with animals in your chimney or under your shed, please call the Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Saskatchewan's wildlife hotline () or just surf the web, which is full of good ideas.

Read more: http://www.thestarphoenix.com/technology/Treat+wild+guests+cabin+kindly/3361080/story.html#ixzz0w9leIr8E

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