What ’s a Nuisance? Scott Borthwick - Canaan, NH
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he official title of my profession, as designated by the state, is Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator. This title is right to the point. The animals we “control” have to be a nuisance. The reason I decided to write about this is due to the numerous calls we get to the contrary. For example, an individual calls saying they saw a coyote in their yard. I asked what it was doing. They said nothing it just went through their yard. This sort of call does not qualify as a nuisance. The animal has to be causing a problem such as killing livestock, being aggressive toward humans, or causing physical damage to the property. Some examples of nuisance wildlife. Woodchucks can cause significant damage to older foundations, retaining walls, and septic systems. They also destroy people’s flower and vegetable gardens. Another issue caused by woodchucks is that their tunnel systems can entice other creatures to move in such as skunks and opossums. Now I know some of you will say opossums are good however they are the only known carrier of Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis which can be extremely bad for horses. Also, I have caught many an opossum covered in ticks bringing into question their tick elimination capabilities. We all know the problems caused by skunks and porcupines. Weasels are great mousers but can be devastating Fall 2021
in a chicken coop same goes for foxes, raccoons, fisher, and mink. Some creatures become a nuisance just because they want to live in the same house as you. Bats, squirrels, snakes, and sometimes raccoons fall into this category. Squirrels and raccoons can cause actual damage to the structure, bats can bring in bat bugs and large amounts of guano that when disturbed can cause histoplasmosis, and well snakes are snakes after all. Creatures either living in chimneys or getting trapped in the chimney is another example of nuisance wildlife. This summer alone we have removed 2 ducks and multiple squirrels from chimneys. Now we are dealing with chimney swifts that actually nest in chimneys. Beavers flooding roads and driveways, coyotes and bobcats killing livestock, otter killing fish in private ponds are all examples of nuisance wildlife. A few years ago I received a call from a local Police Dept. a coyote pup had been spotted lurking about behind a school that was being used for a summer day camp. When I went to investigate I noticed that the field behind the school had recently been brush hogged. When a field gets mowed this way some of the smaller creatures living there get killed in the process which provides a smorgasbord for coyotes, foxes, and such. I told the Police this but they asked if I could
explain it to the kids. We set up a time and went and spoke to the kids. Well at first they could not care less about the coyote they just wanted to tell me their wildlife stories. Which were great. Finally one of them asked, “Why was the coyote pup out in the daytime?” To which I asked in response “How many of you do exactly what your parents tell you to do?”. None of them raised their hand because they all understood. Scott Borthwick owns Estate Wildlife Control. He lives in Canaan, NH with his wife Donna, two dogs, a couple of horses, and one tough old chicken named Henrietta.
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