Organizing Wildlife Control Methods By Stephen Vantassel Wildlife Control Consultant

Summary

In this educational video, Steven Van Tassel, wildlife control consultant, shares a structured approach to organizing and explaining various wildlife control methods to clients. He presents a comprehensive framework that categorizes methods into non-lethal (habitat modification, exclusion, frightening devices, repellents) and lethal (shooting, trapping, toxicants, biological) options. By methodically going through this list, wildlife control operators can offer informed choices to clients, detailing the costs, effectiveness, and humaneness of each approach. Van Tassel emphasizes the importance of clear communication and standard terminology within the industry to better educate clients and ensure effective wildlife management.

Takeaways

• 🐾 Wildlife control is evolving with clients seeking alternatives to traditional trap-and-kill methods.
• 📚 Educating clients on various wildlife control methods is crucial as they become more informed about wildlife issues.
• 🛠 Steven Van Tassel emphasizes the importance of providing informed choice to clients in wildlife control.
• 📈 A structured mental checklist of control methods can help operators effectively communicate options to clients.
• 🐕 Habitat modification and exclusion are key strategies in managing wildlife issues without directly harming animals.
• 🔥 Frightening devices and repellents offer non-lethal ways to deter wildlife from unwanted areas.
• 🔫 Shooting, trapping, and toxicants are categorized as more direct, often lethal, control methods.
• 🐝 Biological controls involve using natural predators or diseases to manage pest populations.
• 📌 Methods are organized from non-lethal to lethal, impacting both cost and perceived humaneness.
• 💰 Cost-effectiveness and ethical considerations play significant roles in choosing the appropriate wildlife control strategy.
• 📷 Organizing photos and information based on control methods can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of wildlife control operations.

Q & A

What is the primary purpose of organizing wildlife control methods?

The primary purpose of organizing wildlife control methods is to provide a structured approach for explaining different control options to clients. It allows the wildlife control operator to present the various methods, their costs, likelihoods of success, and potential consequences in an organized manner, enabling clients to make informed choices.

What is the difference between relocation and translocation?

Relocation refers to moving an animal within its home range, while translocation involves moving an animal outside of its home range.

What are the main categories of wildlife control methods?

The main categories of wildlife control methods are: habitat modification (including cultural controls), exclusion, frightening devices, repellents, shooting, trapping, toxicants, and biological controls.

What is the significance of the green and red color-coding of the control methods?

The green color represents non-lethal control methods, while the red color represents lethal control methods. This color-coding is a simplified approach, as the lethality of a method is not always black and white.

What is the general trend in terms of cost and humaneness as you move down the list of control methods?

As you move down the list of control methods, the cost generally decreases, while the methods are perceived as less humane by clients. The higher on the list (e.g., habitat modification, exclusion), the more humane and costly the methods are perceived to be.

What is the purpose of habitat modification as a control method?

Habitat modification involves changing the living conditions that allow an animal to thrive in a particular area. The goal is to make the environment less suitable for the animal, which can amplify the effectiveness of other control methods.

What are some examples of cultural controls?

Cultural controls involve modifying farming practices, such as planting crops earlier or later to avoid conflicts with migratory birds, or changing the type of grass or plants to make them less attractive to certain species like Canada geese.

What is the advantage of exclusion as a control method?

The advantage of exclusion, such as installing barriers or one-way doors, is that while it may have a high initial cost, it can provide a permanent solution to prevent animals from entering an area or structure.

What is the purpose of organizing photos based on the control method categories?

Organizing photos based on control method categories (e.g., habitat modification, repellents, trapping) allows wildlife control operators to quickly locate relevant photos to support their explanations and training materials for each method.

How can wildlife control operators further engage with the presenter's expertise and resources?

Wildlife control operators can reach out to Steven Van Tassel, the presenter, at [email protected] for product reviews, show ideas, sponsorship opportunities, or to provide photos for training materials like the Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook.

Outlines

00:00

🎙️ Introduction and Topic Overview

Steven Van Tassel introduces himself and the topic of organizing and discussing wildlife control methods with clients who are becoming more educated about wildlife. He emphasizes the importance of providing clients with informed choices and explaining all potential options for managing wildlife problems.

05:00

📚 Organizing Wildlife Control Methods

Steven Van Tassel presents a PowerPoint slide that outlines a structured way of organizing wildlife control methods into categories: habitat modification (including cultural controls), exclusion, frightening devices, repellents, shooting, trapping, toxicants (regulated and unregulated), and biological controls. He explains the logic behind the order of the categories, which is based on perceived humaneness and decreasing cost.

10:02

🏡 Habitat Modification and Cultural Controls

Steven Van Tassel defines habitat modification as changing the living conditions that allow animals to thrive, such as plowing under grass, using specific plant types, or closing trash cans. Cultural controls are a subset of habitat modification, typically used in farming communities, where practices like planting crops earlier or later can deter migratory birds.

15:03

🚫 Exclusion, Frightening Devices, and Repellents

Steven Van Tassel explains exclusion as putting up physical barriers to prevent animals from causing offending activity. He also discusses frightening devices that rely on sound, light, and biological means to scare animals away. Repellents are chemicals that animals ingest, smell, or come into tactile contact with to avoid an area.

20:04

🔫 Lethal Methods: Shooting, Trapping, and Toxicants

Steven Van Tassel discusses the lethal control methods of shooting, trapping, and toxicants. Shooting involves directly killing the offending animal. Trapping uses mechanical means, often leading to the animal's death. Toxicants are regulated baits or fumigants that cause the animal to die from ingesting or breathing in the poison. He also mentions emerging unregulated toxicants like carbon monoxide devices and propane-oxygen exploders.

25:06

🐻 Biological Controls and Closing Remarks

Steven Van Tassel defines biological controls as using diseases, insects, or predatory animals to drive away or kill unwanted species. He encourages the audience to memorize and incorporate this method of organizing control methods into their businesses, as it can help provide informed choices to clients. He also discusses organizing photos based on these categories and invites the audience to reach out to him for sponsorships, product reviews, or show ideas.

Keywords

💡Habitat Modification

Habitat modification refers to changing the environmental conditions that allow certain animals to thrive in a particular area. It involves altering or removing the habitat elements that are attractive to the target species, such as modifying vegetation, removing food sources, or blocking access to resources. The speaker discusses this as the first method in the list of wildlife control techniques, emphasizing that even small changes to the habitat can have a significant impact on controlling unwanted animals. Examples include cutting grass to deter voles, securing trash cans to prevent food sources, and clearing bird feeders to avoid spilled food that attracts wildlife.

💡Exclusion

Exclusion refers to installing physical barriers that prevent animals from accessing or entering a specific area. This method involves creating a permanent solution by hardening a structure or property with materials like fencing, netting, or one-way doors, so that the target species cannot gain entry or re-entry. The speaker explains that exclusion can be an expensive initial investment, but it provides long-term benefits and a permanent solution. Examples include installing chimney caps to exclude bats, trenching and screening around a property to prevent skunks from entering, and using one-way doors to allow animals to leave a structure but not return.

💡Frightening Devices

Frightening devices are non-chemical methods used to scare animals away from an unwanted area. These devices rely on visual, auditory, or biological stimuli to evoke a fear response in the target species. Visual devices like pyrotechnics employ light and sound. Auditory devices use sounds to frighten animals. Biological methods involve using predatory animals or their sounds to induce fear. The speaker describes frightening devices as a non-lethal approach that does not involve the use of pesticides or chemicals. Examples include using pyrotechnics, playing recordings of predators' calls, or employing trained falcons to scare away nuisance birds.

💡Repellents

Repellents are chemical substances that discourage animals from entering or remaining in a particular area. They work by making the environment unpalatable or undesirable through taste, odor, or tactile sensations. The speaker classifies repellents as pesticides that must be applied by licensed professionals. He acknowledges that repellents may only provide temporary relief, as their effectiveness can diminish over time, and determined animals may still persist. Examples include spraying methyl anthranilate on grass to deter Canada geese or fogging specific areas to drive away birds.

💡Shooting

Shooting involves the direct killing of target animals through the use of firearms or other projectile weapons. The speaker categorizes shooting as a lethal control method, along with trapping, toxicants, and some biological methods. Different types of shooting include sharpshooters, opportunistic shooting, guided shooting, and traditional hunting seasons. The speaker presents shooting as a straightforward approach to eliminating offending animals or species through direct lethal force.

💡Trapping

Trapping refers to the use of mechanical devices to capture and restrain animals. These traps can range from cage traps to lethal traps. The speaker notes that trapped animals are typically killed after capture, although some trapping methods allow for translocation (moving the animal outside its home range). Trapping is considered a lethal control method, and the speaker groups it together with shooting, toxicants, and biological methods. Trapping offers a way to physically remove and eliminate problem animals from a specific area.

💡Toxicants

Toxicants are poisonous substances used to kill animals. The speaker divides toxicants into two categories: regulated toxicants and non-regulated toxicants. Regulated toxicants are baits or fumigants that are subject to EPA regulations and require licensed professionals for application. Non-regulated toxicants include newer products like carbon monoxide devices or propane-oxygen exploders, which are not currently regulated by the EPA. Both types of toxicants work by exposing the target animal to a lethal substance, either through ingestion or inhalation. The speaker presents toxicants as a lethal control method that can effectively eliminate unwanted animals.

💡Biological Control

Biological control methods involve using living organisms, such as predators, diseases, or insects, to control or eliminate a target species. The speaker provides examples like using cats to control mice (although he acknowledges this is not an effective method) or employing trained raptors to kill nuisance birds. Biological control is considered a lethal method, as it relies on natural predators or pathogens to kill or drive away unwanted animals. The speaker groups biological control with other lethal techniques like shooting, trapping, and toxicants.

💡Informed Choice

Informed choice refers to providing clients with a comprehensive understanding of all available control methods, their costs, effectiveness, and implications. The speaker emphasizes the importance of presenting clients with all the options and explaining the pros and cons of each approach. This allows clients to make an informed decision about the most suitable method for their specific situation. By laying out the full range of habitat modification, exclusion, repellents, frightening devices, and lethal methods, wildlife control professionals can help clients weigh the trade-offs and choose the solution that aligns with their preferences and priorities.

💡Translocation

Translocation is the practice of moving an animal outside of its home range or territory. The speaker contrasts translocation with relocation, which involves moving an animal within its established home range. He notes that most clients prefer translocation, as it removes the animal from the immediate area. However, translocation raises ethical and biological concerns, as it can disrupt the animal's natural ecology and survival. The speaker acknowledges the complexities of translocation but focuses on the need for wildlife control professionals to communicate clearly about these different approaches, allowing clients to make informed choices based on their preferences.

Highlights

Today's topic is how to organize and talk about your control methods as clients become more educated about wildlife and wildlife control.

Organize control methods into habitat modification, exclusion, frightening devices, repellents, shooting, trapping, toxicants, and biological control.

Habitat modification refers to changing the living conditions that allow an animal to live in an area.

Cultural controls are a subset of habitat modification where farmers change practices like planting crops earlier or later to make the environment less attractive to pests.

Exclusion involves putting up a barrier to prevent the animal from causing the offending activity.

Frightening devices use non-chemical means like sound, light, or biological elements (like a hawk flying overhead) to scare animals away.

Repellents rely on chemicals that the animal ingests, smells, or feels to make an area unappealing.

Shooting involves directly killing the offending animal or species.

Trapping uses mechanical means to capture and often kill the animal.

Toxicants are regulated baits or fumigants that poison the animal when ingested or breathed in.

Biological control involves using diseases, insects, or predatory animals to drive away or kill the unwanted pest.

As you go down the list, the cost of methods tends to decrease while higher methods are perceived as more humane by clients.

Organize photos and materials by control method to easily find and explain options to clients.

This structured approach helps educate clients and give them informed choices about control methods and costs.

Always looking to improve training materials with real-world photos and examples from professionals in the field.

Transcripts

[Music]

hi Steven Van Tassel here wildlife

control consultants giving you another

episode of living the wild life as part

of the pesky podcast family of

presentations thanks for joining us

today or joining me so I'm glad you have

you along

today's topic is I want to talk about

how you can organize and talk about your

control methods as we be get more and

more clients who are becoming

increasingly educated about wildlife and

wildlife control I'm not suggesting that

they're educated about wildlife in the

sense that they want to do the work

themselves but they're getting more

educated about wildlife in the sense

that they're looking for alternatives

then simply trap and kill solution now

some of you of course are trapping

animals and translocating them somewhere

else and you notice how I didn't use the

word relocation because I define

relocation as moving an animal within

its home range translocation is moving

an animal outside of its home range so

most of your clients don't want it

relocated they want the animal

translocated that's a whole ethical

biological scientific issue that we're

not going to talk about today what I

wanted to mention though is that when a

client is pushing back let's say you

make a recommendation to a client about

a particular control method to solve a

particular problem and the client sort

of box at that one of the strategies you

can do is simply go through this mental

checklist so that you understand and get

to go through all the potential options

for management of this particular

problem that the client is having so it

without this mental checklist you may be

doing it automatically but this gives

you a structure to organize that

information so you can explain to the

client

hey we went here here you're all of your

options tell me which one you want me to

use I'll give you my recommendations as

to which one they're gonna work or to

give you the success that you're looking

for but if you're gonna restrain my

ability to do something here well then

at least you'll know that this was a an

educated choice and I think that's an

important point for you as wildlife

control operators including me with pest

control operators you need to be giving

your clients what we call informed

choice it's not just simply yeah we're

gonna fix it well your some of your

clients may not that may be fine for the

middle care right oh increasingly you're

gonna be encountering clients who want

all the details they want to be there

may be a little naggy they may be a

little bit too hyper that may be really

sucking up your time I hope you charging

enough but the reality is is you've got

to have a strategy and an organizing

principle so we explain to them what the

options are which ones that you like and

which ones that you don't like but at

least the clients gonna be able to make

an informed decision so I wanted to go

that by the way this list is not mine I

didn't come up with this list it's not I

didn't invent it this came from my

former boss while uh dr. Scott hengstrom

he was formerly at the University of

nebraska-lincoln now he's up at Stevens

Point University of Wisconsin so this is

something where it may not even be his

but I learned it from him and learned it

from prevention control of wildlife

damage is a way of organizing all of the

control methods and so I wanted to kind

of introduce that to you so hopefully

you could incorporate this in your own

business and I'm gonna just encourage

you to memorize it just learn it it's

not that much it's some of you may

intuitively understand it when I try to

explain it for you follow it and it can

become very helpful in terms of your

organizing all the information the

diverse information that we have in

wildlife control to sort of so we can

begin start talking the same language so

one of the issues that I'm certainly

passionate about as far industry doesn't

start developing standard

talking points standardized ways of

communicating we're not going to have

the political impact that we need to

have we need to be able to speak

coherently in logical use so that when I

say something you understand exactly

what I'm referring to which is probably

a podcast for another time or a podcast

in this case so why don't we turn over

now to the PowerPoint the mini

PowerPoint I've created and I want to

just go over organizing wildlife control

methods for you as a wildlife control

operator as well as pest control

operator a pest control operator so why

don't we get started with that so one of

the things that you want to look at here

is this is how the control methods are

organized again we're not looking at the

biology of the animal we're not looking

at the life history of the animal how

many young it has this is simply your

client says I have X I want it gone how

can we go about doing that and so this

is where all the control methods that

are going to be brought to bear they

would fall into one of these categories

all right so I'm going to try to explain

them let me just sort of list them first

and then I'm going to try to explain

them a little bit so you have an

understanding of what they're referring

to

okay so number one we have what's called

habitat modification that includes

cultural controls and we'll talk about

that shortly the second one is exclusion

the third one is frightening devices

fourth one is repellents and then it

turns to shooting trapping toxicants and

biological so all the control methods

that we have the control vertebra pest

and again I'm primarily focusing here on

vertebrate pests I'm not referring to

insects here

although much of insect control myths

can fall under this as well but they

have a pest control world breaks this up

just slightly differently but

they're they're analogous though this is

the structure we used for vertebra past

we go through that list again it's

habitat modification exclusion

frightening devices repellents shooting

trapping toxicants biological now there

is a logic to the order of these

particular methods okay that's why you

see them in two different colors here I

have a green section and I have a red

section now this is simplistic and I and

I have published an article on this and

I that I think this is too simplistic

however it's unfortunately a lot of

people believe that it's true it's not

but it is mostly true and one of the

things I try to explain to people when

we try to do education one of the

obligations of an instructor is they

have to lie to their students which is a

bit harsh to say it that way it's not

quite true they'll call it a lie but

we'll just say it just to kind of get a

little shock value there you kind of lie

to your students because if you

overwhelm them with too much information

they can't process at all so you have to

sort of chunk the information simplify

things beyond what they actually are in

order for the student to be able to

begin the knowledge okay so what does

that arbitrary term here the arbitrary

term is non-lethal lethal okay so the

green section is called non-lethal it

won't kill the animal got it not

completely true by the way and then you

have lethal okay so I argue that it's

actually more complicated than that but

again we're getting a little far afield

here I don't want to complicate this

more than it already is but as a general

rule if the green area is non-lethal in

the sense that you're not directly

killing an animal now the animal may

still die but it dies for other reasons

you're not taking it and bunking it on

the head or shooting it or something

okay

whereas the shooting trapping toxicants

biological often are are lethal now I

no you can trap an animal and

translocated again this is this is the

simplified version here and so I want to

be sure you understand that you

understand that non-lethal lethal that's

why they're organized in this particular

manner so what a client asks you hey

what can I do to get rid of these voles

on my property you're gonna say all

right is there habitat modification is

can we exclusion be done frightening

devices be daunting propellants can that

be done shooting trapping toxicants and

biological all right so why don't I take

a little moment now and break this down

so that you understand what each element

is when you're explaining it to your

client you know exactly what we're

referring to what do we mean by habitat

modification habitat modification refers

to the living conditions that allow that

animal to live you may have had clients

tell you I don't know why this squirrel

is here well the bottom line is the

squirrel is there because the

environment in that location allows the

squirrel to be there think of it this

way a fish needs water no water no fish

you don't find fish in the middle of the

desert

okay plain and simple if there's no

water there's no fish so if you want to

get rid of fish get rid of the water

that's plain and simple the same thing

happens with a lot of other animals for

example with bowls if you have bowls on

your property voles are sometimes called

metal mice with people they often live

in grasslands one of the ways is simply

plough under the grass glyphosate the

field so you kill all the grass or plow

it all under and your voles will pretty

much disappear no food no volts okay now

is it drastic absolutely it's drastic

okay so if you scorch earth the area

weather nothing can live that's pretty

drastic but it is an option I tell

people when I was back in Massachusetts

where we had moles people would say I

want a permanent solution to control

moles when my answer would be pave your

lawn get it ask get asphalt out there

put

concrete over it if you do all that

there is not going to be any issue with

moles on your grass moles do not live

under concrete that's simple okay now is

that something I want people to do no I

don't want them to do that but it is an

option you can do that so that is a form

of habitat modification most habitat

modification however is more subtle than

that things like closing the trash cans

preventing modifying bird feeders that

isn't spilling food all over the ground

okay I have a publication on that you

can google that okay those are simple

thing making sure the dog cat foods

picked up or maybe you're not feeding

animals outside to begin with okay

making sure your trash cans are secure

maybe you're picking up the acorns and

apples before they're reaching the

ground okay that's all those are all

examples of habitat modification you are

changing the conditions that allow those

animals to thrive you may say well

Steven it's not going to work yes it may

not always work because you're not able

to control all the habitat but what

people don't understand is that

sometimes even marginal changes can have

can impact how well other techniques are

gonna work so yeah if you cut your grass

and your neighbor doesn't you're gonna

have the issue of voles coming over to

your lawn even though your neighbor even

B even if you cut your grass however if

you don't cut your grass the problems

just gonna get worse alright so some of

these things are subtle I tell people

all the time when you're when we're

talking about habitat modification small

changes can have big impacts even though

they're small okay because they can

amplify other control methods all right

so that's habitat modification now a

subset of habitat modification is what's

called cultural controls

cultural controls is typically used in

farming communities where the producer

or the farmer is changing their

practices maybe they're planting the

crops a couple weeks early so that the

plan

are tall before the migratory birds come

across okay or you plant the crops a few

weeks later so that the plants aren't

there when the migratory birds go across

that would be a form of cultural control

sometimes the type of plant that you put

down makes a difference with how

attractive the plant is to veteran

animals for example Canada geese which

some of you may be struggling with now

can the geese like certain types of

grass better than other types of grass

so if you change the type of grass

you're growing that's a cultural

modification it's also part of habitat

you've changed the habitat to make it

less palatable for those Canada geese

now they'll still probably hold their

nose and eat it right but the point is

is that it makes it more difficult for

them and so therefore think of it like

if you're getting irritated by something

and you're hungry let's say you're going

to a restaurant and you're like the

music's really loud and you hate the

music and you're like I'm hungry you're

gonna persevere but if you're in tight

are you really gonna want to go back the

next time well that's what you're kind

of doing with an animal and you're

changing that that habitat and you're

making their life a little bit harder

when you do something else that's gonna

make a change in their behavior and it

could magnify I hope I hope that's clear

for you frightening devices are things

that do not require that are not what's

called chemicals so they're not a

they're they're not a pesticide so

repellents are considered pesticides so

frightening devices rely on sound light

combination or there's a biological

component like a like a hawk flying

overhead all right that would be a

biological frightening device even

though it's a living organism okay so

long as the Hawks not killing the birds

it would be a frightening device so

frightening devices use non chemical

means to scare those animals away from

unwanted areas and so typically visual

they come at the visual method the

auditory method there's what's called

bio biological acoustical where you're

relying on a biological

sound to evoke a fear response and then

there's a combination like for example

pyrotechnics relies on a visual and a

sound because it explodes which has a

light component and a sound component

and then you have the biological so

visual auditory a combination of the two

and then biological those are your

frightening devices repellents rely on a

chemical that either the animal ingests

or smells or has some sort of tactile

component to it that causes the animal

to avoid an area where you don't want

that animal to be so methyl and

Thranduil aid is something you can fog

to get birds out of a particular area

methyl and Thranduil it is something you

can spray on grass to keep Canada geese

from feeding on it there are other

products out there not many a lot of

products are sold as repellents one of

the challenges with repellents with

vertebrates is that the it washes off it

wears out sometimes the animal if the

animals hungry enough they're just gonna

plow through and eat it no matter what

so but that's still a repellent and

sometimes you're able to get some

marginal effort marginal control in

certain areas so for example typically

repellents work better when your

neighbor doesn't use the repellent but

you do and so the deer go over to the

neighbor's yard to feed but once the

food's gone don't be surprised if the

deer come back nevertheless it's still a

repellent shooting now we're getting

into the lethal control shootings pretty

straightforward your that you have an

offending animal or an offending species

you shoot the animal it's dead okay

plain and simple there are different

ways you're shooting you have

sharpshooters you have opportunistic

shooting you have guided shooting and

then you have traditional hunting

seasons those are the types of shooting

opportunities okay so shooting is pretty

straightforward and they covers hawai a

wide variety of projectiles trapping

again a wide variety of tools

used for trapping typically the animals

are killed after their trapping but not

always but trapping is certainly an

option these are mechanical means for

those of you PCOS mechanical weak means

of getting the animal to die then you

have stuff known as toxicants

okay so toxicants I'm gonna break this

down into two parts you have regulated

toxicants and non-regulated toxicants so

there's a new category coming up in our

industry non regulated products like

carbon monoxide devices or propane

oxygen exploders you know how you want

to define those we could put them under

toxicants even though they're not

regulated by the EPA nevertheless

typically toxic ins tend to be baits or

fumigants so either the animals eating

it and it dies of the poison or they

breed the poison and that kills them as

well so toxic ins tend to be regulated

by the EPA although we have a new

category coming along now where you have

non regulated type products carbon

monoxide devices okay the Boro are X's

or the cheetah or the pressurized

exhaust rodent control or in you have

the propane oxygen exploders those are

the rodent inators and I think there's a

gopher Nader out there as well where it

takes a mixture of propane and oxygen

and jacks it down into the Burrow and

then you detonate it pretty cool I've

written about that as well the last

category is we're gonna call biological

biological is where you are using either

a disease or an insect or some sort of a

predatory animal to get to drive away or

kill the unwanted amol you don't want

for example a lot of people think

because there's so much mythology in our

country okay a lot of people you know

like I call it Santa Claus talk right

they think cats control mice okay they

don't but they think they do

and so they have all these cats running

and roaming around and cats are just

ravaging the countryside because they're

killing all the birds and there

snakes and they're killing the frogs and

killing everything out there proof that

Americans hate the environment okay but

so but I digress but biological cats

would be one example of a biological not

a very good example but it's a

biological so that's probably the

simplest way that I can explain that

biological form for you those of you

that have Raptors and you're able to

have Hawks and you have a hawk that will

go over an area and kill some birds that

would also be a biological form of

control okay

so I hope that kind of that outline kind

of lays that out for you

we have habitat modification exclusion

frightening devices repellents shooting

trapping toxicants and biological and

intoxicants I'm throwing in those

unregulated products as well although

you could make another category out of

that you'll notice those of you were

able to see the video are able to see

two arrows now why are those arrows

there as a general rule as you go down

the list the price decreases and they

think well Stephen repellents aren't

that expensive they are when you

consider the need that you have to

continue to reapply them habitat

modification to do it over broad areas

can be quite expensive which is why most

people don't do it and the reason why

most of us in our businesses don't think

much about habitat modification other

than really minimal things is because

it's hard to get an entire neighborhood

to control - you know trench screen all

of their areas to prevent skunks from

getting in all right that would be a

form of exclusion where you're

preventing where you're putting a

barrier up to prevent the animal from

causing offending activity that's

expensive okay

now the beauty of exclusion is its

permanent right I mean that you're

paying a lot of money you're putting up

the bird netting that's a form of

exclusion you're putting on the chimney

cap there may be a high cost initially

but when you think about the benefits

over time

that price drops precipitously the

problem is is this is a psychological

element in the long run you may think

well why aren't people spending for the

long run well the reason is in the long

run we're all dead that's why so you do

the same thing you'll you'll not repair

something because you'll think well I'll

just wear it out and buy a new one

rather than trying to fix it because of

the cost of the fixing it's not worth it

when you consider the cost of

replacement okay we all do this even

though we may complain about our clients

not willing to spend the money so as you

go down the list the cost tends to

decrease there are exceptions of course

but as a rule they tend to decrease the

area on the right shows the arrow going

up in other words the higher up the list

you go the more humane the the method is

perceived to be now I've argued that

it's not necessarily more humane it

could be you boring you man but it's not

always more humane but I don't want to

kill out this issue too much but as a

rule your clients will think habitat

modification is less offensive to them

or exclusion is less offensive to them

in terms you're not killing anything and

put that in scare quotes there you're

not killing anything directly and they

think that is more humane okay so that

is a something you would have to keep in

your back your mind why is this

important side have clients saying I'd

kill anything okay well then here's what

we're gonna have to do if you don't want

me to trap those squirrels and kill them

then I will need to harden your house

and install one-way doors to allow those

squirrels to leave but not re-enter the

structure and understand there may be a

situation where the where the tree

squirrel may nah elsewhere into the

building and cause new damage now I

don't want to create fear out there I

think a lot of wildlife control

operators don't use one-way doors it's

enough I don't think they rely it partly

because they lack confidence in it

however let's assume you're dealing with

a brick house okay with the brick house

what's the likelihood that you could

install make that house hard enough

protect enough of the vents and then

install a one-way door to keep a

squirrel out let's let's call it a tree

a flying squirrel which have very small

jaws not much nying power could you do

it I hope you could it's not that hard

I've done it okay you know I could show

you if I couldn't do it you can do it

all right so it's not that hard so that

would be a form of quote-unquote

non-lethal control of flying squirrels

where we actually harden the building

and exclude them out of a structure when

we door they're just you know we kick

them out and lock the door

those of you that do bat jobs and you're

doing one-way doors and bat jobs that's

in the form of exclusion right you're

hardening the house but stalling the one

who adores the bats leave they can't get

back in pull off the problem is solved

right so as a rule as you go down the

list the price gets less as you go up

the list the cost gets more I hope that

you will find this this structure this

way of organizing your control methods

helpful because you need to be able to

explain to your client what methods can

possibly work in what methods can so you

can literally go down the list with your

client say do you want to do this this

is what that's gonna cost you want to do

this this is what that's gonna cost this

is the likelihood of this working and

that way you're having an informed

client so the client understands all

right ma'am you wanted to try repellents

repellents or a pesticide you have to

have a pesticide license to apply them

typically although there are some states

there are exceptions but as a rule you

understand that this may only give you a

temporary reprieve okay if your client

understands that then you can probably

build someone where you could derive a

tremendous amount of recurring revenue

off that client or you could probably

get a dealer's license and sell the

product directly to them teach them how

to do it and if you're not looking to do

that as part of your business model so

let's go over that list one more time

okay we have habitat modification which

I'm including cultural controls

exclusion is the second category

frightening devices

repellants shooting trapping toxicants

and intoxicants I'm adding in those

unregulated devices which would be

propane and oxygen exploders and carbon

monoxide devices and then of course

biological controls why another thing

that you may find helpful with this is I

organize my photos partly on based on

this I use a habitat modification folder

I use a repellent folder in which guy

include frightening devices together and

then I have a shooting trap shooting

folder trapping folder in the natok

sickens folder and so I'm able to

organize my photos in terms of my

control methods I also have a biology

photo for the animal in a damage

identification photo for a photo for

this particular species so for raccoon I

love a folder that says raccoon and

inside raccoon I will have biology

damage identification habitat

modification or exclusion repellents

which will also include frightening

devices shooting trapping folders it

individually and then I'll have if I get

too many you know too many trapping

techniques I may break it down at the

cage trap and other traps as well so

it's way of organizing your photos so

you always know where to find them

because one of the challenges I find

with people and while I have controls

like they may take photos which is

something which is certainly a blessing

they just can't find them anymore you

need to have a way of organizing your

material so that you can find your find

your photos and use them to help support

your business and hopefully the industry

as well certainly people like me are

always looking for photos that could be

used for training because you guys are

out in the trenches doing that type of

work and you come across pretty cool

stuff if you have some photos to sell

I'm always looking for a wildlife damage

photos I'm looking to come up with

edition four of the wildlife damage

inspection handbook it's not imminent

but I'm always

can do improve that reach out to me hey

finishing up here I'm Steven Van Tassel

wildlife control consultant living the

wild life I'm hoping that you'll live

the wild life so that you won't be the

wildlife we don't want to have that

happen you have a product that you'd

like to have reviewed send it along to

me go to wildlife control consultant at

gmail.com reach out to me you have a

show idea that you're wanting to have

done reach out to me wild life control

consultant at gmail.com and we're always

looking for sponsors to help keep this

to keep this show going as part of the

pesky podcast family reach out to me

again wild life control consultant at

gmail.com I'd love to hear from you

comments criticisms we want to know that

we're making an impact for your life and

improving your business and your safety

and your family so that you can be

better at what you're doing

start living the wild life I'm Steven

Van Tassel Hey

thank you so much for watching have a

great day

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