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--0015174c16222de86304b0c07620 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I'm just curious on the good, the bad and the ugly of relocating wildlife. Last year we were having issues with Raccoon's around our residence here in Springhill, a family of Raccoon's had taken up residence in our neighbor's garage. They had dug a tunnel and ripped a part of the garage wall down and where living in my neighbor's old car that he has plans for restoration in the future. Then in the evening the raccoon's were stealing our suet's, suet baskets and knocking our feeders down and being an overall nuisance. Frustrated with the damage that they had done to his garage and old car, my neighbor told me that he had plans to kill the Raccoon's. After hearing this and my wife and I being compassionate nature and wildlife lovers, I told my neighbor that I will get a live trap from DNR and relocate them to the banks of a river about 5 km outside of town. I waited until the raccoon's were grown enough that they were out and fending for themselves, then set the trap up in the backyard and was catching and relocating one raccoon a night. I did this for two weeks relocating nine raccoon's until I wasn't finding any more in the trap and not seeing anymore raccoon's around our yards. My neighbor was happy and filled the hole and mended his garage and hasn't had a problem since. On a message board that I frequent often I told my story of the raccoon's and my relocating them. Then just recently another member of the forum was telling us how he was dealing with a couple raccoon's which got one of the other members thinking about reason's raccoon's should not be relocated, he seems to have some very valid points but even so, I would not have the heart to allow my neighbor to kill them or to take them somewhere that will euthanize them. I know this forum has some very well educated nature and wildlife persons and I would love to hear what the experts think. Here is the message that the other message board member wrote: *Why is it sometimes necessary to euthanize a nuisance animal that has been trapped rather than releasing back to the =93wild?=94* There are several biological reasons why it=92s generally not a good idea t= o move wildlife to new areas. It is difficult to find rural areas without any humans nearby. And moving wildlife only puts it into another animal=92s territory, which can create stress, injury and even death. Other reasons include the following: 1) Relocation can be stressful to wild animals. They may experience elevated heart rates and breathing rates, high blood pressure, acute changes in blood chemistry and depressed appetites. These factors, in turn, may make them more vulnerable to disease or predation. 2) Relocated animals have no prior experience with their new homes, which immediately puts them at a disadvantage for finding food and shelter. Many wildlife species, such as bobcats, foxes, opossums and raccoons, are common and widespread. That means when they become nuisance animals there is no place to relocate them that doesn=92t already have established populations = of those animals. 3) Animals released in a new territory are often out-competed for food and shelter by resident animals. 4) Relocating nuisance animals can increase the spread of disease. In some cases, animals become nuisances when they get sick because they look for easy sources of food and may become less fearful of people. Just as we humans spread disease among our populations by traveling, animals can bring diseases into new areas when they are relocated, thus affecting the resident animal populations. 5) Animals that are relocated often leave the area where they are released. Relocated animals may wander for miles, leading to further interactions with wildlife and people. I'm not saying we should just randomly go about trapping and killing everything. But in situations where there are problem wildlife I'd prefer to have them euthanized than released to a likely slow painful death of starvation, disease or wounds from fights. That's my take on it. Kristian Thank you!! Sincerely! Jeff in Springhill --0015174c16222de86304b0c07620 Content-Type: text/html; charset=windows-1252 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable I'm just curious on the good, the bad and the ugly of relocating wildli= fe.<div><br></div><div>Last year we were having issues with Raccoon's a= round our residence here in Springhill, a family of Raccoon's had taken= up residence in our neighbor's garage. They had dug a tunnel and rippe= d a part of the garage wall down and where living in my neighbor's old = car that he has plans for restoration in the future. Then in the evening th= e raccoon's were stealing our=A0suet's, suet baskets and knocking o= ur feeders down and being an overall nuisance.</div> <div><br></div><div>Frustrated with the damage that they had done to his ga= rage and old car, my neighbor told me that he had plans to kill the Raccoon= 's. After hearing this and my wife and I being compassionate nature and= wildlife lovers, I told my neighbor that I will get a live trap from DNR a= nd relocate them to the banks of a river about 5 km outside of town.</div> <div><br></div><div>I waited until the raccoon's were grown enough that= they were out and fending for themselves, then set the=A0trap up in the ba= ckyard and was catching and relocating one raccoon a night. I did this for = two weeks relocating nine raccoon's until I wasn't finding any more= in the trap and not seeing anymore raccoon's around our yards.=A0</div= > <div><br></div><div>My neighbor was happy and filled the hole and mended hi= s garage and hasn't had a problem since.</div><div><br></div><div>On a = message board that I frequent often I told my story of the raccoon's an= d my relocating them. Then just recently another member of the forum was te= lling us how he was dealing with a couple raccoon's which got one of th= e other members thinking about reason's raccoon's should not be rel= ocated, he seems to have some very valid points but even so, I would not ha= ve the heart to allow my neighbor to kill them or to take them somewhere th= at will=A0euthanize=A0them.</div> <div><br></div><div>I know this forum has some very well educated nature an= d wildlife persons and I would love to hear what the experts think.</div><d= iv><br></div><div>Here is the message that the other message board member w= rote:</div> <div><br></div><div><b style=3D"font-family: verdana, Arial; background-col= or: rgb(168, 168, 168); ">Why is it sometimes necessary to euthanize a nuis= ance animal that has been trapped rather than releasing back to the =93wild= ?=94</b><br style=3D"font-family: verdana, Arial; background-color: rgb(168= , 168, 168); "> <br style=3D"font-family: verdana, Arial; background-color: rg