Wildlife Conflicts Continue to Rise

Conflicts between people and wildlife were on the rise last year, according to a recently released nuisance wildlife summary compiled by the Department of Natural Resources.

Bob Bluett, the Department's furbearer program manager, said the number of complaints reported by commercial, volunteer and governmental wildlife control permittees increased 11 percent from 1994 to 1995, while nuisance animal removal permits issued to landowners fell 4 percent.

"As in the past, the largest number of complaints were received about raccoons," said Bluett. "Of the 48,889 animals handled by nuisance wildlife control permittees, 33 percent were raccoons. A total of 885 removal permits were issued to landowners, with raccoons accounting for 36 percent of the total."

A nuisance wildlife control permit can be obtained by commercial operators, volunteers and governmental bodies. A nuisance animal removal permit can be issued to landowners or tenants who choose to remove the animals themselves. The Department's permitting procedure allows individuals to address nuisance damage occurring on their property. Because it controls the activities of permittees, the procedure also addresses animal welfare considerations.

Other troublesome species for landowners in 1995 included beaver (163 permits); woodchucks, also called groundhogs, (137 permits); and squirrels (121 permits). Landowner complaints about raccoons, opossums and rabbits increased noticeably from 1994 to 1995, up 20, 41 and 17 percent respectively.

More than 85 percent of the 51,946 complaints serviced by commercial, volunteer and governmental permittees came from the northeastern Illinois region composed of Cook, Lake, McHenry, Kane, DuPage, Kendall, Will, Grundy and Kankakee counties. Bluett said the Department keeps track of permits by region rather than by county because some permittees have multi-county service areas.

In addition to the 16,338 raccoons handled by commercial, volunteer and governmental nuisance wildlife control permittees in 1995, permittees captured 9,522 squirrels; 6,090 opossums; 3,474 woodchucks; 4,039 striped skunks; and 1,498 beavers.

For the third year in a row, the proportion of animals that permittees euthanized—60 percent—exceeded the proportion released. Bluett said the figure has been increasing each year since the nuisance wildlife control permit program began in 1991. In the program's first year, 31 percent of the captured animals were euthanized, followed by 44 percent in 1992, 51 percent in 1993 and 58 percent in 1994.

Euthanasia is required for striped skunks, which are the major wildlife carrier of rabies. The Department encourages euthanasia of common game and forbearing mammals because relocation can spread disease to animals in other areas and compound nuisance wildlife problems in nearby residential areas. Bluett said urban forest preserves continued to take an aggressive stance against the release of animals on their properties because of high populations and negative impacts on other species.

Bluett said he doesn't expect to see a decline in the number of nuisance complaints this year.

"Many species have adapted well to urban and suburban living. In addition some habitats are improving with time. For example, trees in some 40- to 50-year-old suburban areas are now mature enough to provide excellent wildlife habitat, especially for raccoons and squirrels," Bluett said. "That factor is a major contributor to the long-term trend we're seeing in nuisance wildlife conflicts."

For additional information or to receive a copy of two pamphlets, "Keeping Wildlife Out of Your Home" and "Nuisance Raccoons in Urban Settings," contact the Department's Division of Wildlife Resources in Springfield, at (217) 782-6384, TDD (217) 782-9175.

50 • Illinois Parks & Recreation • July/August 1996