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55 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, April 5, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend March 27, 2004 Lewis D�Amato baits a trap with walnuts to catch a raccoon at his Jacksonville home. A change in state law allows homeowners with a permit more freedom in trapping wild animals for removal. CATCHING CRITTERS There’s no better time to trap raccoons, possums and other pests than now, before spring birthing season starts By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune JACKSONVILLE — The little bandits first stole the walnuts off Lewis D’Amato’s front porch before heading to a stash on the back porch. But when the raccoons tried to break into his attic, D’Amato said he had enough. "Wow, these things are unbelievable," D’Amato says. "They’re vicious. They’ll tear my dog up. I don’t want to shoot them, but I don’t want them here." So D’Amato instead caught one of the masked burglars in a live trap, then paid an Ashland trapper $20 to haul the raccoon away and release it where it won’t find walnuts to steal or attics to invade. "I want to be humane about it," says D’Amato, of Jacksonville. "There’s no better way to do it than this." Advertisement And there’s no better time to trap those pesky critters than now, before the spring birthing season for raccoons, possums and other animals literally litters people’s properties with unwanted pests. Spring means raccoon and possum moms-to-be are out looking for a spot to bear their young, and many head under houses and decks, much to the chagrin of people unhappy with sharing space with these furry squatters. Everyone who wants to get rid of them legally calls Rosemary Stussy at the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife for a free permit and advice on how best to beat the pests. "I’m holding my breath knowing the (complaints) will be coming," Stussy says. "In spring, the complaints increase tenfold." Stussy recommends people get live traps and never use leg snares or poison because they can injure or kill pets or other non-target species. Traps can be bought or borrowed from places like the Grange Co-op, or licensed trappers like Louis Glinkman of Ashland can be hired to do the job. For $45, Glinkman will trap the offending animal for you; if you do it, he’ll haul it away for about $20, depending upon travel time. "People think they can just pick these animals up and drop them off wherever they want, believing the problem goes away," says Glinkman, a lifetime trapper who started his "Critter Catcher" relocation business last fall. "But that just pushes the problem onto someone else." Raccoons, skunks and foxes should be taken far out of town and released on public lands near water sources, Stussy says. Possums cannot legally be released; as non-native animals that prey on the eggs of native birds, they must be euthanized, Stussy says. "Not everybody can do that," Stussy says from the ODFW’s Central Point office. "So I tell them to bring the animal here." There’s not much time left this season to get these nuisance animals removed. Stussy refrains from handing out permits during periods when the animals are caring for their young. That means no permits for trapping skunks in May and June, while raccoons get reprieves April through June and foxes roam free March through May, she says. "Now is the time to get rid of these animals before they have their babies," Stussy says. This spring also marks the first time Oregonians can get rid of raccoons, skunks and other creatures before they cause damage. Under old rules, these animals had to cause documented damage before a free permit could be issued. "The old rules left out people who had smelly skunks under their house or raccoons in their swimming pools," Stussy says. "Now, all they have to do is bug you and they’re gone." D’Amato is one who has benefited from the lax rule. Stussy says D’Amato’s raccoon damage was borderline for receiving a permit last year. "But now it’s ‘OK, let’s give that guy a one-way ride someplace before there’s babies,’ " Stussy says. After he trapped his first male raccoon Thursday, D’Amato borrowed another trap from Glinkman. He set the trigger after filling it with — what else? — walnuts. "They’re not some cuddly little thing," D’Amato says. "And they usually travel in pairs." Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? 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