The Critter Hunter

I receive numerous calls every week about “Can you please rescue these baby bunnies/rabbits”.  Whether it is a nest that is found in the lawn or they see the rabbits running around in the back yard; or the kids caught them and brought them home in a box or a cat or dog got to the nest, the facts are:  A female cottontail rabbit will dig a 3-6 inch depression in the ground usually right out in the open. She will use dry grass and her own hair to line the nest where she will give birth to as many as 8 young, which are hairless and blind. The female will keep them covered up but will not stay with them. She may return once every 12 hours to nurse them.  The Rabbit mothers milk is very rich and the baby bunnies grow extremely fast.  The female Rabbit may have up to 6 litters in a single season, if weather permits.  As soon as the baby bunnies are fully furred and their eyes are open they will leave the nest and spread out at this time.  They will pretty much rely on eating vegetation and will give up nursing.  Even though the baby bunnies are still very small they are quite capable of taking care of themselves but are still very fragile and should be left alone.

If the baby bunny is mortally wounded or any broken limbs the animal will absolutely not survive or can it be rehabilitated. They are too fragile to fix.

I do not recommend handling them because you can wind up hurting them very easily.  My motto is always; Let Them Go, Let Them Grow.  Again these animals do not need to be rescued.

If you are unsure about a situation please give All That’s Wildlife, Inc. a call.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter

I’ve been getting a lot of calls lately about people finding baby birds on the ground.  The people on the other end always ask if I could come out and rescue these baby birds. The truth is they are not in need of rescue at all.  I usually ask first if the baby bird looks injured or wounded.  I then ask if the baby birds have feathers and are mobile.  Nine times out of ten the answer is yes.  I begin to explain to them that this is a natural occurrence.  The nest is only designed to hold the babies for so long.  The baby birds get too big for the nest and start over powering one another for space. Eventually they will start jumping from branch to branch and eventually land on the ground.  Some can actually fly right out of the nest, maybe not so well at first but they will learn.  The adults know exactly where the baby birds are at all times.  They are in constant communication with one another through many different vocalizations.

My advice is always if the baby bird does not looked distressed to leave them be.  I absolutely stress that nine times out of ten these baby birds do not need to be rescued.  We as humans think we are always doing good by helping out but unknowingly you could be doing more harm than good.

If the baby birds are still in a nest, then absolutely leave them alone. For most birds, from hatch to fledge it will take approximately 28 days and the baby birds will be on their way.  This does not include any Birds of Prey.

If you are unsure about a situation please give All That’s Wildlife, Inc. a call.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter

Attached are some pictures of Robin Parents and their babies. When they were big enough to fly out of the nest the Parents were always close by taking care of them. This all took about 26 days for them to grow and leave. (Photography by Debbie Wilberschied)

Raccoons breed in the month of January and sometimes even as late as May or June, this can depend of the region of the United State.  Their gestation period is about 60-64 days.  Most litters are born in April and May but some may be born later depending on the breeding.  There is only one litter of young born each year. They can have one to six but the average size litter is between three and five.  To find out more, visit our website at All That’s Wildlife and look under animal facts.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter

This female had 4 babies

Check out the video on Youtube

It’s the breeding season for Whitetail Deer.  I was coming home the other day and saw a Buck chasing a Doe in a corn field that had just been cut. The Doe ran about 50 yards from the road. I slowed my truck down thinking she was going to run out in front of me.  I pulled over and watched them for a while. The Buck kept chasing her closer to the road till they were finally 10 yards off of the shoulder. She grew tired from the relentless chase and bedding down in plain view. He stood in back of her for a while waiting for her to get back up, he also grew tired after a while and bedding down not far from her.

This scene plays out all over the country this time of the year.  Here in Illinois alone there are over 100,000 vehicle Deer collisions reported every year. A lot of these collisions could be avoided just by taking the proper precautions as a driver. Be more aware when driving through wooded areas or around standing crops. At night use your bright lights if there is no one in front of you and there is no oncoming traffic. I’ve experienced by having my bright lights on I was able to see a Deer about 15 yards off to the right in front of me ready to cross the road.  I was able to slow down in enough time. I know there are instances where they will run out and hit the side of your vehicle, like for instance, two weeks ago an absolutely monstrous Buck ran across a stretch of a two lane blacktop straight into the side of a passing pickup truck.  The woman that was driving was able to keep the truck on the road.  She was a little shaken but was not hurt. The Buck did not survive the collision. As I’m sitting here writing this story I can hear a combine off in the distance picking corn. Deer make standing crops part of their shelter and food source.  A moving combine in a corn field pushes the Deer ever closer to the road and in the path of danger.

Be aware, be careful while driving.

Rick Wilberschied aka The Critter Hunter

www.allthatswildlife.com

Coyotes in the woodpile!

While doing some yard work, a couple discovered an animal lying down by their wood pile. It was a coyote and they called me.

The coyote was tucked into a spot by their firewood. Upon closer inspection, I had determined the animal was struck by a vehicle. It suffered multiple broken limbs and couldn’t move that well. She was definitely suffering and I had to do something quick. So I put the catch pole around her neck to subdue because her natural instincts were in high gear and she was snapping, snarling and biting at me. I did the humane thing and euthanized her. It was quick and painless. This animal had been suffering for days. This is never an easy decision for anyone to make. But as a wildlife control professional, I have to make hard decisions on a daily basis. They are necessary but not always pleasant.

Coyote sightings around or near homes should be taken very seriously. They are highly opportunistic animals and can be become quite bold and brazen. They may approach humans when accompanied by pets or children. There have been a lot of reports over the recent years of Coyote human confrontations.

You can find out more about Coyotes on my web page, All That’s Wildlife or contact us at 1-847-980-5561, or via email at rick@allthatswildlife.com

I don’t know if it was the harsh winter that we had, but animal litters have been a little later this season. As of last week I am now just starting to get more squirrels calls. For a while they have been nonexistent.

The calls from customers start out, “we are hearing scurrying sounds in the attic”. Once I am at the customers house I do a thorough assessment. I will then set a couple of traps in strategically placed areas. Within a few hours I will usually have the female, that’s the easy part. They are always slaves to their stomachs. They absolutely cannot resist a grocery store by their front door. The babies on the other hand can be a little more difficult. Right now I am noticing the different sizes of the young. Some have been ranging from 4 inches up to 10 inches. Depending on the size of the litter it can take from 2-5 days to capture the babies because they are very cautious. They haven’t experienced the outside world as of this time; they depend on the mother for food.

Most recently I trapped a solid black gray squirrel that was living in a wall of a church. I set two traps very close to the hole which happened to be in a real bizarre place and involved a little ingenuity when it came to setting them up. The female mother squirrel was caught within about 2 hours. She was released on my property and for the next 4 days one squirrel per day came out and ventured into the trap where they were caught. Since they were separated from the mother and still too young to fend for themselves, they are currently being fed by hand and doing very well.  When they are old enough they will be released on my property where the mother was released.

Read more about Squirrels at All That’s Wildlife, Inc.

Stay tuned for more stories on Baby Squirrels.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter

Cute But Dangerous1

Cute But Dangerous2

It is that time of the year again where we start to get frequent calls regarding female red fox (vixen) with litters of kits (baby fox) appearing from underneath sheds, decks, and large concrete stoops. It really amazes me sometimes how people don’t even realize that a fox is living on their property until the kits start to emerge from the den.  They are roughly 4-5 weeks of age at this time. People start complaining about dead animal parts lying around in their lawn and on their decks. The vixen is starting to introduce solid foods into the kits diet. The little grayish fluffy balls of fur start to wander out of the den to check out the world outside for the first time.  At first they stay very close to the entrance of the den but soon will start to wander around and check out their surroundings, still not straying too far away. They will wait for the mother to come back and bring them birds, rabbits, chipmunks, mice and other small creatures. She is teaching them what they are going to eat when they are able to hunt for themselves. They will take the best part of the animal at first and leave the less desirable morsels strewn around the yard for later consumption. Other pieces become just toys. This will create an untidy little scene for those with weak stomachs.  What you are seeing is raw nature at its finest.  This is a photographers or wildlife observers dream.  People will ask me “can you or will you remove these animals’. They have concerns about their childs safety and safety of their pets, as well as concern for their neighbors well being.  My answer to them is of course but I also inform them this can get a little expensive and time consuming.  I also let them know that it isn’t a 100% guarantee that we can get the mom and kits. She hunts day and night to bring back enough food for all her kits.  This can make it very difficult to capture her. She will take short breaks, sometimes up to an hour to spend nursing and grooming of her babies.

If we trap the whole family, which could be very difficult and time consuming, they cannot be relocated successfully.  As strong as her motherly instincts are if relocated to a different area her own survival would become the most important thing to her. She will abandon her kits in which they will perish by starvation or predation.   In my own personal opinion do not try to approach them at all as cute as they are they are still a wild animal and pose a threat. If they are not creating a large problem they will usually be gone within another 4 weeks of foreseeing them. When they are strong enough to accompany their mother on hunting trips which is usually about 8-10 weeks of age they will leave the den. They may come back a few times but will eventually disappear and abandon the den site and will wander their territory.  If a customer wants them removed we can certainly provide them with that service. They can call an  All That’s Wildlife, Inc. professional for an assessment.  If you choose to let them be—only enjoy them from a distance.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter

Animal exclusion is a process that is set up that allows animals to get out and not get back in.  In most cases we prefer to trap and remove the animals from the site to insure they do not come back to the area and become an ongoing problem.  The only animals we prefer to do exclusion work with are bats.  For more details on this subject please give All That’s Wildlife, Inc. a call at 847-980-5561.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter

No, this would fall under pest control.  Pest control is an industry all of its own and their license differs from that of a Wildlife Control Operators license.  You will need to find a Pest Control company to take care of this for you.  You can look them up online in our area or in your local telephone book.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter