Wildlife & Human Interactions

Every year the Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division (WFF) receives countless calls from homeowners regarding wildlife sightings and issues. Whether these situations result in a human-wildlife conflict often varies depending on the caller’s knowledge, comfort level, and tolerance, or lack thereof, regarding whichever species of wildlife is being observed. Many calls are concerned residents wanting to report an unwanted wildlife sighting and a remedy can be found simply by removing attractants such as pet food, bird feeders, and odors from trashcans. Other calls involve situations that have resulted in property damage or injuries to small pets. Generally, residents reporting wildlife sightings are seeking reassurance of safety and preventative measures that can be taken to avoid conflict. Reports often involve common species such as coyotes, foxes, raccoons, and opossums. Property damage reports usually involve species such as white-tailed deer (eating crops or flowers in garden), foxes (denning under sheds), squirrels (nesting in the attic), and geese (leaving behind scat (droppings) on lawn or sidewalks). Whatever the case may be, the WFF is available to advise homeowners on methods to prevent conflicts with wildlife and prevent the development of nuisance wildlife issues.

In the majority of situations, eliminating attractants or implementing easy exclusionary/diversionary practices will resolve a homeowner’s concern with wildlife that’s being considered a nuisance. In other cases, WFF may permit the take of protected wildlife, such as white-tailed deer and Canada geese, causing crop damage, property damage, or concern for human safety. Permits may be granted only after WFF staff determines that the wildlife should be removed for human safety, to protect agricultural crops or other property from excessive damage. If you are experiencing an issue with nuisance wildlife, contact your county’s corresponding WFF District Office to inquire about which species require a special permit to remove and how to obtain a permit to take protected wildlife due to nuisance issues. WFF also provides a variety of informative publications about how homeowners can discourage a particular species away from their property, and a list of permitted Nuisance Control Operators that are available for hire to handle nuisance wildlife situations To learn more about deterring nuisance wildlife visit: www.outdooralabama.com/wildlife-management-programs/alabama-nuisance-animal-control.