Trapping is an extremely inefficient way to try and control a wildlife population, especially in a city like Pittsburgh, with its many green spaces. We all know the saying “nature hates a vacuum”. Well, she does. So trapping an animal just makes room for… more animals, especially when the pickings are rich in the neighborhood. And many Pittsburgh neighborhoods offer an abundance of:
Shelter!
Food!
So, when you trap the animals making the most of all those free goodies and don’t deal with the real problem, what happens? Just a few Pirates games later, more will have moved in to replace them. One Steelers' season later, more babies will have been born since the neighborhood offers the resources to feed them, and so the population goes up. That’s the "vacuum effect" at work.
Shelter!
- Abandoned houses, not boarded-up – so thoughtful of the city to offer low-cost wildlife housing
- Porches and sheds with open bases that make perfect denning areas for skunks and groundhogs
- Uncapped chimneys – second-best only to a hollow tree stump if you’re a raccoon mom…
- Holes in house siding. So easy to pull up for access to a cozy space with free heating
Food!
- Unsecured trash cans or plastic garbage bags left on the ground. Sometimes well before trash pick-up day, and sometimes, well, just all the time…
- Vegetable garden with no wildlife-proofing. Groundhogs love those yummy leafy greens
- Pet food left outside at night. Fido and Felix love to leave leftovers for their wild buddies!
So, when you trap the animals making the most of all those free goodies and don’t deal with the real problem, what happens? Just a few Pirates games later, more will have moved in to replace them. One Steelers' season later, more babies will have been born since the neighborhood offers the resources to feed them, and so the population goes up. That’s the "vacuum effect" at work.
Let’s look at the science: countless studies have shown that trapping populations of raccoons and groundhogs, for example, only leads to a rapid rebound in the population by the following year (see below). And it also eliminates many rabies-immune animals who serve a purpose in the eco-system. Click here to learn more.
And let’s not forget one key point: you can set out all the traps you want, but how can you know that the animal you trap is the animal you intended to trap? You very likely can’t… In fact you may end up with a skunk when you were targeting a raccoon. Hmm.
What’s more, providing a trap doesn’t help with many of the more common wildlife situations (e.g. a family of raccoons in an attic). Trapping in such situations often leads to the parent raccoon being trapped, while the kits are left to die in the attic or walls (creating a noxious smell). Indeed, these orphaned babies –thousands a year – are the ones who suffer the most from the current trapping system.
Taking a smarter approach to these situations may take a little more thought and time, but it is far more likely to lead to permanently resolving the issue, preferably with no animals killed…
And let’s not forget one key point: you can set out all the traps you want, but how can you know that the animal you trap is the animal you intended to trap? You very likely can’t… In fact you may end up with a skunk when you were targeting a raccoon. Hmm.
What’s more, providing a trap doesn’t help with many of the more common wildlife situations (e.g. a family of raccoons in an attic). Trapping in such situations often leads to the parent raccoon being trapped, while the kits are left to die in the attic or walls (creating a noxious smell). Indeed, these orphaned babies –thousands a year – are the ones who suffer the most from the current trapping system.
Taking a smarter approach to these situations may take a little more thought and time, but it is far more likely to lead to permanently resolving the issue, preferably with no animals killed…
So can’t Pittsburgh do better than this…? We think it can.
Here are a few examples of complex science to back up the claims:
Groundhogs “During a 4-year population study in Pennsylvania, a total of 1,040 woodchucks were removed from a 600-acre site by shooting or trapping (Davis et al., 1964). Nonetheless, the population at this site was unaffected, primarily because of increased juvenile survival, higher birth rates and substantial immigration.”
Raccoons “Research and best practice indicate that governments/municipalities ought to focus on addressing the human behavioural contributors to urban wildlife issues rather than implement programs that attempt to control wildlife populations. Experience thus far demonstrates that education efforts and, where necessary, enforcement related to human conduct, may be a more successful long-term solution to human-wildlife conflict versus a cull or wildlife sterilization program, which are either difficult to implement in urban environments, cost prohibitive, or unsuccessful in controlling wildlife populations.”
The ineffectiveness of kill-based strategies
Here are a few examples of complex science to back up the claims:
Groundhogs “During a 4-year population study in Pennsylvania, a total of 1,040 woodchucks were removed from a 600-acre site by shooting or trapping (Davis et al., 1964). Nonetheless, the population at this site was unaffected, primarily because of increased juvenile survival, higher birth rates and substantial immigration.”
Raccoons “Research and best practice indicate that governments/municipalities ought to focus on addressing the human behavioural contributors to urban wildlife issues rather than implement programs that attempt to control wildlife populations. Experience thus far demonstrates that education efforts and, where necessary, enforcement related to human conduct, may be a more successful long-term solution to human-wildlife conflict versus a cull or wildlife sterilization program, which are either difficult to implement in urban environments, cost prohibitive, or unsuccessful in controlling wildlife populations.”
- Wild Furbearer Conservation and Management in North America (Novak et al, 1987) provides data demonstrating that when raccoons exhibit low reproductive rates, as much as 49% of the population can be trapped out and they will rebound back to their former level by the next breeding season. When raccoons exhibit high reproductive rates (typical with an ongoing trapping program), as much as 59% of the population can be trapped out and the population will replace itself by the next birthing season. A similar scenario has been observed among coyotes and groundhogs.
The ineffectiveness of kill-based strategies
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