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- An error has occurred, which probably means the feed is down. Try again later.
Explaining Risk to Customers
Minimum protective equipment for standard necropsies.
Explaining risk to your clients is perhaps one of the most difficult activities wildlife control operators are involved in. Not only is the topic difficult explained but you also run the risk of exposing you in your company to liability. Concretely, how do you balance the need to get your clients attention with the danger of scaring the living daylights out of them?
The solution to this difficult problem is to employee a multifaceted approach. First, you must have a clear grasp of the nature of risk. Risk can be described in the following equation risk equals chance of occurrence times severity of incident. To provide an example, the risk of driving a car involves several variables, 1. What is the likelihood of you being in an accident? Multiplied by 2. The likelihood of you suffering death or severe injury. In wildlife control operator work, the risk that this bat has rabies is a function of the percentage likelihood of that being rapid times the risk of potential injury. But as you know would rabies while the incidence is low the severity is high being that death.
The second element of explaining risk is to have clarity about the relative risks involved. This is perhaps the most difficult element of the risk dilemma. There are just too many variables to account for to have any level of certainty. For example how severe is the potential disease risk posed by bat guano in an attic? In most situations is probably quite low. But for people who have low immune systems or cracks in the ceiling or will be going up in disturbing the attic looking for Christmas gifts, the risk can be quite high. Nevertheless, this essential that you as a professional grasp the potential risks your client faces.
The third task is to be able to explain the risk to your client and in a way that they can understand. The challenge is that clients want 100% certainty. And certainty is something wildlife control operators can rarely give. When I ran a wildlife control company, I rarely spoke in definitive or absolute terms. Too often I found that wildlife make liars of us all. Now I don’t want to overstate the case. Raccoons don’t fly beavers don’t climb but we should be cautious of becoming arrogant in regards to what wildlife would or would not do in most circumstances. With that caveat in mind, I try to provide a mental image for clients to show that there are different levels of certainty. I usually tell a story or ask a question such as when I am dealing with clients fear about whether a skunk will spray or not I usually respond by saying, “Probably not.” When the client does not look happy with this answer I provide the following illustration. I asked them, “Do you know your neighbor?” They usually respond, “Yes.” I then asked them, “Do you think your neighbor will rob you tomorrow?” They usually respond, “No.” I then respond, “But are you sure?” My point being is that even though the likelihood that their neighbor will not rob them tomorrow is low, the chances of their neighbor robbing them, still exists. In like manner my certainty regarding the behavior of a skunk is very secure. But it’s not 100% guaranteed.
Much more can be said about explaining risk, but I hope the aforementioned tips will help you. Just keep in mind, be careful what you say, as wildlife can make a liar of out of us all.
About the Author
Stephen M. Vantassel is a certified wildlife control operator who helps individuals, businesses, and agencies resolve wildlife damage issues through training, writing, expert witness, and research. His latest books are the Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook, 3rd edition and The Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats. He can be contacted at wildlifecontrolconsultant at gmail dot com.
If you would like your publication, video, or product reviewed, please contact the author at the e-mail above.
Copyright
All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.
Backyard Wildlife: Wild Turkey
Wild Turkey, Photo by Stephen M. Vantassel
(Scientific Name Meleagris gallopavo)
Chances are most of the readers of this blog don’t have turkeys visiting their backyard. However, if we were living a mere fifty years ago, the chances that any of us would have seen a wild turkey would have been pretty close to zero. At one time, wild turkeys were extirpated from large areas of their original range in the U.S. This decline in turkey populations resulted from unregulated hunting, habitat destruction and even the civil war. With greater awareness of the environment and stricter oversight, the turkey has returned to all of its original range. Turkeys can be found in all the lower 48 states and Hawaii. More locally, institutions such as the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife and the sportsmen and women who care about game animals have successfully returned the turkey to healthy population levels. The turkey is a prime example of how scientific wildlife management can work for the betterment of our environment.
When we learn a little more about the wild turkey, it is easy to understand why Benjamin Franklin wanted this animal to be the symbol of our country. While domesticated turkeys are pretty dumb, the same cannot be said of its wild counter part. Wild turkeys have excellent vision and hearing as any turkey hunter will confirm. They are a majestic bird and good eating. Their preferred method of fleeing danger is running where they can attain speeds of 12 mph. However, if necessary they can take to flight at speeds of up to 55 mph.
Male turkeys, called toms or gobblers, are easily distinguished from their female counterparts. Like most male birds, their colors are brighter and more expressive. Male turkeys can exhibit colors ranging from rust to green to golden. Female coloration, by contrast, tends to be a dull brown. Toms are also distinguishable by their larger size. Their average weight is 18-22 lbs, which is about twice as much as an average female. Dominant males have the privilege of mating with a large harem of hens (female turkeys). Non-dominant males just have to stand around. They are not allowed to mate because the dominant male won’t let them. With this sort of sexual pecking order, God ensured that the strongest males were siring the next generation of turkeys. Thus ensuring a better chance of the species survival. Mating occurs during the spring with the males putting on quite a show to attract females. Toms will strut, show off their plumage and make vocalizations. The gobble that is so recognizable is actually a mating call. However, you should know that a total of 28 calls have been identified. They range in meaning from let’s make little turkeys to flee there is danger here.
Two weeks after mating, females will lay about 12 eggs. The eggs are about the size of chicken eggs and have dark brown speckles on them. Unlike other birds, turkeys lay their eggs on the ground. The nest is typically little more than a scratched depression with a few leaves in it. Twenty eight days later the clutch (batch of turkey eggs) hatch. The young, called “poults”, will leave the nest quickly after hatching. In a few days they quickly learn how to catch insects. In one to two weeks, the poults can actually fly short distances. After 6 weeks of development, the poults begin eating plant material. It is estimated that only 35% of all the turkey nests ever hatch young. Predation by raccoons and opossums take a heavy toll on eggs. Of the eggs that hatch only 50% of the poults survive to maturity. It must be remembered that nature is a life and death struggle of tooth and claw.
Adult turkeys eat a wide variety of foods. This is to be expected since the best turkey habitat is a mixture of woods and fields. Turkeys eat grapes, blackberries, beechnuts and acorns, grains, grasses, ferns and insects. They also have been known to eat snakes, frogs, lizards, salamanders and crabs. Note that turkeys are not scavengers. They don’t eat dead animals like an eagle would. I understand that it was the eagle’s propensity to eat dead animals that turned Benjamin Franklin against the eagle as the national symbol.
The best time to look for turkeys is early morning or late afternoon. It seems these are the times they like to forage. Don’t forget to look for them in trees. They do roost in trees during the night time and when they flee danger. I would suggest binoculars because turkeys are a cautious bunch. They won’t let you get too close.
If you would like to learn more about wild turkeys I would suggest you visit the National Wildlife Turkey Federation website at http://www.nwtf.org/. Next time someone calls you a turkey, ask him do you mean a wild turkey or a domesticated turkey. If he says, “What is the difference?”. You will now be able to tell him.
About the Author
Stephen M. Vantassel is a certified wildlife control operator who helps individuals, businesses, and agencies resolve wildlife damage issues through training, writing, expert witness, and research. His latest books are the Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook, 3rd edition and The Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats. He can be contacted at wildlifecontrolconsultant at gmail dot com.
If you would like your publication, video, or product reviewed, please contact the author at the e-mail above.
Copyright
All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.
Book review: animal control management: a new look at a public responsibility. By Stephen Aronson. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University press, 2010. 400 pages.
When I requested to review this book, I thought it dealt with wildlife damage control. The cover showed a coyote and so I assumed that the phrase “animal control management” was referring to wildlife. Upon reading the book, I quickly realized that my preconception was wrong. This text delves into animal control as in dog catcher or animal control officer hired by your local community.
The back cover says Aronson was a government official at both the local and state level and had extensive experience in animal control programs. And the book proves that statement’s truthfulness. The book is quite detailed as suggested by its 400 page length. Aronson clearly did his homework and writes with the thoroughness of someone who has researched and lived the subject. You might think that this book would have no value for those involved in trapping or wildlife control. But you would be mistaken. For many of the topics relevant to animal control also apply to wildlife control, if only by analogy. For instance Aronson notes that the cost of running an animal control program is approximately 4 dollars per person per year/ so if you’re looking to provide animal control services for a community, you should be looking to charge at least four dollars per person per year in your quote. His list of questions related to budgeting is a must read for beginning wildlife control operators who too often worry about the prevailing rate rather than determining what they need to charge to make a living. Elsewhere, Aronson provides a list of people and services that you should know about in order to properly service and refer your customers.
Though much of the book deals with principles rather than concrete specifics, Aronson provides numerous case studies to provide concrete illustrations of issues (and how to handle them). Though some may be fictional they are realistic enough to be applicable to many communities across the country. If you are or hope to do work for major corporations or municipalities, a careful reading of this book will provide an abundance of tips that will reduce the likelihood of your making a big error.
If you want this book to tell you what types of traps catch poles and vehicles to purchase this is not the book for you. This text is not about the nuts and bolts of performing animal control it is about the operational level and management issues involved in running animal control services in a community. But if you want to know pitfalls of contracts, handling workers, political issues, public relations, running audits, and the nuances of legislation and regulation than this book will not disappoint.
The book is available through Amazon.com. It is a bit expensive at around $40. But for those wildlife control operators willing to spend the time in its pages the cost will be more than worth it.
About the Author
Stephen M. Vantassel is a certified wildlife control operator who helps individuals, businesses, and agencies resolve wildlife damage issues through training, writing, expert witness, and research. His latest books are the Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook, 3rd edition and The Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats. He can be contacted at wildlifecontrolconsultant at gmail dot com.
If you would like your publication, video, or product reviewed, please contact the author at the e-mail above.
Copyright
All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.
From the Hate Mail Bag
As someone who believes in the consumptive use of wildlife, I am subject to some rather critical (to put it mildly) e-mails from those who disagree. You know, members of the animal rights protest industry activist movement. Part of the reason why I enjoy getting these letters is that it gives me some insight into how other people think. Unlike animal rights protest industry activists, I actually read material that I disagree with because I was taught that before I criticize I must understand. Regrettably, many of my critics don’t follow the same advice which makes reading their letters somewhat entertaining because they frequently accuse me of things I haven’t said nor believe.
A friend of mine recently sent me this link http://catdefender.blogspot.com/2011/07/evil-professors-have-transformed.html, where I along with a host of other people were vilified by someone with the moniker “Moonraker”. I admit I didn’t read it that closely. It is a rather long post. Nevertheless, I was amazed at the number of factual errors the document contained. I shouldn’t be surprised. Animal rights protest industry activists frequently get the facts wrong either by distorting the context containing the fact or by ignoring it all together.
What was amazing about this “Moonraker” was that it (I don’t know the individual’s gender so Moonraker will be called “It”) appeared to argue in an intellectual manner. It quoted all kinds of documents and listed names and used graphic language. The brunt of Its tirade focused on academics who oppose the presence of free-range cats on our landscapes. Free-range cats are effectively a protected predator but beyond that they are invasive in that they were introduced to the North American environment. So their predatory habits are devastating to our wildlife.
On its face, it sounds like a thoughtful (but angry) and researched person. But upon closer inspection, you find out this individual held several seriously mistaken ideas.
Permit me to list a few of the errors.
- I was mentioned as the first author of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln publication on feral cats, but in fact I was the second author.
- I was described as a pest controller for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Not true. My job is educating the public in wildlife damage management. In other words, I was hired to transmit information, not control pests.
- Moonraker argued that cats play with their prey because of their “poor eyesight”. That comment is just downright funny. Really? Cats have bad eyesight. Wow.
- Moonraker excoriated the various research projects on cats, which is to be expected from an animal rights protest industry activist. However, Moonraker made no mention that Land-Grant Universities have to follow Institutional Animal Care and Use Guidelines. But then again why let facts interfere with a good hell-fire and brimstone sermon?
I’m sure I could go on. But these are enough and I have already given Moonraker way too much airtime.
About the Author
Stephen M. Vantassel is a certified wildlife control operator who helps individuals, businesses, and agencies resolve wildlife damage issues through training, writing, expert witness, and research. His latest books are the Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook, 3rd edition and The Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats. He can be contacted at wildlifecontrolconsultant at gmail dot com.
If you would like your publication, video, or product reviewed, please contact the author at the e-mail above.
Copyright
All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.
Keystone Skills for Wildlife Control
Ladder skills are essential for WCOs
Operators
Finding good employees is an important but difficult task for business owners. Wildlife control operators (WCO) and Pest Control Operators (PCO) are no different. In order to grow in profitability, you have to have employees. But how do you find the right candidate(s) to hire?
Of course, you have to create a job description. A job description is absolutely necessary to help you determine what you need but also to help potential employees decide whether they have the skills necessary to fulfill the job. But if your job description is made properly it will be ineffective in helping you screen job applicants. Your job description must identify the absolute critical skills necessary for the job. Critical skills are keystone skills because they are essential to effective accomplishment of the task. After all some skills can be taught, but other skills are too difficult or require too much time to teach. I contend that some skills are so fundamental to a person’s character that you can’t teach it.
So What are the Critical or Keystone Skills?
I believe that the good WCOs must have the following skills:
1. Feel comfortable on ladders. No one is born with this trait but your candidate must not be afraid of heights. Workers afraid of heights will not be profitable for you unless you run a wildlife control business that handles turf animals only.
2. Able to be in confined spaces. Claustrophobia has no place in wildlife control. If your candidate can’t crawl into a tight attic or crawl space, then don’t hire him.
3. Ability to lift. Ladders are heavy. Candidates must have the strength to haul around a ladder that is long enough to gain access to second floor roofs (unless you live in an area where most houses are single floor). No worker should be required to lift a 40 foot ladder no matter how strong he is. It is just too dangerous and the lack of leverage can wrench even a strong back.
4. Emotionally able to kill animals. Wildlife control is not pretty. No matter what kind of service you provide, sooner or later your employees will kill animal. You have to know they can do this before you hire them.
5. Carpenter skills. Your technicians don’t have to be master carpenters (though it wouldn’t hurt), they do need to be able to use a ruler and basic tools (tin snips, portable drill, saw and other cutting tools, and hammer).
6. Ability to communicate effectively. Your candidate doesn’t need to have a silver tongue. But he must have clear communication skills. Reading and writing are a given.
Those are the essential skills. Everything else can be taught. So in your next help wanted ad, make sure you highlight these skills, or you may be interviewing candidates that will disappoint.
About the Author
Stephen M. Vantassel is a certified wildlife control operator who helps individuals, businesses, and agencies resolve wildlife damage issues through training, writing, expert witness, and research. His latest book is The Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats. He can be contacted at stephenvantassel at Hotmail dot com.
Copyright
All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included.
When Anti-Trappers Are Open About their Beliefs
Anyone who has known me, understands that one of my greatest complaints about the animal rights protest industry (ARPI) is how they mask their true intentions. I published an article on this point in the Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference (Vantassel, Stephen. (2008). In R. M. Timm & M. B. Madon (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Vertebrate Pest Conference (Vol. 23, pp. 294-300). San Diego, CA: University of California, Davis.) where I noted how if the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) really wanted dialogue then it should respond to the criticisms and issues I raised.
Unfortunately, the HSUS has yet to respond directly to those concerns nor has it proffered any opportunity for true dialogue. A friend of mine noted that the problem with my article was that I misunderstood how animal rights protest industry advocates define dialogue. He said that for ARPI advocates, dialogue means, shut up or be quiet and listen to me talk. I don’t know if the HSUS believes that way. I think the problem may be that if it said what its goals really were in an open (openness is different than honesty) way, they might just loose funding from the more radical elements of their supporters. I should note that openness is different than honesty. Openness refers to the willingness to explain one’s presuppositions and ultimate goals as I explained in my article. Perhaps, the HSUS will engage me sometime in the future. They should respect my opinion because they used one of my articles in a favorable way in one of their training sessions in Connecticut.
Nevertheless, I am always glad when ARPI advocates are open about their beliefs. Too often they cloud their ultimate intentions with the side argument of “humanness”. One such organization that deserves credit for being open is the folks behind Furbearer Defenders.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIVmVMraR3I. While their video was less than fully fair with their assertions, I did want to send out kudos for them for their openness in noting their opinion that no trap is humane. They are wrong of course, but I appreciate the frankness of their stating it.
There it is everyone, ‘No Trap Is Humane.” It is nice to hear when ARPIs are open about their full beliefs. What this does is underscore and prove my long-argued point that for ARPIs cruelty is defined as the mere killing or even restraint of a wild animal for consumptive purposes. The reason why it is essential for people to understand this is that it highlights the true nature of the debate. While ARPIs frequently claim this or that technique is “cruel” or “inhumane” when one answers those concerns, they will not be satisfied because their real goal is the elimination of trapping for the fur trade period no matter how painless the activity. This is just more proof from my dissertation which was published as Dominion over Wildlife: An Environmental-Theology of Human-Wildlife Relations (Wipf and Stock, 209). For them, the mere act of sport or commercial trapping is wrong. Cruelty is just a canard to get ignorant people to vote their way (or send money).
About the Author
Stephen M. Vantassel is a certified wildlife control operator who helps individuals, businesses, and agencies resolve wildlife damage issues through training, writing, expert witness, and research. His latest book is the The Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats. He can be contacted at stephenvantassel at Hotmail dot com.
Copyright
All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.
Questions News Reporters Should Ask Animal Rights
Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation, published in 1975, became pivotal. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Activists, But Don’t!
By Stephen M. Vantassel
Newspaper reporters, radio reporters, television reporters:
Read the questions below. Feel free to use them when interviewing animal rights activists. It contains a great deal of information that debunks the animal rights agenda. I have published a number of articles, including peer-reviewed as well as a book: Dominion over Wildlife: An Environmental-Theology of Human-Wildlife Relations (Wipf and Stock, 2009) detailing the logical, conceptual, and factual inadequacies of the animal rights position. Feel free to contact me stephenvantassel@hotmail.com for more information.
- Why should money be spent on contraceptives for deer, when hunting is effective and much cheaper, particularly when the money could be spent on purchasing more property for habitat preservation or the poor?
- Why does your organization persist in claiming that vegetarianism has less environmental impact on the planet when hunting/trapping disturbs the ecology less than farming and that some ecosystems can only handle ranching and not intensive farming? (If you are confused by the question just consider the environmental devastation caused by the sod busters of the Mid-West.) The least harm principle actually supported mixed use farming (see Davis, Steven L. (2003). The Least Harm Principle May Require that Humans Consume a Diet Containing Large Herbivores, not a Vegan Diet. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 16, 387-394).
- Why do you keep insinuating that those who utilize animal resources are anti-environment? Are fur trappers and other sportsmen wishing that wildlife habitat be destroyed? See John Organ’s article “Fair Chase and Humane Treatment: Balancing the Ethics of Hunting and Trapping” 63rd North American Wildlife and Natural Resource Conf. 1998 p. 536. Here Mr. Organ notes that fur trapping in the Yukon actually was sustainable and the work of trappers helped end the non-sustainable resource extraction. In other words, trappers helped stop mining because they wanted to protect the habitat of the animals they trapped.
- Why did your group (Pro-Paw) ban not only the foothold but traps that have been shown to be less injurious to wildlife like the Egg trap for raccoon in Massachusetts? Not to mention snares which are extremely humane when used in certain sets for beaver and coyote?
- Why does your group keep mentioning how many countries have banned the foothold when most of those countries don’t have viable furbearer resources and/or have traps that are no more humane than the foothold?
About the Author
Stephen M. Vantassel is a certified wildlife control operator who helps individuals, businesses, and agencies resolve wildlife damage issues through training, writing, expert witness, and research. His latest books are the Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook, 3rd edition and The Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats. He can be contacted at wildlifecontrolconsultant at gmail dot com.
If you would like your publication, video, or product reviewed, please contact the author at the e-mail above.
Copyright
All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.
Questions News Reporters Should Ask
Act against the Austrian ARA jailing. 2008. Spain. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Animal Rights Activists, But Don’t!
By Stephen M. Vantassel
Newspaper reporters, radio reporters, television reporters:
Read the questions below. Feel free to use them when interviewing animal rights activists. It contains a great deal of information that debunks the animal rights agenda. I have published a number of articles, including peer-reviewed as well as a book: Dominion over Wildlife: An Environmental-Theology of Human-Wildlife Relations (Wipf and Stock, 2009) detailing the logical, conceptual, and factual inadequacies of the animal rights position. Feel free to contact me stephenvantassel@hotmail.com for more information.
These are the questions reporters should ask, the rationale is also given.
- If lethal control is not warranted here, why doesn’t your organization solve the problem? (Animal rights organizations are really a money making machine. But unlike businesses, they collect money so that they can lobby government to spend its money). For information on their finances visit http://www.guidestar.org/index.html
- If Bailey and Hancock traps are as humane as you say, why don’t your members trap beavers now and help reduce the exploding population? (Fact is these traps are not necessarily more humane than other traps hated by animal rights groups).
- Why does your group think that it is better for an animal to starve to death than to be killed by hunting or trapping? Why is it more “natural” for an animal to starve than to be killed? Aren’t humans part of the ecosystem?
- Given that habitat destruction is the leading cause of animal death, why doesn’t your organization purchase land for preservation purposes? (or spend more on protecting habitat?)
- Are you against whale hunting because whales are truly endangered? Or are you against whale hunting because you don’t believe in the utilization of this resource for any reason? Or is your organization’s opposition a combination of the two or something else?
About the Author
Stephen M. Vantassel is a certified wildlife control operator who helps individuals, businesses, and agencies resolve wildlife damage issues through training, writing, expert witness, and research. His latest books are the Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook, 3rd edition and The Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats. He can be contacted at wildlifecontrolconsultant at gmail dot com.
If you would like your publication, video, or product reviewed, please contact the author at the e-mail above.
Copyright
All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.
Deerland by Al Cambronne. Reviewed by Stephen M. Vantassel
Cambronne, Al. Deerland: America’s Hunt for Ecological Balance and the Essence of Wildness. Gilford, CT: Lyons Press, 2013.
I have never been an avid hunter, let alone a deer hunter. But my work with one of the country’s premiere deer biologists, Dr. Scott E. Hygnstrom, has engaged me with this deer hunting community. As I work with deer biologists, researchers, most of whom are also experienced deer hunters, I have been repeatedly surprised at how eyes brighten and grins broaden whenever the subject turns to deer hunting. My bewilderment also extends to the protests of animal activists who decry deer hunters as “Bambi killers”.
What is it about deer that make some people wish to eat it and others wish to simply protect from all and any harm? If you have similar questions or just an interest in the social and human aspects of wildlife management, then Deerland is for you.
Cambronne surveys the complex relationship between humans and deer in a manner that is both factual and interesting. He divided his book into two parts. Part 1 “Love and Obsession” explores the positive side of this charismatic megafauna known as deer. Cambronne explains the life history of deer and details how deer are big business in the U.S. In fact, the business of deer is so big it’s called the Deer Industrial Complex. Cambonne also investigates the emotional side of the human-deer relationship such as the popularity of feeding deer and the allure of big racks of antlers otherwise known as horn porn.
Part 2, “Consequences” analyzes the negative aspects of abundant deer populations. In separate chapters, Cambronne discusses the effect that deer have on environmental balance, deer collisions, disease transmission, and the options available for managing deer. Throughout, Cambronne maintains a decidedly neutral position. He doesn’t say we should shoot more deer or to increase deer populations. His goal is for Americans to think more deeply and profoundly about deer and their role in the environment. Ultimately, we have to decide what kind of nature we want.
Animal rights activists will object that the book insufficiently explained or defended their point of view. True, Cambronne does not spend a great deal of time on the subject of animal rights. But I don’t think this objection is any more worthy of consideration than a medical journal not evaluating the medical theories of the religion known as Christian Science.
Deer are here and our management of them is not optional. But the choice of what kind of management we will adopt is and Deerland helps inform us about the consequences of whatever decision we ultimately make.
About the Author
Stephen M. Vantassel is a certified wildlife control operator who helps individuals, businesses, and agencies resolve wildlife damage issues through training, writing, expert witness, and research. His latest books are the Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook, 3rd edition and The Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats. He can be contacted at wildlifecontrolconsultant at gmail dot com.
If you would like your publication, video, or product reviewed, please contact the author at the e-mail above.
Copyright
All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.
Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats by Stephen M. Vantassel
The Practical Guide for the Control of Feral Cats
Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC is pleased to announce the publication of Stephen M. Vantassel’s latest book, The Practical Guide to the Control of Feral Cats.
With the environmental, health, and nuisance issues related to the presence of feral cats, the time is right for a guide to help landowners, environmentalists, and wildlife control operators resolve feral cat issues.
This guide covers
- feral cat biology,
- identification of sign left by feral cats,
- less-lethal control methods,
- lethal control methods (including shooting and trapping)
- euthanasia,
- and more.
Book is 6×9 inches, 106 pages, with 70 black and white images.
The book is available in
Lulu e-book $19.99 (this version has color and black and white images)
Amazon e-book
Dealer inquiries welcomed.
About the Author
Stephen M. Vantassel is a certified wildlife control operator who helps individuals, businesses, and agencies resolve wildlife damage issues through training, writing, expert witness, and research. His latest book is the Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook, 3rd edition. He can be contacted at wildlifecontrolconsultant at gmail dot com.
If you would like your publication, video, or product reviewed, please contact the author at the e-mail above.
Copyright
All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.