Being Kind to Animal Pests rev. ed.

---

Steve Meyer produced the first edition of Being Kind to Animal Pests. It was written to help people understand how to use cage traps both effectively and humanely. You see what the public does not quite understand is that while cage traps allow for the possibility of an injury-free capture experience for the animal, that is only a possibility. The fact is many animals get injured and even die in cage traps. That's right. These so-called humane traps can actually cause severe suffering to animals captured in them.  Steve was one of the first authors (who actually had field experience) educate non-professionals about the techniques used by professionals to catch nuisance wildlife with cages.

As good as the first edition was, it was becoming woefully outdated as techniques, insights, and equipment advanced within the wildlife control industry. Modern wildlife control techniques are significantly more advanced than they were in the 1990s. Manufacturers have developed new tools and traps to help make trapping more efficient for the wildlife control operator. But like before, that information has not been made available to the general public.

I purchased the rights to Being Kind to Animal Pests and sought to update the book to modern standards. The new edition accomplishes the same goals as the previous book, including:

• Explains how to use cage and box traps humanely
• What makes a good cage trap
• How to modify cage traps to improve capture success and animal welfare
• Selecting sites to reduce animal stress while still being an effective trapper or wildlife control operator

But it goes further by expanding the number of species listed as well as adding new material to more comprehensively cover concepts and techniques not fully explained in the first edition. In just over 140 pages, this edition covers the following topics:

Chapters include:

• CHAPTER 1: Concepts and Definitions
• CHAPTER 2: Cage/Box Traps: Types, Sizes, and Features
• CHAPTER 3: Care and Maintenance of Cage and Box Traps
• CHAPTER 4: Cage & Box Trap Setting Principles
• CHAPTER 5: Baiting & Luring
• CHAPTER 6: Humane Use of Cage/Box Traps
• CHAPTER 7: Tips for Trapping Specific Nuisance Animals
• Armadillos
• Beavers
• Birds
• Bobcats
• Cottontail Rabbits
• Coyotes
• Foxes
• House Mice
• Muskrats
• Norway Rats
• Opossums
• Raccoons
• Skunks
• Tree Squirrels
• Voles
• Woodchucks
• CHAPTER 8: Disposition
• CHAPTER 9: Trapping Ethics
• CHAPTER 10: Other Methods of Control

Vantassel, Stephen M. with Steve Meyer. 2017. Being Kind to Animal Pests. rev. ed. Lewistown, MT: Wildlife Control Consultant.

Book  

Ebook