Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC

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Wildlife Expo Myrtle Beach 2019

Want to make more money? Want to decrease your liability risks while increasing the quality of your service? How about learning from some of the best wildlife control operators in the United States? If you answered, “yes”, to any of these questions, then you should plan to attend the Wildlife Expo in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, February 4-9, 2019. 

Training session at NWCOA's Wildlife Expo.
Training session at NWCOA’s Wildlife Expo.

The Wildlife Expo is the annual trade conference sponsored run by the National Wildlife Control Operators Association (NWCOA, pronounced NEW-Koh-Ah). NWCOA is a professional association dedicated to training, organizing and enhancing the growing trade known as wildlife control.
Training classes follow two main subject lines. One line covers the control side of the WCO business. Tips on handling birds, trapping, tools, repairs, etc. fall under this category. The other line, focusses on business issues, such as marketing, legal, insurance, etc. The two lines are run concurrently. So, in (almost) each session, you will have a choice of a business-related subject or a control related subject. Take for example the 11:30 am -12:30 pm session on Friday, February 8. One class is entitled, “Increasing Customer Happiness and Your Revenue Through Exclusion” while the other is “When It’s Time to Grow Your Business.”

Attendees regularly remark how the Wildlife Expo helped them increase business revenue. But education is not all. Networking is a key element of the event. Attendees can meet key industry vendors, learn about new products and tools. Of course, I haven’t mentioned the importance of networking. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of having personal connections. Need personalized advice on a particular problem you are having in your business? I doubt you can call your competitor. But what about a colleague in another state that you met at the Expo? What would be the economic value of that kind of “service.”

Want to learn more? Visit http://nwcoa.com/we2019.html That link will take you to the full-color brochure as well as the registration page. If you write out the pros and cons, I am confident that the pros will win out in spades. So why not sign up today?

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications along with several books (http://kingsdivinity.academia.edu/StephenMVantassel). He is a sought after speaker and trainer. 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.

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Wildlife Damage Management Technical Series

Wildlife Damage Management Technical Series

My publications are a great resource for wildlife control operators.
My publications are a great resource for wildlife control operators.

One of the challenges for wildlife control operators (WCOs) is finding quality information on wildlife control. Sure you could search Google, but you will often find a lot of hocus-pocus out there along with the “good stuff.” I would hope that readers of this blog would consider my books. I have written several that have had good acceptance within the wildlife control industry.

As much as I would love more people to buy my books, and as helpful as they are, they don’t cover everything. Birds, for example are not covered as deeply as say raccoons or skunks. In addition, it’s often a good idea to read information about the same subject to get different perspectives on a subject. Sometimes the same information stated in a different way helps readers grasp the content better. Whether that improvement in understanding is due to the repetition of reading similar material or rewording is irrelevant. Understanding is the goal.

So back to my original problem. Where does a WCO find quality information? I will suggest that WCOs consider the USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services page entitled the Wildlife Damage Management Technical Series. These documents are written and/or reviewed by leaders within their respective fields so you can trust the information. The documents are available at no additional charge,(I say no additional charge rather than “free” because nothing the government does is free. Government work is paid for by taxes so the government doesn’t require you to pay for the materials again). Just download them as you wish and read them.

The Technical publications cover a variety of birds, beaver, muskrat, and other topics such as carcass disposal and safety. More publications will be added so be sure to make the link a favorite and visit every few months to see if any new publications have been added, your customers and your bottom line will be glad you did.

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications along with several books (http://kingsdivinity.academia.edu/StephenMVantassel). He is a sought after speaker and trainer. 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.

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Wildlife Podcast

Living in Montana, I have found listening to podcasts and audiobooks to be a great way to continue learning while I drive in this great state. It is amazing how much you can learn while driving and it is certainly more educational than listening to the music or political noise on the radio. Followers of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC, know that the company is deeply committed to education. The company provides education through writing articles, books, and providing presentations and on-site training and consulting. But WCC didn’t provide a wildlife podcast.

Stephen Vantassel of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC now has a wildlife podcast on the Pest Geek Podcast.
Stephen Vantassel of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC now has a wildlife podcast on the Pest Geek Podcast.

I gave some thought about creating a wildlife podcast or a videocast. I think that listeners/viewers would find the content valuable. But I wondered whether the impact of the wildlife podcast/videocast match the effort? In other words, would there be a return on the investment? I certainly thought about the financial aspect but it’s also about downloads. Would I get enough attention to make the project worthwhile as opposed to being just an expression of ego?

I came across the Pest Geek Podcast. It was catchy and had some good information. It was new. I dropped off listening for a while and recently took it back up. Frank Hernandez seemed to be able to keep the podcast growing and continuing. I listened and noticed that he didn’t have a specialist in wildlife or vertebrate control. I decided to reach out to him and ask if he was interested in a podcast from me on wildlife control related issues and topics. To my surprise, Frank contacted me the next day. He said that he would be interested in having my do a segment.

The result of our conversation is I am pleased to announce that Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. now has a wildlife podcast segment on the Pest Geek Podcast. My first segment will launch on September 26, 2018. My goal is to have a weekly segment. If you have topics that you would like to have covered, please drop us a line at wildlifecontrolconsultant@gmail.com

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications along with several books (http://kingsdivinity.academia.edu/StephenMVantassel). He is a sought after speaker and trainer. 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.

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The National Wildlife Control Training Program

History on the National Wildlife Control Training Program

For those of you not familiar with this project, let me provide a little background. Regrettably, most states lack even rudimentary training requirements for the licensing of wildlife control operators (WCO). Part of the reason for this situation is the dearth of training materials and the fact that state wildlife agencies, already underfunded and overworked, don’t have the resources to create a program let alone administer it. Our program seeks to correct that. We have created a training program designed to provide beginning WCOs the fundamentals of the trade.

We will provide this training in multiple ways, including print (book forthcoming in January, 2011), online (January 2011) and in person if states desire that. This training will also be open to businesses wishing to train new workers.

Description of the National Wildlife Control Training Program

The training consists of two main parts. First is the core modules. Core modules are what we believe every WCO should know regardless of where they live. It’s written in a manner that makes it suitable for WCOs regardless of their respective state laws.

Part 2 consists of species modules. Each species module will address the biology, damage, and control methods related to that particular species. We anticipate that states or individuals can select which species they want to learn about. This allows individuals to learn about species that they are allowed to control.

The exam at the end will cover the modules that were selected.

In addition, states that wish to work with us, can edit the species modules so that only those techniques permitted in their state are discussed. Biology and range information can also be adjusted to reflect the specific facts in that respective state. These state specific training materials can then be printed and/or provided on-line. States won’t have to bear the costs of hosting or modification of materials as the user can bear the full price. What is that price? We don’t know at the moment because we are still preparing the document for publication. But we anticipate the on-line training (which will have additional training resources than what can be provided by the book) to be less than 200 dollars which will include the cost of the exam. Of course, advanced training modules will be provided in the future. If you are interested in providing advanced training, please contact me. We want to work with you.

Outline of the National Wildlife Control Training Program

Here is an outline of the National Wildlife Control Training Program

Part 1 WCO Core Training Modules

1. Principles of Wildlife Damage Management – Introduction to principles, definition of concepts, best practices concepts,.

2. Physical Safety – The section on physical safety (like ladder safety) and expand on details related to working in the field dealing with animal capture and certain control techniques.

3. Wildlife Diseases – We discuss personal safety, personal protection equipment, common diseases, and the meaning and problems of zoonotic diseases.

4. Site Inspection – The process and theory of on-site investigation of wildlife damage complaints.

5. Overview of wildlife control methods – The overview of control methods prepares technicians for the control techniques they fill find in the species specific information.

6. Animal Handling—Treatment and capture of free-ranging and trapped animals. .

7. Euthanasia & Carcass Disposal—Killing methods and options for the disposition of carcasses.

8. Business Practices – Overview of standard business practices. This is NOT a how to run you business.

9. Legal and Ethical Issues – The importance of following federal, state and local laws. Demonstration of values, business and personal ethics, the ethical treatment of wildlife (animals in general) in the media.

PART 2 Species Modules

Raccoon
Skunk
Bat
Beaver
Squirrels
Etc.

We are excited about this new development. Stay tuned or even better, stop by and see us at NWCOA’s convention in New Orleans Jan 13 and following.

Stephen Vantassel, Project Coordinator, CWCP, ACP
Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management
School of Natural Resources
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
414 Hardin Hall
Lincoln, NE 68583-0974 U.S.A.
phone: 402-472-8961
fax: 402-472-2946
email: svantassel2@unl.edu
web site: http://icwdm.org

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