Skunk Freed

This morning, WES received a call about a skunk that had been inadvertently trapped and in a cage trap for over 24 hours. Apparently, there was no one in the Monterey County area that could or would respond to set the skunk free. 

WES responders, Duane and Rebecca, were on scene within 30 minutes. They found the skunk to be in good shape, even though it had spent at least one full day and night exposed to the elements.

Thankfully, the homeowners had covered the trap with a shirt and provided the animal with food. Duane carefully opened the trap and waited for the animal to find its way out. Check out the video:

Cage traps are used to trap animals alive, but, in California, relocation of trapped wildlife is prohibited, and for good reasons. Not only is it an unsound practice, studies show most relocated animals die trying to get back home. Lawfully trapped animals, then, must either be released on site or euthanized. The key word being "lawfully".

There are quite a number of regulations governing the trapping of wildlife. Rebecca and Duane are founding members of the Humane Wildlife Control Association, HERE, on their company's web site, they attempt to clarify the State's trapping regulations and discuss why trapping is not the answer.