This male American Kestrel was delivered to us yesterday after having flown into a patio door. Remember we told you their talons are extremely sharp and can do some damage? STILL TRUE!

The woman who brought him was in a panic and started to take the bird out of a small box not knowing what it was. As we tried to stop his escape, his back talon went deep into a finger (not hers). After cleaning and disinfecting the finger, I addressed the Kestrel. He will be ready for release very soon. Note the beautiful coloring on him compared to the female Kestrel.

Kestrels usually hunt in energy-conserving fashion by perching and scanning the ground for prey to ambush, though it also hunts from the air. It sometimes hovers in the air with rapid wing beats while homing in on prey. Its diet typically consists of grasshoppers and other insects, lizards, mice, and small birds (e.g. sparrows).

Sometimes, the most common call rehabbers receive is the calls asking us to trap and/or relocate an animal.

It sounds easy enough, but herein lies the problem:

1) In some states, it’s against the law to trap and relocate wildlife.

2) There is NO such thing as humanely trapping any WILD animal. Wild animals live their lives hiding from predators. They are hard-wired to remain hidden, sometimes it is their only defense. When a wild animal is caught in a trap, it causes EXTREME stress to that animal. Most animals, when trapped, will quickly die of fright, or kill themselves trying to escape.

3) There is NO guarantee that your trap will trap the exact animal that you want it to.

4) NOTHING is humane about taking an animal away from its family or its familiar territory. Nothing is humane about dumping a stressed, terrified, lost and unwanted animal upon an already existing wild population where they have no idea where a food source is located or where to den up. Most will either starve to death or get killed by their competition.

5) Relocating an animal can lead to orphaned babies. Usually when an animal is in a place where they aren't wanted/shouldn't be (inside houses, buildings, attics, barns, etc) it is because they have their nest of babies there. Before giving birth, wildlife animals will seek out a safe nesting site... which usually means away from other animals/predators and can result in the animal creating their nest near or in houses and buildings. Relocating the mother will lead to starvation and death of the babies.

Most all wild animals are prone to a very real condition called capture myopathy. Capture myopathy is a white muscle disease that comes from fear/panic. When an animal is trapped and frightened, instead of oxygen being used in muscles, stored energy is used, which then leads to a buildup of lactic acid, which in turn enters the bloodstream. If the heart doesn’t pump enough oxygen through the bloodstream, the muscles start to die, leading to all kinds of complications. There is no coming back from this condition. Sometimes it happens quickly, sometimes it draws out for a couple of weeks. One thing is certain, it is a painful death for the animal.

Often times, the trapped animal may even appear calm. That's because they are biologically hard-wired to hide fear and pain from predators. In reality, they are TERRIFIED in a trap, and will be even more terrified when later dumped out in a foreign territory without their family.

Your problem IS NOT the animal. Your problem is whatever the specific cause is that is attracting that animal into now becoming your conflict. Removing the animal will not solve your problem because even if you remove the animal, there will be dozens more just like it who will soon follow after you remove their competition, but fail to remove the attractant by leaving the food availability intact.

Here are some things to do instead of trying to remove the animal:

1) Find the attractant; remove it or secure it better.

2) Look for potential entry points on your home (or wherever the animal is living) and secure them.

3) Make your home (or whatever space they're occupying) inhospitable and unpleasant. Try evicting the animal with non-lethal practices like disruption (bright lights, loud sounds), repellents (ammonia or vinegar-soaked rags, canned repellent, etc), and one-way doors.

4) If it's pet or livestock food that the animal is after, remove all uneaten food each day (especially before nightfall). If there isn't any food for the animal to find and eat, they will move on.

5) Be educated on your local wildlife. Learn how they are beneficial to us and to our ecosystem. Learn the truths to the myths.

6) If it’s an emergency situation and trapping is the only way for your safety as well as the animals, then call a wildlife removal service, one that has a good working relationship with a local wildlife rehabber to do what’s best for that animal.

There are ways to peacefully coexist with wildlife. We must, at least, try. See less