1st Response Wildlife - Tucson's Humane Animal Trapping & Removal Services

Surprise! Baby Raccoons! 1st Response Wildlife Cares

Spring in the Sonoran Desert brings with it the blossoming of the trees, cacti, and a plethora of new babies.  Nature and its circle of life tend to have a huge affect on the ultimate survival of newborn in the desert.  Quail, seen with 15 walnut sized babies trailing them through the desert, are observed a month later with only one or two half grown youngsters.  Similarly, Bobcats, rabbits, ground squirrels, rock squirrels, and even rattlesnakes rarely have all their spring babies reach maturity.

This past week, there was a rare find of 5 baby raccoons under the floor of a greenhouse.  The immediate reaction from 1^st Response Wildlife in a situation where baby raccoons are discovered in an area that is inconvenient for the homeowner or a business is to try and find the mother.  The next step is to capture the mother, collect all the babies, and relocate the “family” safely to a location where they will have a chance to survive without creating a nuisance.

Unfortunately, in this case, there was no mother to be found in or around these babies and they were taken to Forever Wild Animal Rehabilitation Center. (www.forever-wild.org).   Again, what makes this story unique is that a family of baby raccoons usually consists of 2-4 cubs.  Routine calls to 1^st Response Wildlife for raccoon family removal from attics, chimneys, under a residence, or porch, yields a family of juvenile cubs whose numbers have already been reduced due to predation, lack of food, or a litter which originally only had 3-4 members. 

In this instance, it is quite clear that these cubs were from a large litter, had not suffered any predation or apparent reduction in number, but lacked a parent.  Bringing them to Forever Wild will have a great outcome because, after inspection and placement in a near natural habitat, most likely, they will all survive, without loss to predation, and, once they can fend on their own, will be released back into the wild.

Below are a few pictures of the cubs at Forever Wild.  The first is of the 5 cubs and the second is one cub with the owner of 1^st Response Wildlife.

Here is a close up with the owner of 1st Response Wildlife showing one of the cubs.

We are pleased to report the cubs, after inspection, are all in good shape, are receiving special individual attention at Forever Wild and are all expected to reach full maturity before release.

If you discover a family of raccoons in your attic, under your porch, under a shed, or hear noises in your walls, please do not hesitate to give 1st Response Wildife a call.

Thanks for considering 1st Response Wildlife 

Josh's Cell (24/7 Hours): 520-260-9517

Josh Waling is a humane Licensed Animal Trapper who catches and releases wildlife, removing animals including bobcats (lince), snakes, rattlesnakes (serpiente de cascabel), raccoons (mapache), pack rats, gila monsters (monstruos de gila), rabbits (canejo), owls, bats, hawks, ducks, squirrels (ardilla), peacocks, coatimundi (gato solo), skunks (mofeta), exotics, and domestic cats and dogs. He delivers service that is professional and fast and he is available 24/7.  Give him a call the next time you hear unusual noises in the attic or crawl spaces in your home or if you see wildlife eating your vegetation, creating nests, and raising their young too close to your pets or children or have an exotic sighting in your neighborhood. 520-260-9517 Thanks!

Peacock-Homeless and Hungry; 1st Response Wildlife Responds!

Peacocks are not considered wild animals.  In fact, they are considered domesticated fowl. They make great watchdogs, keep the snake population at bay, are beautiful, and they eat commercial feed.  On the other hand, they fly, if not penned in a structure that has a roof and closed walls, escape is relatively easy.

Recently 1st Response Wildlife responded to a homeowner who reported a beautiful, juvenile female Black Winged Peacock alone, homeless, and hungry in the desert here in greater Tucson. With the help of neighbors, the peacock, seemingly always on the move, was found, humanely captured and crated-ready for a new home.

The challenge that 1st Response Wildlife faced, however, was in finding a safe and long term home for this peacock.  Since peacocks are not considered wild animals, many of the rehabbers prefer not to accept them.  Their reasoning is fairly straight-forward.  There is no outlet for them.  If the peacock is not injured, there is no release plan back into the wild because it was not wild to begin with.

Contacting known owners of peacocks and trying to find a home for this Black Winged Peacock, however, had a happy ending.  Pat Rydeen has a business in Marana where she rescues, raises, and keeps several different types of show fowl.  She has a business that survives on donations, called "Pat's Ears Wings N Things."  She has at least 7 different kinds of peacocks, at least half a dozen show-type unique chicken breeds, show pheasants, ducks, and even a few goats.  Pat really likes peacocks and had a couple of Black Winged Peacocks already, so putting this juvenile in with a male and a female had it feeling at home in no time.

Below are some pictures of the Black Winged Peacock captured and transported to Pat's place, a picture of Pat's sign, and a couple pictures of the Black Winged Peacock feeling at home enough that it began eating right away.  There is also a picture of one other of the 6 different types of peacocks that Pat has, for comparison-a white peacock.

If you would like to donate to Pat's rescue business, feel free to contact her directly-520--682-5593, send a donation to or look her up at 11620 N Derringer Road Marana, AZ 85653. (Call first if you go)  She does good work and donations really help.

Below are the pictures

First is the Black Winged Peacock humanely caged and headed to Pat's

Arrival at "Pat's Ears Wings N Things"

Rescued Black Winged Juvenile right at home with its new family-enjoying its first meal in its new home!

Additional Peacocks at Pat's place

White Peacocks

1st Response Wildlife was happy to work with the homeowner to capture this peacock, find it a safe and secure new home and make the acquaintance of Pat Rydeen, have a tour of her facility, and better understand how a rescue and hosting of domestic fowl business works.

If you have orphaned, injured, or nuisance animals in your neighborhood, please give 1st Response Wildlife a call and we will do everything we can to help you find a humane and safe solution for both you and the animal.

Thanks for considering 1st Response Wildlife 

Josh's Cell (24/7 Hours): 520-260-9517

Josh Waling is a humane Licensed Animal Trapper who catches and releases wildlife, removing animals including bobcats (lince), snakes, rattlesnakes (serpiente de cascabel), raccoons (mapache), pack rats, gila monsters (monstruos de gila), rabbits (canejo), owls, bats, hawks, ducks, squirrels (ardilla), peacocks, coatimundi (gato solo), skunks (mofeta), exotics, and domestic cats and dogs. He delivers service that is professional and fast and he is available 24/7.  Give him a call the next time you hear unusual noises in the attic or crawl spaces in your home or if you see wildlife eating your vegetation, creating nests, and raising their young too close to your pets or children or have an exotic sighting in your neighborhood. 520-260-9517 Thanks!

Rattlesnakes on your property-Call 1st Response Wildlife to remove them!

1^st Response Wildlife is experienced and ready to help you with any snakes on your property!

This is the season and the temperature is now at a point where homeowners and businesses alike are finding rattlesnakes on their property.  1^st Response Wildlife has 18+ years experience dealing with Snakes in the Sonoran Desert of all types and is particularly adept at helping a homeowner or business identify and relocate the unwanted venomous types.

There have been two alerts this year already, one from a local paper and, this week, from the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) in regards to the appearance of rattlesnakes.  The latest reminder, from AZGFD is for hikers, homeowners, pet owners, families with small children, gardeners, and business owners about the possibility of encountering unwanted animals-due to the fact that Tucson, Catalina, Oro Valley, Saddlebrooke, Vail, and Green Valley are all in a drought situation and reptiles, along with other wild animals will be moving into urban areas looking for food and water. 

1^st Response Wildlife would also like to remind gardeners, landscapers, business owners, families with children and small pets to be alert and careful around shrubs, walking and hiking at dawn and dusk, and looking carefully on patios, porches, and especially before reaching in to retrieve a ball from under a bush or to trim a shrub.  Snakes, especially rattlesnakes blend easily into their surroundings and strike from almost any position-stretched out or coiled. You may encounter them on the prowl for prey, coiled up under a bush or, as some have reported and photgraphed, in a mating dance (see below).  

1^st Response Wildlife is an expert when it comes to rattlesnakes.  If you observe one on your property and would like it humanely captured and removed, please do not bother it but, observe where it is located, make the call to 260-9517 and every effort will be made to work with you as quickly as possible to remove it.

Arizona is blessed to have a wide variety of reptiles, the largest number of different species of rattlesnakes of any state in the union, but, since the state of Arizona values all wildlife, unless you are being threatened by rattlesnakes or any reptiles, it is best to get a professional, like 1^st Response Wildlife involved to help you remove and protect it so that the balance of life in the wild can be maintained.

The most common rattlesnakes you will encounter in the greater Tucson area are the Western Diamondback, the Mojave (also spelled Mohave), the sidewinder, possibly the Black Tail, and, depending on your elevations, even a few of the 13 species of rattlers in AZ.

Below are a few photographs to help you be sure you are dealing with a rattler.  Bottom line, however, it is better to be safe than sorry.  Calling 1^st Response Wildlife will help confirm identification before removal. (Hovering your cursor over the pictures will reveal the identity.)

  

 

If you find a rattler on your property, please give 1^st Response Wildlife a call.

Thanks for considering 1st Response Wildlife 

Josh's Cell (24/7 Hours): 520-260-9517

Josh Waling is a humane Licensed Animal Trapper who catches and releases wildlife, removing animals including bobcats (lince), snakes, rattlesnakes (serpiente de cascabel), raccoons (mapache), pack rats, gila monsters (monstruos de gila), rabbits (canejo), owls, bats, hawks, ducks, squirrels (ardilla), coatimundi (gato solo), skunks (mofeta), exotics, and domestic cats and dogs. He delivers service that is professional and fast and he is available 24/7.  Give him a call the next time you hear unusual noises in the attic or crawl spaces in your home or if you see wildlife eating your vegetation, creating nests, and raising their young too close to your pets or children or have an exotic sighting in your neighborhood. 520-260-9517 Thanks!

Rescuing Juvenile Owls in Greater Tucson-1st Response Wildlife, Helping Them Survive

Owls in the Sonoran Desert come in a variety of sizes.  Burrowing, Screech, and Pygmy Owls are small and often seen only as mature adults.  Two of the largest owls, found in the Sonoran Desert, Barn Owls and Great Horned Owls, while not often seen in the daytime as adults, are found routinely as juveniles.  You might ask why that is.  Primarily, when these larger owls grow to a size where, when it is time to test their wings and begin active competition for space, if they fall from their nest and not be able to get back to its safety, they are so large that they are easily noticeable by homeowners and business people.  Also, because of their size and the fact they are still juveniles, not quite able to fly/escape; they are easy prey for coyotes, dogs, cats, and other larger predators.  In some cases they have been hurt when they tried to fly, their parent may have been hurt or killed in a night-time hunting accident, or, as is often the case with Barn Owls, a nest in a bale of hay is sold and transported to a feed store and, only then are baby Barn Owls discovered-parent-less. 

Whatever the reason, 1^st Response Wildlife averages several calls in the spring to pick up and transport juvenile Owls to rehabbers, where they are raised until they can fend for themselves before they are safely returned to the wild.  Again, because of their size, while there are calls to rescue and nurture smaller owls to maturity, the vast majority of Juvenile Owl calls in the spring are for the larger juvenile Great Horned Owls and Barn Owls.

Below are but a few of the pictures of Juvenile Great Horned Owls and Barn Owls which have been rescued and transported to one of the rehabbers which takes in, nurtures and then returns Owls to the Wild. (If you hover your cursor over the pictures, there are labels which identify what is pictured.)

These Juvenile Barn Owls, pictured below were, similar to others that were discovered last year in hay delivered to a feed store, living parent-less in hay and, without a quick response and transport to a rehabber, where they are being, for the moment, hand fed, it is easy to see, based on their age, that they would not have survived.

 

Four other juveniles were also among almost half a dozen Juvenile Great Horned Owls 1^st Response Wildlife has transported to a rehabber this spring.  (Each juvenile has its species, location where it was found recorded, the individual or business that discovered and reported it logged, and paperwork is submitted to Arizona Game and Fish Department.  This helps document territorial population of the species etc.)  Again, without direct care and nurturing to maturity, it is highly likely that none of these would have survived.  Below are pictures of transport, physical evaluation by a rehabber, and current juvenile accommodations.  Once these juveniles have completely feathered out, they are transferred to a large fly-way structure where they will practice flying, learning to eat food naturally found in the desert and, finally released back into the wild.

 

 

If you find an owl of any size that appears to be abandoned, hurt, or unable to find its way back to its nest, please call 1^st Response Wildlife or one of the rehabbers in the Greater Tucson area and we all would be happy to work with you to determine the best course of action to protect these valuable resources.

Thanks for considering 1st Response Wildlife 

Josh's Cell (24/7 Hours): 520-260-9517

Josh Waling is a humane Licensed Animal Trapper who catches and releases wildlife, removing animals including bobcats (lince), snakes, rattlesnakes (serpiente de cascabel), raccoons (mapache), pack rats, gila monsters (monstruos de gila), rabbits (canejo), owls, bats, hawks, ducks, squirrels (ardilla), coatimundi (gato solo), skunks (mofeta), exotics, and domestic cats and dogs. He delivers service that is professional and fast and he is available 24/7.  Give him a call the next time you hear unusual noises in the attic or crawl spaces in your home or if you see wildlife eating your vegetation, creating nests, and raising their young too close to your pets or children or have an exotic sighting in your neighborhood. 520-260-9517 Thanks!

1st Response Wildlife Works to Protect Mother Duck and Her Brood

Ducks and other water fowl enjoy access to water all across greater Tucson in natural settings as well as backyard pools.  While your backyard pool might not be your choice for a mother duck to raise her young, it may be appealing enough for a mother duck to choose somewhere in close proximity to your home or pool to make a nest.  The fact that there is water close can make the building of a nest under a Texas Ranger bush, or other sheltered area an ideal choice for mother duck.  At other times, ducks will make a nest in a neighborhood, miles from natural water, but in a safe, to the mother duck, sheltered spot. 

Regardless of whether a homeowner discovers a nesting duck or a mother with her newly hatched brood of ducklings, if you are worried about their safety, please call 1^st Response Wildlife for a humane and safe removal/relocation.

1^st Response Wildlife gets numerous calls for these types of duck family removals, especially in the spring, when mother ducks decide to lay their eggs in close proximity to homes and businesses.  While the selection of nesting areas may seem protected and adequate to a mother duck, residents with children and pets may become concerned that, when the eggs hatch, the ducklings will not be safe.  In other cases, home and business owners, worry that a nest in an exposed area leaves little protection from predators.

Fortunately, the rehabbers in Tucson are happy to accept mother ducks, with ducklings, and raise the ducklings to maturity.  Once they are able to survive on their own, they are all released back into the wild where there are several safe waterways, lakes, and ponds for them to establish their new homes.

Below are two pictures of a mother Mallard duck with her 9 ducklings.  The first picture appears bluish because of the light, at the time they were rescued by 1st Response Wildlife and delivered to a rehab organization that accepts ducks.

The second picture was taken 2 weeks later, showing the mother Mallard is fine and the ducklings are growing.

 

 

If you find an unwanted family of ducks making their home in your yard or around your business or, as the summer progresses, you find that an individual or family of ducks has decided that your pool area looks like a great place to call home and you would like to have them relocated, 1^st Response Wildlife would be happy to work with you relocate them.  The welfare of the ducks and your property will be given every consideration.  If it is determined that the ducks would be better off being introduced elsewhere or, if they are injured in any way, 1^st Response Wildlife will work to relocate them safely and, if necessary take them to a rehabber until they can fend on their own.

 

Thanks for considering 1st Response Wildlife 

Josh's Cell (24/7 Hours): 520-260-9517

Josh Waling is a humane Licensed Animal Trapper who catches and releases wildlife, removing animals including bobcats (lince), snakes, rattlesnakes (serpiente de cascabel), raccoons (mapache), pack rats, gila monsters (monstruos de gila), rabbits (canejo), owls, bats, hawks, ducks, squirrels (ardilla), coatimundi (gato solo), skunks (mofeta), exotics, and domestic cats and dogs. He delivers service that is professional and fast and he is available 24/7.  Give him a call the next time you hear unusual noises in the attic or crawl spaces in your home or if you see wildlife eating your vegetation, creating nests, and raising their young too close to your pets or children or have an exotic sighting in your neighborhood. 520-260-9517 Thanks!