Animals Affected by Floods

Rat (7)

 

Tropical Depression Bill left flooding in its wake throughout the central United States, endangering lives and property, but the floods affected wild animals as well.  Large reptiles such as alligator snapping turtles and alligators were flushed out of their normal habitats and residents have reported seeing them strolling across their lawns.  Other wild animals, like rodents, raccoons and skunks have had to seek out higher ground when their habitats are flooded, causing a few more run-ins with humans than normal.  And, the smaller wild animals are quickly followed by larger predators, like coyotes.  Officials from Oklahoma to Louisiana and Texas are reminding residents to avoid direct contact with wild animals that have been displaced by floods.  Do not feed these wild animals, because they will encourage the animals to remain in the vicinity of this new food source instead of returning to their natural habitat and their normal foods.  Wild animals who have been displaced do not understand when people are trying to help them, and will scratch and bite to protect themselves.  Do not handle any wild animal, do not feed them, and try to avoid roadways near flooded areas to reduce chances of disturbing or hitting wildlife seeking higher and drier ground.

Flood waters will carry snakes into residential or business areas.  Rats, mice or chipmunks will seek out dry attics or the walls inside homes or other structures.  Skunks, opossums or raccoons may be forced to leave their dens and they will seek out dry areas in crawlspaces or in garages.  In many areas, the local officials are busy responding to calls of alligator sightings, displaced deer herds, or bears that are affected by the floods, and cannot immediately respond to calls about raccoons or rats.  Allstate Animal Control has a network of licensed, experienced nuisance animal control technicians who can help you.  If you have wild animals that have been affected by the floods in your home, on your property, or around your family, pets or livestock, contact Allstate Animal Control at 1-888-488-7720 or allstateanimalcontrol.com to schedule a service call right away.

 

Rat in Window Well

“Mom!  Mom!  There’s a rat in the window!”  Not exactly what a mother wants to hear while she’s busy cooking, feeding a baby in a high chair, and caller ID says her mother-in-law wants to chat.  Once again, just when a parent feels everything’s under control, something happens to bring everything to a screeching halt and toss chaos back into the mix.

Sighing and slightly freaked, this busy mom turned off the burner, checked the oven, made sure baby was secure and had enough on the tray to keep her occupied for a moment, and headed outside to face whatever nature had in store.  Sure enough, her three children and a couple of neighborhood kids she didn’t even know were in her backyard were gathered around the window well that led into her basement office.  They weren’t just gathered, they were actively prodding whatever it was with sticks.  Sticks were confiscated, and nerves were steeled as she looked down.  A large rat lay dead in the window well, amongst the rocks and debris the children had tossed down there over the summer.  It looked like it may have died of natural causes, and a while ago, judging by the degree of decay.

This wasn’t the first time this had happened.  A few years prior, a skunk had fallen in the window well and couldn’t get out.  She had tried for a while to tempt it out, by putting a long piece of wood from the shed down in there, hoping it would climb back out.  It just scared it and the skunk almost sprayed in the window well, which would surely have resulted in a horrible smell throughout the basement, if not the whole house.  Fortunately, she ended up calling Allstate Animal Control, and they got the skunk out of the window well.  That was the year they got the metal grate coverings.  Apparently, the openings were wide enough to let a rat fall down in there and breathe its last.

Mom quickly assessed the situation and got everyone moving: dead rat in the window well should be removed as soon as possible so it wouldn’t bring smells and bugs into the yard and house, neighbor kids were sent home, her children were sent inside to wash up and finish feeding baby, while she finished cooking dinner and called for dead animal removal.   She had enough to deal with.  The thought of crawling down in the window well to remove a dead rat was just not on her to-do list, and she knew Allstate Animal Control would take care of it soon enough.

She allowed herself a quick, satisfied smile, knowing that once again she’d successfully dealt with yet another problem.  Then, she heard a crash from the kitchen and knew it was going to be a long night.get rid of rats