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A Fox Tale published in September-October 2008 in WCT Magazine Page 42

It seems that every year there is one species that without it I would be out of business. Three years ago it was woodchucks – everyone had them and no one wanted them. Last year it was skunks but unlike woodchucks they tend to sell themselves as opposed to having to demonstrate the potential damage. This year it is a rather unlikely critter and I say that because prior to this year I go only a few calls for them. It was indeed rare to get a call for a fox – except a few that because they were seen traveling during the day must have rabies (yes, that is sarcasm).
I have gotten about a dozen calls so far ranging from under the shed to free roaming to “It killed my neighbor’s cat and dragged it across my lawn”. In spite of the apparent tragedy I must admit to having chuckled at that one. The good thing about getting a fair amount of calls about one particular species, besides a lot of business, is that you get to experiment because my thoughts with fox always seem to immediately focus on the foothold trap but I have employed some unorthodox methods where some have worked, others did not while still others had some rather bazaar results.

Bowhunting a Nuisance published in Fur-Fish-Game magazine in July 2009page 18

A New Identity: In spite of our predatory practices every fall and winter we actually adore and admire the whitetail for its strength, cunning and senses. I’ll bet that every bowhunter has a set of deer sheets and at least one room with a wildlife theme highlighted by our favorite big game animal. But today’s bowhunting has got us thinking much differently because today’s deer have taken on one more persona: a nuisance animal. Realistically any deer that exceeds the carrying capacity for its home range, causes significant economic impact or physical damage or limits the normal operations of a landowner or facility would qualify as a nuisance. Most suburban deer fall under this definition and the two terms, suburban and nuisance, can thus be used interchangeably.

A New Opportunity for Bad Times: A few years back I hunted, without any success, in four counties with rifle, shotgun and bow. One night during the secondary rut I was looking out a rear facing window into my suburban backyard just in time to see an 8 pointer in the moonlight chasing several does. Ain’t that a kick in the teeth? My freezer was empty but I had several sets of backstraps less than 100 feet from my backdoor. I needed to make a change in how I hunted or experience the same result. First I had to increase my opportunities (both within and outside the season) with a nuisance permit. I also had to put aside my antiquated philosophies of going to the “deep woods” looking for a big buck and take on the new challenge – bowhunting nuisance deer in suburbia.
When I first made the decision to concentrate more on nuisance deer the economy wasn’t so bad so admittedly the switch wasn’t as much about meat as it was about being successful but that has all changed now. As I write this article and living check to check like many Americans and reflect back it turned out to be one of my better decisions. My freezer will never be empty again and when money is tight, like it is for all of us right now, I can still sleep at night knowing I was still able to put dinner on the table.

The Carcass Exchange Part I published November-December of WCT Magazine page 20
My favorite customer is the fella’ that wants to see “the body”. “That’s very morbid of you, will you be home around 5:00 so I can bring by a sack full of dead squirrels for you and your family to view?” I’m going start painting chalk lines soon!
Most customers of course have no interest in a captured animal dead or alive and once the check is written and I’m away in my skunk filled truck the problem is solved but as NWCOs we all know that the work day has actually just begun because now we have some live critters to deal with. What most folks are unaware of are the legalities surrounding the finality of captured and/or euthanized wildlife i.e. the carcass. Obviously there are a lot of different ways to euthanize wildlife such as drowning, shooting, pole syringes and CO2 chambers. The real question and the one that no one wants to deal with but is probably the most daunting task for a NWCO is what do you do with the carcass once it has been euthanized?

The Carcass Exchange Part II published in January-February WCT Magazine page 20
Please keep in mind when setting up your business that it can and will be very frustrating dealing with the DNR on this subject because my hunch if they are anything like New York’s DEC is that they have no policies with regards to what you can actually do. All the parameters from the previous installment are based on what you can’t do. For example, you can’t bury (or even release) unless you have landowner permission but what if you can’t get that permission? Then what? Realistically, in 13 years I have gotten permission twice – once for trapping squirrels at the Governor’s Mansion because of the exposure for a high ranking politician and the other for a banded pigeon.
The reality is our DEC had no ideas on this aspect of the nuisance wildlife industry and made absolutely zero suggestions – at least none that made any practical sense. Here is an example, one biologist told me I can shoot and bury the carcass at the capture site. My response was “Are you kidding me?” Not only do customers want to see the animal being taken off their property, they sure as heck don’t want me shooting it in front of their kids or burying it where the family dog can dig it up.

Deer Physiology 101 – Published February 2002 in Fur Fish and Game Magazine Pages 43-45.

Anti hunters think we have the advantage. Isn’t it easy to harvest even a doe in its own habitat where they know all the escape routes and makeshift hideaways? Every deer hunter out there can attest to the seemingly lightning fast reflexes that the whitetail displays on occasion. We contend with their superior sense of vision with eyes perfectly positioned (indicating a prey species) with the ability to focus on the slightest movement. Their highly sensitive hearing and the well -documented sense of smell that can differentiate up to six different smells at one time.

Well, if that isn’t enough evidence to demonstrate which creature is at the helm in the most popular predator-prey relationship in North America then consider the nail in the coffin – the whitetail’s endocrine system. Common to all mammals with little variation from species to species the endocrine system consists of about a dozen glands and numerous hormones that affect internal chemistry, pH, temperature etc..

The Legal Side of Wildlife Management – Published Sept-Oct. 2004 in WCT Magazine Page 24

Education has always been a part of the outdoors although the image most conjured up is a father showing his son how to bait a hook or to properly place a leg hold trap. Hunters, anglers and trappers have evolved and more recently have concentrated on the conventional classroom as well. Nuisance wildlife trappers seem to be the lynchpin in public education because many of us have created programs to demonstrate traps and wild animals for schools in addition to the many opportunities to teach wildlife management to our customers.

Being a science teacher and nuisance wildlife trapper I take every opportunity to bring hunting, trapping and fishing into the limelight including a lecture on the scientific method where I demonstrate all my traps to show how I experiment with different baits and sets etc... I also dissect a deer heart, a lesson that allows me to bring wildlife into my class (literally) and still cover my obligation to teach about blood and circulation.

Motivating the Outdoors – Published Jan.-Feb. 2006 in Bowhunter Magazine Pages 50-51

I walked down the path towards the power line at first light. I was on my way to work and stopped to check my trap line. I had been contracted to help control fox and coyote in a suburban area. Before actually seeing the beast I heard the chain rattle and my pace picked up and I came around a corner of brush to see a coyote caught in one of my foothold traps by his back paw, his piercing yellow eyes looking right through me. He turned out to be a 60 pound predator.

I have always been proud of the fact that I am a self taught trapper both for fur and a successful nuisance wildlife business. It seems that I always had a natural spark and desire to experience wildlife from hunting and trapping to photography and writing. When it comes to the natural world I’m the type of student that made the teacher (initially my father) look great. Although I have learned a lot from my father and he is in fact a good model both in outdoor knowledge and ethics I still have to wonder why my two brothers, one older and one younger never took to the woods as I did.

The Trapping Business: Keeping the Books published in May-June 2000 in WCT Magazine Pages 31

You have all the traps and other necessary equipment. It seems you have been trapping for since you could walk. Now, you’ve made a career decision – to establish your own nuisance wildlife trapping business. What word about that title do you focus on most? Is it nuisance wildlife? Trapping? Or Business? If you are someone looking to make a career in animal damage control you should be focusing on the business part. Why? Because you already have the knowledge, skills and equipment it takes to trap nuisance wildlife. What’s missing is business sense. No matter how you view trapping and your role in your community operating a nuisance wildlife control business is just that - a business.

For more articles written by Joseph R. Cea see his blog “Tracking Wildlife” at http://blog.timesunion.com/wildlife/.

Also look for many editor letters on wildlife, firearms and the second amendment printed in the Albany Times Union

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