Category: Colorado Wildlife News

Wildlife news that effects the Nuisance Wildlife Management Industry.

Colorado wildlife officials warn residents as bears awake from winter slumber

DURANGO — Colorado wildlife officials are warning residents to take precautions as bears begin to wake up from their winter slumber.

The Durango Herald reported bears usually start emerging from their dens during the first weeks of April. But Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Joe Lewandowski says wildlife officials mark April 15 as the day bear activity is typically expected to pick up.

He says male bears are usually the first to start stirring around. Female bears, especially those nursing cubs, tend to stay in their dens a few weeks longer to conserve energy and wait until there are more available food sources in the forest.

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Officials continue to warn: Don’t feed the wildlife

DENVER — Colorado Parks and Wildlife continues to remind people that feeding wildlife is illegal.

To further enforce the law, Colorado Springs recently passed a city ordinance that increases the fine to $500 for anyone caught doing so.

Wildlife officials say the best thing to do if deer, elk or smaller animals are seen is to let them get comfortable in yards, shoo them away or use an air horn.

“I think a lot of people may mean well when they see wildlife and feed them, but in actuality, it does more harm than good and disrupts their natural digestive systems,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Jason Clay said. “It leads to further problems.”

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Two decisions on wildlife made by Colorado Springs City Council

A fine of up to $500 for feeding wildlife and a delay on reducing the city’s deer population are two decisions made this week by the Colorado Springs City Council.

On Tuesday, the council officially passed an ordinance to ban the feeding of all wildlife except birds. Violators will first receive a warning and repeated violations will result in fines of increasing severity.

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CWCOA 14th Annual Conference Summary & Review

Our 14th annual CWCOA Conference, February 9, 2018, in Denver, was a blockbuster! We had a great line-up of speakers, topics and representation from multiple government agencies. 2018’s keynote speaker, Stephen Vantassel, NWCOA Western Director, owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC and Vertebrate Pest Specialist for the Montana Dept. of Agriculture, gave a great keynote address “What’s happening? – The Industry, NWCOA and the Future” which was well received by attendees. Stephen gives a no-nonsense, truthful assessment of where we are, where we are heading as an industry and talked openly about sensitive issues facing our industry.

Gary McElroy (Colorado Dept. of Ag – CDA) gave a presentation on Laws & Regs “CDA Update” and CEC’s (2 – Laws & Regs) were provided.

Martin Lowney (State Director USDA Wildlife Services – APHIS) gave very helpful and valuable information on how his agency helped to assist through research and fact-based use of various traps and devices that were affected by Chapter 14 Amendment and how their science-based / fact-based research supports their use as effective methods of capture and control and how this research contributed to authorizations by the CPW for their use given special circumstances (to be later discussed by Dan Gates).

Stephen Vantassel gave a presentation on “Euthanasia – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly” worth 1 CEC (Applicator Safety)

Crystal Chick (CPW Denver Area Wildlife Manager / New Liason for CWCOA) along with Dan Gates (Colorado Rid-A-Critter / President of CTPHA Colorado Trappers, Predators, Hunters Assoc) gave a presentation on “CPW Update & W-17 Trapping Regulation Revisions”. The efforts of Dan Gates as well as Martin Lowney and the CPW have resulted in expended use of additional control devices in special situations, through a permitting process. It is quite evident that the efforts spent on this collaboration have resulted in tools that can be utilized that were not known to be available to use by our industry post Amendment 14. This effort and cooperation by these folks are a huge benefit to our industry. We would like to thank these individuals involved for their time, efforts and energy spent making these changes possible and the process understood and documented.

Dr. Jennifer House, State Public Health Veterinarian DVM, MPH, DACVPM as well as Dr. Natalie Marzec, MPH Zoonosis. Epidemiologist along with Tracy Woodall from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment gave an excellent presentation “The Latest on Colorado Zoonotic Diseases” worth 1 CEC (Use of Pesticides). They gave very pertinent and important information on zoonotic disease potential, safety measures, and resources on dealing with public health issues.

Rachel Mulder, Executive Office Manager (Whitmore Pest & Wildlife Control) gave a great presentation on “In With The New – Going Paperless). This presentation focused on our ever-changing technological world and how companies can become more efficient through technological advances in data management.

Stephen Vantassel gave another presentation on “Field Fumigation for Management of Vertebrate Pests” worth another 1 CEC (Use of Pesticides)

Our conference offered a total of 5 CEC’s applicable to the Colorado Department of Agriculture Pesticide Training Requirements.

Food and beverage selections were excellent, and attendees had a great opportunity for networking and building relationships with other key players in our industry.

US and Colorado Well Represented

We had government representation from the US Fish & Wildlife Service, Colorado Dept. of Parks & Wildlife, Colorado Department of Agriculture and the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment. The CPW sent 6 personnel to attend! This cooperation with government officials is an excellent sign of the hard work that has gone into fostering these relationships. These speakers and attendees enhance our membership through this excellent training and networking opportunity. The CWCOA board looks forward to the continued cooperation and relationship building with government agencies and personnel to advance our industry and protect our interests in pest and wildlife control operations.

Crystal Chick, AWM, is now our official liaison person for the CPW

The year’s conference was a great opportunity for training, networking and fulfilling your need to have CEC credits through the Colorado Dept of Ag. If you weren’t there, you missed a great event! Our next conference is being planned to be another winner.  We are planning on again offering another NWCOA Certified Training Opportunity. Please submit suggestions on the conference improvements and training you might be interested in seeing. We’ll keep you informed.

If you are not already a member of the CWCOA, please consider becoming one! The benefits are numerous and we hope we can count on you to help us to grow strong. This will help us to continue to provide excellent training opportunities, advocate for wildlife control industry issues and protect our industry tools and control options!                                                                   –

Gerrod Walker
CWCOA Member