Author: Stacy White
Planning Unit: Whitley County CES
Major Program: Wildlife Habitat and Damage Management Education
Plan of Work: Effective Resource Management
Outcome: Intermediate Outcome
Human interactions with wildlife are increasing across the world as populations grow and available wildlife habitat shrinks or becomes more frequently adjacent to humans. Several species of wildlife are thriving within these new landscapes due to their ability to take advantage of many of the things humans either produce (i.e. agricultural crops) or create (i.e., human dwellings or predator free landscapes). In addition, over the last 50 years a cultural shift has occurred within the urban and rural areas resulting in fewer hunters and trappers being recruited. These hunters, and in this case trappers, were vital to managing wildlife damage cases from species like beaver and raccoons that thrive in human dominated environments. Trappers would consistently take large numbers of individuals out of wildlife populations, limiting their growth and subsequent damage particularly when relating to agricultural production. A train the trainer type trapping workshop was held in Whitley County on November 26th. The Whitley County ANR agent cooperated with the UK extension wildlife specialist and local trappers to conduct this workshop. The goal was to equip county ANR and Hort agents with the information necessary to educate clientele in their respective counties how to effectively manage nuisance beaver and raccoon issues. This day long workshop included both lectures and field sessions. At lunch two new Cook Wild Kentucky recipes were taste tested: beaver gumbo and roasted raccoon with sweet potatoes. Both received positive reviews. Seventeen agents from across Kentucky learned how to identify damage from these species and how to properly use trapping equipment to reduce the damage. Agents gained the skills to teach this course in their respective counties to help their clientele learn to deal with nuisance beaver and raccoon issues on their personal properties.
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