Will City/County Animal Services Remove Squirrels?

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In almost all cases, when you call up local city or county animal services for a squirrel, they won't be able to help you. This isn't because they don’t want to (or can't be bothered), but just because they aren’t really designed for such a job. IT is not actually the local city or county’s responsibility to make sure that residential properties are wild animal proof; that’s actually the responsibility of the home or property owner.



City or county animal services are better suited to domesticated animals, such as cats and dogs. If you had a problem with a constantly barking neighbor’s dog (or a biting one), for example, or wish to file a report of pet abuse, the city or county animal services are absolutely the right person to call. A squirrel isn’t a domesticated animal, though; it is a wild one, and this means that wildlife rehabilitators or control officers are the right people for the job.

When you call up the local services, you may find that certain places will have friendly workers that will try everything in their power to help you out, but they may not always do so in the best possible way. The removal of wild animals is a specific field, and unless you have good knowledge of the critter you're dealing with, you will often find that the animal just manages to slip your grasp (or trap) every time. At the same time, local services also won't offer the “full package,” so to speak. In case you were wondering, the full package as far as squirrels are concerned, is to remove the animal, seal all holes, modify the land (back or front yard) so that it is no longer attractive to wild animals, and then make sure that you keep up with regular inspections to keep on top of the problem in the future. This is a process that city or county animal services won’t go through, therefore, not doing a full squirrel removal job.

If you do manage to find someone from local authorities to give you a hand, make sure you complete the job if they do not — cleaning up feces and urine to prevent the spread of disease, etc.

Go back to the Squirrel Removal page, or learn tips to do it yourself with my How to Get Rid of Squirrels guide.