Research and Teaching Needs in Wildlife Damage Control and Prevention

Wildlife damage control is a fairly unique part of wildlife management. But you will notice that I said it is a part of wildlife management. I believe that too many of today\u27s wildlife managers, professors, and administrators look at this aspect of our profession as something different, something outside of management,... something to stay away from. Wildlife damage control is a part of wildlife management and it is, perhaps, one of the most basic aspects of our profession. In fact, I would guess that nearly every professional wildlife worker has at one time or another been involved in wildlife damage control. The involvement can run from trapping sheep-killing coyotes to removing a young raccoon from an attic to adjusting the length of a big game season to avoid landowner complaints due to crop depredations, but it is there in the background of every wildlife professional. Some of us, of course, put more time into wildlife damage control than into any other activity