It’s baffling to me these are legal to own. Firearms have lots of restrictions, but 30ft burning jets of napalm are fine. You can even get drones!
Great solution in the reported location of infections Southern California. Sorry officer, I was trying to eradicate raccoonbourne parasites and now calfire has to get involved.
I had a raccoon latrine on our porch, on an outdoor carpet. I had Servpro remove the entire carpet, but still wonder if there was possible other contamination. It’s a wood frame structure so flame is not an option. There was very little help from any local agencies or companies like wildlife management or pest — most just scoop it up.
Dealing with raccoons is a challenge. I learned from reading CA and SF ordinances that it’s illegal to trap and relocate or injure nuisance animals but apparently it’s totally fine to trap and swiftly kill them. In case you’re wondering, I have not trapped, injured, or killed any raccoons.
A few years ago when I noticed a skunk in my yard at night. I was worried I'd get sprayed coming home from work in the evening. But when I called some pest control companies about trapping, they told me that in Pennsylvania, pest control operators must euthanize trapped animals belonging to rabies vector species (skunks, raccoons, bats, groundhogs, foxes, coyotes): https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/secure/pacode/data/058/cha...
They aren't allowed to relocate animals (and I think even homeowners who trap one of these animals aren't supposed to relocate - you either release where trapped [what good is that?] or kill it). I didn't want to have the animals killed, so I passed on trapping.
Since then, skunks have done me huge favors by digging up and eating a couple of very large yellow jacket nests. Having gotten stung a few times, I was grateful. I have no idea how skunks dive right into a nest without being stung.
It makes sense to me. I've relocated a few raccoons that ended up in cages meant for something much smaller. They get extremely irate and understandably so. I was lucky in that they were not rabid but I took a big chance moving them. One bent the cage open as I was carrying him. If he was rabid he would have attacked me. I get a lot of raccoons here as I am in a choke-point that joins wilderness to rural residential. If they can be easily run off I leave them alone. If they are aggressive I have to put them down as they are likely infected and will infect any humans or animals that accidentally corner them. They are significantly stronger than they appear and would eviscerate a child or someones pets if they are aggressive.
I think this is accurate information: https://awces.com/ca-trapping-laws