Wildlife Removal Questions, Answered for Dothan

No. Alabama’s wildlife division does not remove nuisance wildlife from private property unless public safety is at risk. It permits operators to do it at the landowner’s or tenant’s expense, and Dothan Animal Services is one of the permitted operators for Houston County.

Not necessarily. The Alabama division says it has no regulatory authority over permitted operators beyond the permit itself and does not guarantee quality of service. The permit proves the work is legal. Check references separately.

On properties that back onto farmland, removal is often a repeat job unless the outbuildings are sealed too. Ask for a quote that covers every structure the animals are using.

Most cities refuse this work outright. Dothan Animal Services appears on Alabama’s own published list of Permitted Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators for Houston County, covering raccoon, squirrels, opossums, bats, snakes, fox, bobcat, beaver, coyote, moles, voles and rats. The state notes that services vary between operators and may involve fees, so it is worth asking exactly what is and is not included; a permit to remove an animal is not the same thing as sealing the building afterwards.

Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators are permitted by the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries to remove nuisance wildlife at the landowner or tenant's expense. Alabama game and fish regulation 220-2-.27 provides for permits to take protected wildlife causing crop damage, property damage, or raising concern for human safety.

Whether they hold the state wildlife permit, not just a pest licence; whether the quote includes sealing entry points; what happens if young are found; and whether attic clean-up is included.

Exclusion avoided during maternity season reported as roughly May – July. Exclusion inside the maternity season traps flightless young in the building.

Worth knowing: the Division states that it has no regulatory authority over permitted operators beyond permitting them to take protected wildlife, and does not guarantee quality of service, although it makes reasonable efforts to keep disreputable operators out of the permitting process. In other words, the permit proves legality, not competence: check references separately.

Not while it is active. The federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects nearly all native birds; only the pigeon, European starling and house sparrow are exempt.

Close interior doors to confine it to one room, open an exterior door or window in that room if you safely can, and leave it alone. If it is a bat and anyone may have had contact with it while asleep, call your health department before releasing it.

One genuinely useful local detail: the city’s Environmental Services will collect dead animals from Dothan streets and rights-of-way. That is the road, not your house: an animal dead inside a wall, an attic or a crawlspace is entirely yours, and that is the one that actually needs locating, removing and decontaminating.

No. Poisoned animals die in places you cannot reach, and secondary poisoning kills pets and birds of prey.