Best practices for nuisance wildlife control operators in New York State

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Ch 4: A common sense approach to job safety

Overall learning objectives for this chapter

1. Identify risks associated with the presence of nuisance wildlife and with wildlife control techniques.
    
2. Understand how to protect yourself from falls, bites, heat stress, and wildlife diseases.
    
3. Know which protective gear and safety equipment belongs in the NWCO "wardrobe."
    
4. Be familiar with the wildlife diseases that you're most likely to encounter.
    
5. Feel confident you can answer the common questions customers ask about wildlife diseases.
    
6. Know who to contact if you're dealing with a sick animal.

Relax, but don't fall asleep at the wheel

"Had this squirrel job in an old house. I stepped off my ladder onto the metal roof, and pow! Those squirrels must have chewed through some wires that were touching the roof. The entire thing was electrified. I was lucky I didn't fall off the roof."

—Eric, NWCO in Connecticut

Throughout this chapter, we'll discuss risks related to NWCO work or the presence of wild animals inside homes or businesses. In most cases, you'll be called in after an animal has caused damage. The risk is easy to understand because the results are right there. What about those times when you see evidence of possible problems?

What's the worst that could happen? How likely is it? Can the situation be prevented? These are the kinds of questions that will help you put things into perspective. For example, wildlife in the Northeast could potentially expose a person to about 200 different diseases. We'll only discuss nine of them because the chances of being exposed to the others are very low.

NWCOs are more likely to be hurt by a car accident or a fall from a ladder than from a wildlife-related disease, but it's West Nile that makes the news, isn't it? We hope this chapter will help you better understand the risks posed by your work, so you can make good choices.

Next Section (Learning objectives for section one)