We employ a variety of wildlife management practices at Tara and we talk about many of these with our campers as we tour the property.
One of our summer camp presenters is Frank Massey with USDA. He assists landowners and others in dealing with wildlife that is causing damage and the removal of problem animals.
Household trash, compost piles, and other items found around our homes and businesses can attract wildlife such as raccoons, opossums, or even armadillos. While we do our best to keep these items from being an issue at Tara, but sometimes we have animals that become a problem. When that is the case, we use Havahart live traps to catch the animal and release it safely in another location.
Frank talks about wildlife damage management practices and shows the campers how to bait a trap, where to place it, and how to set it to ensure the animal’s safety. During this time, Frank often talks about experiences he has had working in the field of wildlife damage management.
Frank puts the campers in groups of 2 or 3 and they compete to see who can properly bait and set a trap. They set the traps in the afternoon, check traps the following morning, and if anything is caught, they remove the animals and release them back into the wild.
Read more about our outdoor youth summer camps.
