Nuisance Wildlife
(Urban and Suburban)

Since 1991, USDA Wildlife Services has been the lead agency in Wisconsin for providing nuisance wildlife assistance. Due to budget constraints, beginning on Oct. 1, 2003, the DNR’s cooperative agreement with USDA Wildlife Services will be modified and nuisance wildlife work will be split between the two agencies.

If you have questions or are experiencing problems with nuisance bears, wolves, and birds, please contact the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services. The two district offices in Wisconsin are located in Waupun and Rhinelander. Contact information is below:

If you have questions or are experiencing nuisance problems with wildlife species other than bears, wolves, and birds, please contact your local DNR Service Center.

The local DNR staff will provide advice and technical assistance over the phone to help you legally solve your nuisance problems. The following guideline will provide information that you must follow to solve your nuisance wildlife problems.

• Nuisance Wildlife Guidelines (PDF, 103KB)

If you are unable to solve your own nuisance problem, please contact a local pest control operator. Many Private Nuisance Pest Control Operators are listed in your local yellow pages under "Pest Control Services."

Other Wildlife Damage and Nuisance Web Sites (Exit DNR)

Below is a list of web sites to help provide answers to your questions about nuisance wildlife in and around urban and suburban areas. Many of these sites provide on-line publications with information to help minimize conflicts with nuisance wildlife.

Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage
This website provides excellent wildlife damage/nuisance publications for almost any species you may encounter. Includes publications on damage identification, mammals, rodents, birds, reptiles and other species.

The Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management:
This is an excellent site that will help you identify nearly any type of wildlife damage you may be experiencing. It also provides advice and a list of professionals that can help remedy your situation. Links are provided to hundreds of nuisance publications available on-line.

UW Extension:
This website provides a list of publications offered by The UW Extension office. Some excellent nuisance publications are available, including how to address deer, woodpecker, and goose damage. Some publications can be viewed on-line; others have to be ordered through the UW Extension.

Berryman Institute:
This website provides some excellent on-line wildlife damage/nuisance publications for controlling almost any species you may encounter. Includes publications on mammals, birds, reptiles, and aquatic species.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation:
This site provides information on addressing damage and nuisance problems caused by deer, beaver, coyotes, bear, and other species through several on-line publications and links to other websites.

University of Nebraska Extension Publications:
Several on-line publications addressing damage and nuisance problems with small mammals are available through this website.

Cornell Cooperative Extension-Wildlife Damage Management Program:
This site includes frequently asked questions about wildlife damage, as well as an on-line newsletter. A few publications and videos are available for ordering.

USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services:
The homepage for Wildlife Services-this site has phone numbers, fact sheets, and links to other sites with information on wildlife damage control.

Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences:
Several on-line wildlife damage publications are available through this website to help you in controlling damage caused by tree squirrels, geese, and bats, among other species.

Cornell University-College of Agriculture and Life Sciences:
This website has information on strategies, plants and products to reduce deer damage in your gardens and landscape, along with information on deer-resistant plants, repellents, netting and mesh.

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources-Nuisance Animal Control:
Looking for facts and prevention or control measures on some common nuisance critters? This web page has the answers on bats, bears, geese, and deer, among a few other species.

For more information on this topic, send mail to: Wildlife Damage Biologist