Why Relocating Wildlife Is Usually Not the Best Solution: What Ontario, Canada Homeowners Should Know

When homeowners discover a raccoon, squirrel, skunk, or another wild animal on their property, one of the first questions they often ask is, “Can’t you just trap it and relocate it?” It sounds like a simple and humane solution. You catch the animal, take it somewhere else, release it, and the problem is over. Unfortunately, wildlife conflicts are rarely that straightforward. In many situations, trapping and relocating an animal only addresses the most visible part of the problem while leaving the underlying cause completely untouched. The animal may be gone, but the conditions that attracted it to the property, allowed it to gain access, or provided it with shelter are still there.

The most important thing to understand about wildlife removal is that the animal itself is often not the actual problem. The animal is responding to an opportunity. A raccoon may find a warm, protected place to shelter. A squirrel may discover a small opening that provides access to a secure nesting area. A skunk may find a sheltered space underneath a deck or shed. Wildlife is constantly looking for food, water, shelter, and safe places to raise young. If your property provides those resources, an animal may take advantage of them. Removing that particular animal does not necessarily remove the opportunity. If the opening, shelter, food source, or other attraction remains, another animal may eventually discover exactly the same opportunity.

This is why the cycle of trapping and relocation can become frustrating for homeowners. An animal is captured and removed, everyone believes the problem has been solved, and then several weeks or months later another animal appears. The homeowner may assume that wildlife removal simply does not work, when the real problem is that the property was never secured. If a building has an opening large enough for a raccoon to enter, for example, that opening remains available after the raccoon is gone. The next raccoon does not know that another animal was previously trapped there. It simply sees a potential shelter and investigates it. The same principle applies to squirrels, skunks, birds, and other wildlife.

There is also an important biological reason why relocation should not automatically be considered the best answer. Wild animals are adapted to their environments and often have established territories, shelter locations, food sources, and familiar routes. Moving an animal to an unfamiliar location can place it in an environment it does not know. It may have to find food and water, locate shelter, identify a suitable territory, and compete with animals that are already established there. Simply driving an animal somewhere and releasing it does not guarantee that the new location is suitable. In addition, depending on the species and circumstances, relocation may be subject to wildlife laws and regulations, so it should not be treated as a universal or routine solution.

Another major problem is that wildlife is often not alone. Homeowners may see one animal and assume that there is only one animal involved, but that isn't always the case. Wildlife can be extremely secretive, and animals may spend much of their time hidden. During breeding periods, an adult animal may be caring for dependent young that are concealed nearby. A mother may leave a den or nesting location to search for food and return later. If the mother is trapped and removed without determining whether young are present, the situation can become much more complicated. The young may remain hidden and dependent on the mother, which is why a proper inspection is so important before any exclusion or removal work begins.

This is one of the reasons professional wildlife control should involve much more than simply putting an animal into a trap. Before deciding how to handle a wildlife problem, it is important to understand what species is involved, how it is accessing the property, whether there are multiple animals present, whether babies may be involved, and what is attracting the animal in the first place. The objective should be to develop a solution that addresses the entire situation rather than focusing only on the animal that happens to be visible at the moment.

In many cases, a much better approach is humane exclusion. Instead of trapping an animal and transporting it somewhere else, exclusion is designed to allow the animal to leave while preventing it from returning. One-way doors are an example of this approach. When properly installed and used in an appropriate situation, a one-way door allows an animal to exit a structure but prevents it from re-entering. Once the animal has safely left and it has been confirmed that no dependent young remain inside, the entry point can be permanently repaired and reinforced. This changes the objective from simply moving the animal to eliminating the reason the animal was able to get inside in the first place.

One-way doors, however, are not something that should simply be installed without first understanding the situation. If animals or dependent young are still inside, sealing an opening or installing an exclusion device incorrectly can create a much bigger problem. A proper wildlife inspection should identify the primary entry point as well as other potential access points and determine whether there is evidence of nesting or denning activity. This is particularly important during periods when wildlife is raising young. The goal should always be to allow animals to leave safely while preventing them from becoming trapped inside.

The same principle applies to animals living underneath decks, porches, sheds, garages, and other structures. If a skunk is using the space underneath a deck as a den, simply trapping and relocating the skunk may leave the space completely accessible to another skunk. If the area continues to provide shelter and there is an opening large enough for wildlife to enter, the property remains vulnerable. A more effective approach may involve determining whether the animal is actively using the space, allowing it to leave, and then installing an appropriate barrier that prevents future access. The objective is not to eliminate wildlife from the surrounding environment but to establish a boundary between wildlife habitat and human structures.

Raccoons provide another good example of why addressing access is so important. Raccoons are highly adaptable animals and are very capable of finding sheltered locations around homes and other buildings. If a raccoon discovers an opening that provides reliable shelter, it may continue using that location. Removing one raccoon does not make the opening disappear. If the access point remains unsecured, another raccoon may eventually discover it. The same thing can happen with squirrels that repeatedly access a structure through a damaged roofline, vent, soffit, or other opening. If the opening remains, removing the animal without repairing the structure leaves the underlying vulnerability intact.

This is why there is a significant difference between wildlife removal and wildlife management. Removal focuses primarily on the immediate animal. Wildlife management looks at the entire situation. It asks why the animal is there, what resources it is using, how it is getting access, whether it is denning or nesting, whether there are young present, and what can be done to prevent the conflict from happening again. This approach may involve humane exclusion, structural repairs, removal of attractants, wildlife-proofing, and other preventative measures depending on the circumstances.

Think of it in terms of a leaking pipe. If water is entering your basement because of a damaged pipe, removing the water from the floor doesn't fix the leak. You can mop up the water today, but if the pipe remains broken, the water can return tomorrow. Wildlife problems can work in much the same way. Trapping and removing an animal can address the immediate symptom, but if the property continues to provide access, shelter, food, or other attractive conditions, the wildlife problem can return. The long-term solution is to identify and address the source.

That source can take many different forms. Damaged vents, loose soffits, gaps around chimneys, deteriorated roof components, openings around utility penetrations, broken siding, gaps beneath decks, unsecured sheds, and other structural weaknesses can all provide wildlife with opportunities to enter. In other cases, the attraction may have nothing to do with the structure itself. Garbage, accessible food, bird feeders, compost, standing water, or dense vegetation can make a property particularly attractive to wildlife. Effective wildlife management therefore requires looking at the entire property rather than focusing exclusively on the animal.

This also explains why some homeowners experience repeated wildlife problems even after having animals removed several times. They may feel as though they are dealing with an endless supply of raccoons or squirrels, when the real issue is that the property continues to offer the same opportunity. One animal is removed, another discovers the opening, and the cycle begins again. Without addressing the access point or attractant, homeowners can end up paying repeatedly for the same basic problem.

The goal of responsible wildlife control should not be to eliminate wildlife. Wild animals have an important role in the natural environment, and the objective should be to manage conflicts between wildlife and people in a safe and humane manner. In many cases, the best solution is to allow the animal to remain in its natural environment while preventing it from accessing a home or other structure. Proper exclusion creates that separation. The animal doesn't need to be moved hundreds of kilometres away simply because it found an opening in a building. Instead, the building can be secured so that the animal no longer has access to it.

There are certainly circumstances where an animal may need to be physically captured and handled, particularly when it is trapped in an unsafe location or requires specialized assistance. However, that is very different from treating relocation as the automatic answer to every wildlife problem. The important distinction is between moving an animal and actually solving the conflict. Relocation may change the animal's location, but it does not necessarily change the conditions that created the problem.

When homeowners discover wildlife on their property, the first question therefore shouldn't always be, “How do we get rid of this animal?” A better question is, “Why is this animal here, and how did it get here?” Once those questions are answered, a much more effective strategy can be developed. Identifying the species, inspecting the property, looking for entry points, determining whether other animals or young are present, identifying potential food and shelter sources, and then developing an appropriate exclusion and prevention strategy can provide a much more lasting solution.

Ultimately, the difference is simple. Relocation focuses on the animal. Effective wildlife management focuses on the reason the animal was there in the first place. If you remove an animal but leave the opening, shelter, food source, or other attraction unchanged, you may simply be making room for another animal to take its place. If you address the access point and eliminate the conditions that are creating the conflict, you have a much better chance of preventing the problem from happening again.

The goal should not simply be to ask, “Where can we take this animal?” The better question is, “How can we solve this wildlife conflict safely, humanely, and permanently?” In many situations, that means allowing the animal to leave on its own, preventing re-entry, repairing the access point, and addressing the conditions that attracted the animal in the first place. That is the difference between simply removing wildlife and actually solving a wildlife problem.
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If wildlife is repeatedly entering your property, the first step should be a proper assessment of the situation. Understanding the species, behaviour, entry points, nesting or denning activity, and attractants can help determine the most appropriate approach. A long-term solution is rarely just about getting the animal out. It is about making sure the same problem doesn't happen again.