Man I get sick of the stone walls I run into...........Deer, seagulls, bear, cougar, geese....... ect.......

Then to have the feds come in (sometime without permits) and do the work........

How come I can't Have the permit????????????!!!!!!!

They come in with a "blanket".........I have to be named on an each permit by each applicant........

Any "hole" would be appreciated..........

Visit these websites...

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/directives/3101.pdf

and

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a076/a76_incl_tech_correction.html

Read about how they are not supposed to compete with us.

-Jack

Jack the first to licks are dead..........It is mot the compatition that is a problem. It is the inability to do the jobs without proper permitts........Deer on the runway....ect Bears damaging trees........

PS Nice to have another WAer on here.....will you be going to the wsta rondy in Aug???????????
Dave

And........any relation to the "snare" family??????

Jack,

You mis-read the documents. WS is authorized to compete with us by a broad legal authority to do whatever they want wherever and for whomever they want regarding wildife control. But worse, in their view they are mandated to do so by the fact that WS receives Federal funding. In addition to their legal authorization, the OMB circular specifies how they will compete with private sector and does so with enough loopholes to make that whole document meaningless.


Mike Dwyer, President
Critter Control, Inc.
"Protecting People, Property & Wildlife"

Discover 'Animal Facts,' have fun with 'Animal Trivia,' and send 'Critter Cards' FREE at http://www.crittercontrol.com

.....which means squat in the long run!

Have you had any problems recently?

You have a long, tough row to hoe if you want to compete on equal ground with WS. Mistakenly, many federal/state/city governments think WS must be the best, simply because they're the feds. It doesn't hurt WS when they sell that idea to the customer either. If the customer knew the first time the gov't trapper actually saw a beaver trap was just 6 weeks ago, they might change their minds, but they'll never find that out.
In my experience, my local WS has been everything from a great subcontractor to a bloodthirsty competitor, depending on whom I'm working with at the time. The advantage to hiring you is that you will normally outperform them. Our local WS guys can't compete with private sector WCOs based on performance...they're slow and ineffective. I'd probably work at that speed too if I was getting paid what they get paid. On the other hand, they have tools available to them that you do not (e.g. alpha-chloralose and M-44s), which sometimes gives them the advantage of speed and efficiency.
I gave up trying to compete with them for jobs after a conversation with the state's highway department authority who pays them 1/2 million dollars per year for their 3 trappers to trap beavers along the highway. The highway guy pretty much admitted that the only reason they keep throwing money at WS was because it only took a few keystrokes to pay them, rather than cutting checks to several different WCO companies. Yikes! It had nothing to do with performance, results, or cost...just an easier time administratively. I've had a beaver control contract with one of my larger cities (which is the size of a county), because the city wants better results than they had with WS. In the first year we saved them $22K in labor costs and hundreds of manhours. Slowly we can chip away at the behemoth WS machine, but only by providing examples that we are professional, quick to respond, and cost effective...everything WS is not. On the other hand, and in my opinion only, there are places they belong that we do not. Airport seagull/goose/deer control is a very public and very controversial issue. The feds will survive the media sh!+ storm and public outrage much better than anyone in our profession if an airplane is damaged or lives are lost. Ground dwellers like groundhogs, fox, and beavers at airports I'm OK handling, but when it comes to flight safety, I'll flick that booger at the feds any day. Our entire industry could suffer irreparable damage if just one incident at an airport could be attributed to one of us. And don't think WS won't use that one incident to further their agenda.
Comment (either on this thread or the other USDA thread) was made about them not sticking to state laws while trapping. You can b!+ch all you want about that based on the fact that you are correct, but good luck finding a game warden willing to write a summons for illegal activity by any federal trapper. Our state won't waste resources pursuing those cases - more than one game warden has told me that. Call it unfair, call it politics, call it whatever, but it's the way things are done and won't change. Pick the battles you can win and quit beating your head on the wall. WS will eventually disappear, but it may not be in our lifetime.

I could write a post and say that I have never seen a WS guy or know of any of their work around here, but they might read it and start working here, so I won't bother.

Repeat: Which means squat in the long run!

The next time you come across a city, county, private citizen or commercial business who is considering hiring WS be sure to ask them if WS has produced a certificate of general liability insurance. Ask them if something bad happens and someone suffers a loss who will get sued and who will end up paying for it. Ask them if they have ever met anyone who has succesfully sued the federal government. WS does not hold all of the cards, yet.


Mike Dwyer
Critter Control, Inc.
"Protecting People, Property & Wildlife"

Discover 'Animal Facts,' have fun with 'Animal Trivia,' and send 'Critter Cards' FREE at www.crittercontrol.com

lol;;;;;; we will see on Monday............

vinke, i get blanket approvals for certain things from the game warden, i know it sounds silly but have you tried that route? they have state jurisdiction here

Charlie,

You better get those blanket approvals in writing. Because all it will take is for some concerned citizen to raise [Please excuse my language... I'm an idiot] or for some enterprising news reporter for you to find out just how quickly that game warden's supervisor will leave you swinging in the wind.


Mike Dwyer
Critter Control, Inc.
"Protecting People, Property & Wildlife"

Discover 'Animal Facts,' have fun with 'Animal Trivia,' and send 'Critter Cards' FREE at www.crittercontrol.com

I wouldn't do it any other way mike =) I think they get sick of us calling them every other week for some sort of permit.

It is my understanding that USF&W is the "Authority" on Migratory bird and Seagull.....????

And they will not give "me" permits.....i have to get the permit issued to the client and be named as the agent.....

Well said Mike

How does your game warden do that when those special permits, deer and geese, are supposed to go through the district chief? Trying to get a deer damage permit here is about as fruitful as trying to draw blood from a rock.