Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
#3192115
06/19/12 08:55 AM
06/19/12 08:55 AM
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129 Dudley NC
Muddawg
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129
Dudley NC
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Yet another call came in last night from someone who thought I'm supposed to go out to their house, aces their problem and remove the offending ground hogs for free!
They get my number from Animal Control and think that I'm a service provided by the county. Or when they get my number from the states website, then I'm a service of the state.
That's irritating!
They are ready for me to get out there, right now and do something! Then when they find out it's gonna cost money, they back up and say, "Uh.... We'll call you."
What's the deal? You've either got a problem or you don't! Does the problem magically disappear when money is involved? If I WERE a service of the state or county, I think it would cheese me off to have someone waste my time like that!
Do any of y'all have this problem?
Muddawg
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Muddawg]
#3192138
06/19/12 09:13 AM
06/19/12 09:13 AM
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 25 Nashville, Tennessee
John Pearson
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 25
Nashville, Tennessee
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I feel your pain. It happens to us all the time.
I especially like when people call on the weekend, or late at night (because animal control is closed) to report a stray dog in the yard that's "menacing the kids", or a deer that's been hit by a car.
It's particularly gratifying to know that they just clicked on one of my ads, costing me $$, and didn't read the "Call For a Free Quote!" part.
John
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Muddawg]
#3192166
06/19/12 09:42 AM
06/19/12 09:42 AM
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129 Dudley NC
Muddawg
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129
Dudley NC
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Yeah, I love it when they call and say something like "Oh! Mister Wildlife Man. I just saw a fox walk across the corner of my back yard in the daylight!
And I'm like "Uh.... Okay?"
It amazes me at times how little people actually know about some of these things. I mean people who should know. People who have lived in the country all their lives and freak out when they see a fox?
I actually had a guy call me once about squirrels in his pecan tree. First he thought I was a free service. After he found out I charge for services, then he wants to know what he can do himself to take care of the problem.
In questioning him, I learned that he lives out in the country and owns a shotgun... And this was the middle of squirrel season. What does he need me for?
Muddawg
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: John Pearson]
#3192189
06/19/12 09:57 AM
06/19/12 09:57 AM
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Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,875 Gainesville, Alachua, Florida,...
Robb Russell
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,875
Gainesville, Alachua, Florida,...
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"Call For a Free Quote!" part. John You will have less problems if you remove the word FREE from your web site. The words "animal control, dog or cat " are like two edged swords .If you don't want that this type of call do not use these words on a web site even if you just say we do not do any dogs or cats ever Substitute that you offer no domesticated animal services you will get less by not suggesting your company in google, bing or yahoo searches by omitting these words. When you use these words you are actually optimizing your web site for those words and get traffic you expect not expecting ; like free animal control because search engines pair up combinations of words you use on your page and compare them to searches. There is a mind set when it comes to the two verbs "control" and "remove" . We call animal control thinking its FREE but folks are more willing to pay to have something removed. My point is control=free and remove=pay . As far as odd calls I get plenty of them. I even get the distress calls from boaters having trouble on the water because the game wardens handle that too and human error is pretty regular on the part of the Local 911 Call Center. The worst one was a cardiac arrest and all I could offer was call the operator again. I have had three calls in the middle of the night to see If I can come over and deliver some cows and goats. I moved from a population of 750,000 to all the joys of Rural America ! As far as people calling about using our services I always work in very quickly how they plan on paying for our services today!It is very rare that I start up the truck without some pre-arrangement for the anticipated services and payment expected.
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Muddawg]
#3192216
06/19/12 10:17 AM
06/19/12 10:17 AM
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129 Dudley NC
Muddawg
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129
Dudley NC
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I ran a squirrel call once. The house was in foul shape. Leaks in the roof had promoted wood rot in an outside wall right where two roof lines joined at the valley. The wall had deteriorated to the point that one of the roof lines had dropped a good 8 inches opening a hole nearly a foot in diameter. The decking underneath the shingles was gone completely in an area of about a foot in diameter and the decking that was left was rotted for another 5 feet up.
I decided that there was little I could do for them until they got their roof fixed. When explaining to the lady that she had more serious problems than a squirrel she suggested that I should start repairing the roof right away.
"Sorry, Mam. But I can't fix your roof."
"Yes, you is! I pays my taxes!"
Wait a minute.... Taxes? Oh, great! I can see where this is going. No... I did NOT get paid for that call.
Muddawg
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Muddawg]
#3192235
06/19/12 10:36 AM
06/19/12 10:36 AM
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 604 New York
ponyboy
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 604
New York
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Yet another call came in last night from someone who thought I'm supposed to go out to their house, aces their problem and remove the offending ground hogs for free!
They get my number from Animal Control and think that I'm a service provided by the county. Or when they get my number from the states website, then I'm a service of the state.
That's irritating!
They are ready for me to get out there, right now and do something! Then when they find out it's gonna cost money, they back up and say, "Uh.... We'll call you."
What's the deal? You've either got a problem or you don't! Does the problem magically disappear when money is involved? If I WERE a service of the state or county, I think it would cheese me off to have someone waste my time like that!
Do any of y'all have this problem? When I get calls that say they got my number from the police or sheriff Dept. I usually say. Yes, I do that type of work, but I am a private contractor who gets referals from the departments and I charge a fee to remove animals. It is part of the job and I don't sweat it. And I do get a lot of work from such calls. Because they will say, if the police dept. reccomends me that is a good referal.
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Robb Russell]
#3192317
06/19/12 11:59 AM
06/19/12 11:59 AM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 51 Iowa
dspree
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 51
Iowa
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I had a lady call wanting me to remove a family of raccoons from a wall in her house. It was bad enough that the urine was soaked through the sheet rock into the living area of the house. when I told her that I charged for my services she said that she would just leave the coon there.
Member Iowa Trappers Association Minnesota trappers association F.T.A. D&D Nuisance Wildlife Control
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Muddawg]
#3192320
06/19/12 12:02 PM
06/19/12 12:02 PM
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 1,884 Northeast Wisconsin
NE Wildlife
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 1,884
Northeast Wisconsin
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I love the people usually a women that says so Your not going to help this poor bird your just going To let it suffer! I say no you are the one letting it Suffer bc you won't pay me to take care of the problem
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Peskycritter]
#3192732
06/19/12 05:22 PM
06/19/12 05:22 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 21,141 St. Louis Co, Mo
BigBob
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 21,141
St. Louis Co, Mo
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She got all mad and said I will never call you again and hung up. If you're lucky, she won't. My personal fave is the one where they get all cute and friendly because they want to pick your brain so they can do it themselves.
Every kid needs a Dog and a Curmudgeon.
Remember Bowe Bergdahl, the traitor.
Beware! Jill Pudlewski, Ron Oates and Keven Begesse are liars and thiefs!
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Muddawg]
#3192825
06/19/12 06:15 PM
06/19/12 06:15 PM
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 333 AR
22mag
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 333
AR
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Bob Jameson]
#3192917
06/19/12 07:34 PM
06/19/12 07:34 PM
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 700 Chocowinity, NC
Phil Nichols
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 700
Chocowinity, NC
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Never use the word free in any ads or you will run into alot of calls such as that.We dont do free anything.
We charge $75.00 for all inspections or on site consultations, then all subsequent bids are free.As soon as the caller starts asking advice I ask for a credit card number and quote them a per min. fee of $1.50. Most of the calls are quick and only the serious callers will give their credit card info.Information is valuable and not for free.Do you call a doctor for self medication and treatment without a fee? Edith says hi. She is mad at me for all the time I spend on the phone giving out advice. I mean she is really mad. Did you ever think about a 900 number? Most Doctors are on an automated system here - can't get them live on the phone, unless he has a groundhog problem.
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Muddawg]
#3193076
06/19/12 09:19 PM
06/19/12 09:19 PM
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129 Dudley NC
Muddawg
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129
Dudley NC
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I once had a guy call me wanting to know how much I charged to hook up a mobile home.(plumbing)
When I told him what it would cost he got quiet, then started asking a bunch of specific questions about the hook up. I finally got mad and told him that if he wanted me to do it, fine. But if I gave him any more answers, I would charge him a service call.
He said, "Thank you." and hung up.
As far as my ADC business, I don't have a web site. I wouldn't have a clue as to how to create one.
Muddawg
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Muddawg]
#3193578
06/20/12 06:46 AM
06/20/12 06:46 AM
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paul antczak
Unregistered
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paul antczak
Unregistered
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I get the same from the county animal control referrals. I will go help the lil ole lady's tho. I get alota animal rescue calls.
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Muddawg]
#3194792
06/20/12 11:02 PM
06/20/12 11:02 PM
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 30 St. Louis area
Dave Schmidt
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 30
St. Louis area
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I ran a squirrel call once. The house was in foul shape. Leaks in the roof had promoted wood rot in an outside wall right where two roof lines joined at the valley. The wall had deteriorated to the point that one of the roof lines had dropped a good 8 inches opening a hole nearly a foot in diameter. The decking underneath the shingles was gone completely in an area of about a foot in diameter and the decking that was left was rotted for another 5 feet up.
I decided that there was little I could do for them until they got their roof fixed. When explaining to the lady that she had more serious problems than a squirrel she suggested that I should start repairing the roof right away.
"Sorry, Mam. But I can't fix your roof."
"Yes, you is! I pays my taxes!"
Wait a minute.... Taxes? Oh, great! I can see where this is going. No... I did NOT get paid for that call. It's a sad comentary on society when a homeowner thinks that somebody else should fix the roof she neglected. Very good info., Robb.
ALL OUT Wildlife Control
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Muddawg]
#3194881
06/21/12 12:13 AM
06/21/12 12:13 AM
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129 Dudley NC
Muddawg
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129
Dudley NC
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Just got a call today! The man said he saw two small fox(pups) go under his shed. When he found out that I charge for my services, he tried to bargain with me by telling me I could keep the fox.
I asked "Have they done any damage?"
"No. But I have a small dog. They might kill him.":/
I informed him that I could not legally take them with out proof of damage. He got mad at me and asked "Then what am I supposed to do?!"
I told him to leave them alone and their mama would come by tonight and pick them up.
Muddawg
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Muddawg]
#3194884
06/21/12 12:19 AM
06/21/12 12:19 AM
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129 Dudley NC
Muddawg
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129
Dudley NC
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Oh. I love it when I get the threatening phone call.
You know. The one where they tell you what you had better do or else?
"If you don't come out here and get him then I'm gonna get my shotgun and shoot it!" I've been told that or something similar 3 times in the past 2 weeks!
So, if I don't stop what I'm doing and come to your house right now and possibly perform an illegal act with no pay, then you are gonna do something illegal yourself?"
I think I'm going to start giving these peoples name and phone number to the game warden.
Muddawg
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Muddawg]
#3194887
06/21/12 12:27 AM
06/21/12 12:27 AM
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 164 northern Calif.
Probtrapper
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 164
northern Calif.
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EVERYTIME and I mean EVERYTIME we get a call from a new customer the first sentence on our end goes something like this: "Yes we do that type of work but we are a private company and we charge for our work." That either ends the conversation there or we end up with a paying customer.
Bob Hassel Animal Nuisance Control
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Probtrapper]
#3195225
06/21/12 12:24 PM
06/21/12 12:24 PM
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 78 E. Iowa
hvtrapper
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 78
E. Iowa
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EVERYTIME and I mean EVERYTIME we get a call from a new customer the first sentence on our end goes something like this: "Yes we do that type of work but we are a private company and we charge for our work." That either ends the conversation there or we end up with a paying customer.
Tom Walters
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Just_starting]
#3197862
06/23/12 06:03 PM
06/23/12 06:03 PM
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 3,830 Lower Alabama (Daleville)
LAtrapper
"Professor"
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"Professor"
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 3,830
Lower Alabama (Daleville)
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1. Board Rules- Your location must be displayed in your profile. As a minimum, you need to show your state or province. 2 Check the ADC Archives for starting and pricing.
Note to self- Engage brain before opening mouth (or hitting the ENTER key/SUBMIT button).
Ron Fry
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Just_starting]
#3198494
06/24/12 10:20 AM
06/24/12 10:20 AM
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129 Dudley NC
Muddawg
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129
Dudley NC
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How can i get involved in adc work? It starts with knowledge. Learn all you can about every type of critter you have in your area and then some. Learn as much as you possibly can about birds, mammals, reptiles, fish and insects. You'll need to know what critters are natural to your area, which ones are moving in and which ones are disappearing. You'll have to know what is endangered, what is threatened and what is plentiful. Learn something about home construction. You'll need some working knowledge of structures and how they stand and breath. Knowledge of residential and commercial construction will help you to determine where to look for critters, how to exclude them and how to seal, patch and repair what damage they cause. The more trapping experience you have, the more it will help. I do more exclusion and prevention than I do actual "removal" of critters. You will find yourself more of a "Conservationist" than an actual trapper. Then get yourself certified. We, here, have to take a two day course, offered by the sate Wildlife Recourse Commission. Then advertise a little and do what you tell your customers you'll do.
Muddawg
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Muddawg]
#3198713
06/24/12 01:35 PM
06/24/12 01:35 PM
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Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 8,746 Nebraska, Dawson County
chas3457
trapper
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trapper
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 8,746
Nebraska, Dawson County
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Muddawg, That is in the 'top ten' of the SMATREST things I have ever read on here. It is very good advice indeed.
Charlie
Old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm.
NRA Life Member ~ GOA Member ~ NFOA Member ~ UNMLA Member
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Re: Yes! You Do Have to Pay Me!
[Re: Muddawg]
#3198959
06/24/12 06:11 PM
06/24/12 06:11 PM
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Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129 Dudley NC
Muddawg
OP
trapper
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OP
trapper
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 129
Dudley NC
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More to the point,
I trapped for about 13 years before I got my WDCA certification. Then I continued trapping and learning for another three years or more BEFORE I actually started my ADC business.
Still, I read, search the internet, attend trapping classes, watch wildlife videos, watch wildlife in the field, talk with other ADC agents, talk with other trappers, talk with game wardens and joined my local trappers association.
Every chance I get to learn more, I take full advantage of it. I've even had my game camera set up throughout the year to see how habits may change with the seasons. I also learn what I can about species that aren't even in my area yet. If there is a new critter heading my way, I know about it before it gets here. Case in point: Armadillos are headed our way. By the time they get here I'll know where to look for them, what they eat, why they dig, their breeding habits and how to catch them.
That's what it takes to stay ahead of the game. That's how I intend to have an edge over my competitors. That's how I'm gonna look like the experienced expert on the very first armadillo call.
Even with all the knowledge I have, I still have MUCH to learn. You'll NEVER know it all but you need to know all you can!
Last edited by Muddawg; 06/24/12 06:14 PM.
Muddawg
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