Too Few Paying Gigs

I'd say that fewer than 10 percent of the wildlife calls I get actually result in paying jobs.

The rule here in North Carolina is that the offending critter must be causing damage before depredation permits can be issued and the critter removed. Then there is the definition of damage that must be considered. But I'm getting so sick and tired of stupid people calling me to come catch a fox simply because he walked across their back yard. People just don't know the difference between a wildlife problem and a viewing opportunity.

Then there are the calls where they get my number from either the Wildlife Resource Commission or from the county animal shelter and when the find out that I charge to come out they hang up. They think I'm supposed to be a government provided service.

I had a call last week from a lady who found a baby owl in the road and thought I was a Wildlife Rescue person because she got my number from the vets office.

How do you avoid these time consuming no profit calls?

Then there are those who take matters in their own hands regardless of legalities. They trap and relocate or shoot critters on sight. We don't have enough game wardens here to address this problem. I even have a close friend of mine who's Dad declares war on squirrels ever summer. He has traps out continuously and relocates what he catches without any permission from land owners. He just simply drives them down the road a mile or two and dumps them out. Now we have a bunch of trap shy problem squirrels eating carrots in someones else's garden.

Or, the guys out there trapping any and every thing with no license or certification of any kind but they seam to be the ones with all the paying business. This is REALLY irritating!

What do you do when you hear of someone doing these things?

How do you weed out the "no go" calls and get more of the paying work?

No way to stop them from calling. Just tell them up front that you charge for your services. I usually refer them to a rehab facility or drop point just for good PR. They are happy for the info and remember your name.
I used to do ADC work in the Raleigh Triangle area. I used to charge a service/inspection fee to go out and show them how to avoid having wildlife in their yards. I wouldn't trap them if they were there for their bird feeder or pet food. Man, I sure don't miss filling out all those permits for each animal. No need down here in Florida. I believe the majority of squirrels do not survive relocation. I only one time saw a bald squirrel around my office that I'd relocated (smacking his head on the cage). I'm having trouble with trap shy coons down here. Several jobs in a row now. I'm to the point where I just go in and grab the babies and try to scare her out now.

Eventually, once you grow, you have someone else fielding those calls or at least I did. I was just called by a news station to remove a rabid raccoon. At the end of the interview they said that I did it completely free of charge. It's more than doubled my free calls now. All for a bit of free advertising. When asked why I came out to help the people on a Friday night I told her. It's because you called me. They in return edited the worst comment from an earlier conversation and threw it in as my answer.

After ten years I finally dropped my Yellow Pages sub listing under "animal control" the "I found a baby this and baby that" calls stopped almost 100%. YP did give me a new sub listing under "trapping services" just to try something new. With a well built web site and my main listing under pest control I'm as busy as I want to be. Muddawg any referral you get from a governmaent agency has the potential to give people the idea you do this as an extended government service. It's just part of the game.

Ditto what my fellow CWCP said. I always knew he was a fart smeller smart feller. As WCO's we are similar in some way to rehabbers, PCO's, fur trappers and ACO's (animal control officers), yet we occupy our own unique niche. It's very frustrating to have to deal with the "I thought you worked for the county" types; your advertising/marketing can help reduce that aggravation.

Yeah, I've seriously considered having my name and number taken off of the states web site. The animal shelter calls do give me a some profit, though.

I've not done any yellow page adds as yet. I was leaning more to a web page but have no idea how to set that up or what it would cost.

I like the idea of a web page because you can get as simple or as in depth as you want. I could list all my services as well as rates.

The biggest thing I do know is that I need a LOT of advertising!

I would talk to robb russel about website if i were you.

Robb Russel? Who is he and how do I get in touch with him?

do a search for hime hes all over the adc forum

Try godaddy.com
Its is fairly simple and they provide lots of customer services.

websites in my area are a waste of money. unless your spending a ton of money to stay on the first page of google it isnt worth it. my calls mostly come through the animal shelters, police depts, yellow pages get alot of hits.. and put business cards EVERYWHERE! i get a ton of calls from people who pick my card off the bulletin boards at grocery stores and gas stations. plus everyone i work for gets at least 3 business cards to pass around. newspaper ads in my area stink... the websites stink.. billboards are to pricey. i still have a website.. but i cant remember the last time i got a call off it. last year i think.

Trapping is like other jobs. Pay your dues...... Put your time in and in 10 or twenty years you will have plenty of work. Of course Marketing is important also.

Naw....not the area

I'm not from michigan. but internet advertizing is effective when done properly. just having a website is not "advertizing". traffic has to be pushed towards it either organically ( talk to R Russel i understand hes the man when it comes to that) or by paying for clicks. a website that just sits there with no traffic is worthless. furthermorre the website needs to be nice enough to convince prospective clients to CALL YOU.

Wiggler, I did a little googleing, and your website regularly is ranked 5th or lower. you might want to try modifying how you direct traffic to your site. the top 3 listings getlike 90% of the calls. it may be worth looking into. I'm not picking at you, just contructive criticism, in responce to your previous post.

Thanks, guys.

I think I've got something I can run with here.