Foxes are omnivores, hunting very small animals and scavenging in cities and towns where freely available pet food and garbage can make life easier. It’s not unusual for a fox to be seen out and about during the day. Learn More About Foxes Foxes are afraid of people and will usually run away when...

Known for Groundhog Day and weather prediction, nearsighted groundhogs (aka woodchucks) have an important place in the ecosystem. They provide food for coyotes, foxes, weasels, badgers, hawks and eagles, and their burrows give shelter to amphibians, reptiles, rodents and foxes. Learn More About...

Thanks to widespread pet vaccinations, effective post-exposure treatment and the relative rarity of undetected bites by rabid animals, the number of human deaths from rabies in the United States caused has declined to an average of only one or two per year—far less than the number of human...

ALBANY, New York—Today Gov. Kathy Hochul signed critical legislation (A.2917/S.4099) ending wildlife killing contests for coyotes, foxes, bobcats, squirrels, raccoons, crows and other species in New York. This historic new law prohibits competitive events during which contestants compete to kill the...

Today, the New York state legislature passed a bill that ends inhumane wildlife killing contests, in which participants compete to kill the most, the heaviest and the smallest animals for cash and prizes. In 2018 and 2020, the Humane Society of the United States released undercover investigations...

It began, almost certainly, in a bat. Then, just as SARS jumped to civets from bats, the virus that causes COVID-19 passed to another mammal, possibly a pangolin. Finally, late last year, the new coronavirus most likely jumped to humans in a wildlife market in Wuhan, China, a densely populated city...

Skunks, easily identifiable by their characteristic black and white striping, are infamous for producing a foul odor when frightened. Although a skunk’s spray is known mostly for its robust smell, it can also cause intense discomfort if it gets into a person or animal’s eyes. People will go to...

Prairie dogs are one of the most controversial and widely misunderstood wildlife species in North America. Since early European migration onto the North American grasslands, prairie dogs have been celebrated as an essential keystone species for healthy grasslands ecosystems, but also vilified and...

Once a rare sight, these days it’s not uncommon to see a flock of wild turkeys in residential neighborhoods. Drawn into urban and suburban areas looking for food and mates, wild turkeys are loved by some but may be a nuisance or source of fear for others. The fear of getting diseases from turkey...

Perhaps more than any other wild animal, rats have adapted to living among humans. Rats are adaptable survivors, consistently resisting increasingly dangerous and cruel attempts to exterminate them, from progressively stronger poisons (which can cause collateral damage to other wildlife) to a wide...

CARSON CITY, Nevada─Today, the Humane Society of the United States released the disturbing results of two January 2023 undercover investigations of wildlife killing contests in Nevada, demonstrating the need for a state law to ban them. The HSUS investigator attended the contest weigh-ins at which...

In March, as people struggled to understand how the precursor of the virus that causes COVID-19 emerged from horseshoe bats in southern China and reached humans in the central city of Wuhan, Humane Society International policy specialist Peter Li fielded one question again and again: “Why do Chinese...

If you spot a coyote in your neighborhood, relax: Most coyotes avoid people. “Seeing a coyote out during the day is not a cause for alarm, especially in the spring and summer when they’re out looking for food for their pups,” says Lynsey White, HSUS director of humane wildlife conflict resolution...

The Humane Society of the United States works with community leaders and animal care and control agencies to create Wild Neighbors communities, where humane and non-lethal solutions are given priority.