On a Sunday evening in June, camo-clad men chat and laugh by pickups next to a restaurant near Billings, Montana. There is a faint but unmistakable odor of decay coming from a large trash bin across the parking lot—the just-weighed bodies of 29 coyotes, some of them rotting for two days in 90-degree...
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...
Imagine venturing so far into nature that your only surroundings are the beauty of the landscape, the sky and the wildlife living in that unspoiled habitat. Two volunteers for the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust, an affiliate of The HSUS, recently did just that, visiting protected land to observe...
Grizzly bears began arriving in northwestern Montana’s Blackfoot Valley in the late 1990s. Their population in surrounding mountains multiplied and gradually spread out, coming down from higher elevations into the green pastures of cattle country to search for food, returning to habitat bears had...
A raccoon in the chimney, a woodchuck under the shed, a skunk under the back porch … When confronted with wildlife living up-close in their own homes or backyards, well-meaning but harried homeowners often resort to what they see as the most humane solution—live-trapping the animal and then setting...
The woman on the phone was anxious but determined. She was calling City Wildlife, a rescue and rehabilitation center in Washington, D.C., because her dog had dug up a rabbit nest and killed three of the babies. There was one survivor. “I’m going to get some kitten formula and start feeding it...
Every day, more and more wildlife habitat is lost to the spread of development. Give a little back by creating a humane backyard! It doesn't matter whether you have a small apartment balcony, a townhouse with a sliver of ground, a suburban yard, a sprawling corporate property or a community park...
If a coyote is in your neighborhood 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 looking for food for their pups,” says Lynsey White, HSUS director of humane...
Once you've humanely removed a bat from inside your house or evicted them from your attic, how can you keep bats from coming back indoors? Make sure they have plenty of places to live outdoors. Bats are gaining an appreciation for their ecological contributions as pollinators, seed dispersers and...
Coyotes generally avoid humans, even when their home range encompasses largely urban or suburban habitat. However, the presence of a free buffet in the form of pet food or garbage can lure coyotes into suburban yards and create the impression that backyards are bountiful feeding areas. Without the...
As monarch butterflies and hummingbirds headed south this fall, I dreamt of following my favorite snowbirds to Mexico and Central America. But I stayed home instead, where I have a window onto the spectacular world of winter wildlife: northern flickers tossing maple leaves with their beaks in search...