AMES, Iowa — Whether it's squirrels digging up bulbs, moles in the lawn or coyotes in a neighborhood, Iowans now have access to additional research-based solutions for helping humans and wildlife coexist. The eXtension Wildlife Damage Management Web site from the national eXtension project helps consumers manage wildlife problems and links people to experts.
eXtension (pronounced e-extension) is an educational partnership of more than 70 land-grant university extension services including Iowa State University Extension. Consumers who register on the eXtension site, http://www.extension.org, will get a link to their local extension service. All information is free.
The link to local information is particularly important in the area of wildlife damage management, says Jim Pease, ISU Extension wildlife specialist and associate professor of natural resource ecology and management. “What is appropriate and legal varies state by state. For example in Iowa we can live trap and translocate raccoons. That is not true in many other states where trapped animals must be euthanized to avoid disease spread,” Pease says. Iowa State’s wildlife information can be accessed on the Web at www.extension.iastate.edu/wildlife/ .
The eXtension Wildlife Damage Management site was developed through the collaboration of nationally recognized wildlife biologists, nuisance wildlife control operators, educators and people interested in the field of human-wildlife relations.
"The backbone of our site is a series of illustrated pages on 65 wildlife species that cause damage or nuisance problems in North America," said Scott Hygnstrom, professor and extension wildlife damage specialist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, who collaborated on the project. "We included everything from alligators to polar bears. For each species, you can easily navigate through life histories, behavior, damage identification, economics, legal issues, and a complete list of methods for managing wildlife damage."
The eXtension Wildlife Damage Management Website also features frequently asked questions, ask the expert, news and upcoming events, and glossary and diseases.
"People need to understand how to resolve or manage problems caused by wildlife with solutions that are humane, ecologically sensitive and responsible, and economically viable. This site is developed to do just that," said Robert Schmidt, associate professor and certified wildlife biologist at Utah State University who also collaborated on the project.
Other eXtension topics currently on the Web are horses, personal finance and imported fire ants. More topic areas are scheduled to debut in 2007 including consumer horticulture, parenting and entrepreneurship.
Cooperative extension services are a part of land-grant universities which were founded on the ideals that higher education should be accessible to all and that the university should teach liberal and practical subjects and share the university's knowledge with people throughout their states.
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