An Official Website of the Commonwealth of Kentucky
Conflicts between people and wildlife frequently occur in urban areas and farmlands. Homeowners experience damage to lawns and gardens from chipmunks, skunks, and raccoons. Squirrels and raccoons den in attics and barns. Farmers have problems with deer damaging agricultural crops and predation of livestock by coyotes or vultures. Beavers cause damage to timber and flooding of roads.
There are several options for landowners and farmers for resolving wildlife conflicts. Please click on a specific animal or refer to the General Nuisance Wildlife Control Options below.
Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators are individuals who are permitted by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Services to provide professional wildlife control assistance for a fee. Find a Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator in your area now.
If you are a current or prospective Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator, see detailed permit information.
Landowners and farmers who have problems with furbearers (mink, muskrat, beaver, river otter, weasel, raccoon, opossum, gray fox, red fox, bobcat, coyote, or striped skunk) may request assistance from a fur trapper during the legal trapping season. Through this program, farmers and landowners benefit by solving nuisance problems at no cost and fur trappers benefit by gaining land access for trapping opportunities. Furbearer trapping season is open from mid-November to the end of February. Fur trappers are private individuals and are not employed by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Services.
Per KRS 150.170, landowners may deal with nuisance wildlife through scare tactics, repellents, fencing and exclusion, or removal via shooting or trapping. Contact a KDFWR Law Enforcement Officer or Wildlife Biologist in your area for assistance.