David Sparks’s affection for small wild animals began early in life. When they were children, he and his brother used to catch and release chipmunks and mice at the family camp near Sebago Lake, Maine. These days, Sparks is an independent Animal Damage Control Officer, licensed to live-trap and remove animals from private property. He also is a certified wildlife rehabilitator. When he’s not responding to calls about rampaging rodents, he runs Spark’s Ark, an animal rescue and rehabilitation service. Under its auspices, he presents popular educational programs about rehabilitated animals to a wide range of children’s and community groups.

What are most of your calls about?

It depends on the time of year, but overall the biggest problem is with squirrels. I also get calls about skunks, raccoons, woodchucks. A few possums. A snake or a rat every now and then. I’ve even moved a few big snapping turtles out of back yards.

Snapping turtles?

That happens when a house is near fresh water. The turtles come up to lay eggs. To handle snapping turtles, I put on my Kevlar gloves before picking them up by the sides of the shell. As long as you can avoid the claws and the head, it’s not too difficult. I take the turtles to another body of water where they can lay eggs without being near somebody’s house.

Have you ever been bitten?

Not too often and not too badly. I’m still here.

What’s the problem with squirrels?

They fall down people’s chimneys and get stuck. Or they get out of the chimney and into the house, where they cause damage. They also nest in attics and crawlspaces. They chew the exterior of the house to get in. Once they’re ensconced, they have babies. People worry about them chewing the wires, which they have been known to do. Chipmunks do that too.

How do you handle them?

Each case is a little bit different. But basically, you need to place the trap near where the squirrel comes and goes, and bait it correctly. I just got a red squirrel out of a house yesterday. It had chewed a hole near where the basement and wall come together, and was living in the basement. Then a contractor inadvertently blocked the hole so the squirrel couldn’t get out. The animal could get into spaces I couldn’t fit, so instead of trying to chase it down, I set a 24-inch trap in the basement. Within four hours, we’d caught it. It had been in the basement for three days and was really hungry. I brought it back here to my house and let it go.

What did you use for bait?

Peanut butter and sunflower seeds.

What’s the hardest animal to catch?

One of the hardest jobs is getting a bat out of a tight location. Bats are great animals in the out-of-doors, where they mosquitoes and all, but you don’t want them in the house. Trouble is that they can fit into quarter-inch cracks and you can’t get your hands on them. When that happens, I use a grabbing tool made for mechanics to reach nuts and bolts in car engines; it fits into tight places, so I can enclose the bat and pull it out.

Have you caught every animal you were hired to catch?

Yes.

Where do you take them?

Depends on what they are. I can relocate squirrels most anywhere. You have to take them far enough away so they won’t come back and cause a problem. However, the state is now concerned about relocating possible rabies-carriers like skunks and raccoons. Usually they’ll allow you to relocate them within the area that they’re caught, but far enough away that they’ll stay away.

What other calls do you receive?

Lots of people call when they find an injured animal. I’m glad they do because they can tell me exactly what they see and I can give them advice for their actual situation. You don’t want to just go picking up an animal or bird that seems hurt. A lot of times there isn’t really anything wrong. If it’s a baby, the mother is probably nearby. Sometimes a bird will fly into a window and knock itself out. Usually it just needs a few hours to recuperate.

Most people call about seagulls. Young ones jump off roofs and hurt themselves. And a lot of them get hit by cars. It you try to pick them up, be aware that they have a very sharp bill. They do bite, particularly if they’re frightened. One of the safest ways of handling a large injured bird is to throw a towel over it, then gently roll it up, avoiding the beak. Or you can coax it into a cardboard box.

How would you do that?

You’d have to corner it and use a branch or something like that to push it into the box. A towel is a lot easier.

How about people who want to catch a bothersome animal, like a woodchuck, themselves?

It’s easiest to hire someone like me to live-trap and move the animal, but if you want to try it yourself, here’s a few pointers. Rent a trap that’s big enough. For a full grown woodchuck, you need something about ten inches wide and three feet long. Most woodchucks have a hole somewhere near your garden. The key is finding that hole. If you set a live-trap within the garden, you’re not so apt to catch them. But if you set the trap so it’s the first thing they see when they come out of the burrow, and you offer a good, fresh selection of bait, you’ll catch them fairly fast. Then make sure you take them far enough away so they won’t come back.

What should you use as bait?

In the spring, I might use a whole flat of pansies. In the summer, you could use cabbage with some peanut butter. Check the trap daily, as it is cruel to leave an animal without water in a cage.

How do you get an animal out of the cage once you’ve caught it?

I just roll the trap on its side, leave it open, and walk away. Some nocturnal animals, such as skunks, are reluctant to leave the trap in daylight, so they may hesitate. Usually the animal will come out within a few minutes.

Do people ever catch an animal and then panic?

Loads of times. Today I had someone who caught a raccoon, then hired me to move the raccoon from their trap to mine. After that I moved it far enough away so it won’t return.

Let’s go back to the topic of skunks.

I can’t tell you how often people catch skunks without meaning to. That’s why it’s a good idea to check the trap before you let your dogs out. They always startle the skunk and get sprayed.

What do you do when you get a skunk-in-a-trap call?

I come move the skunk from your trap to mine.

How?

Very carefully.

Yeah, right!

I’m serious. You just have to be patient and move very carefully. Skunks don’t like to smell themselves either, so they’ll warn you by lifting their tail before they’re going to spray. Once you’re beside the trap, you put a cover over it to keep the skunk calm. As long as you watch the signs, and go very slowly and cautiously, you’ll be okay.