After the Storm

Three years after Hurricane Charley decimated the Gulf Coast, the wildlife population is starting to reappear

Hurricane Charley made landfall in Florida on Aug. 13, 2004, but we are still feeling the environmental repercussions.

I remember hearing the news that Charley was going to make landfall in Port Charlotte, Fla., which is in our service area. My wife, Christy, and I discussed how busy we’d be because the area was probably going to be rife with wildlife invasions, thanks to all of the damage and wildlife displacement.

Boy, were we wrong. Wildlife invasions were the last thing on people’s minds. Houses were damaged so badly that even if we were able to retrieve the animals, they would just find other places to get in to. Later, most of the animals and wildlife left on their own because of all of the noise and commotion from rebuilding and renovation work.

This brings us to our current problem: Almost everyone was so focused on structural damage, hardly anyone thought about the environmental impact that Charley would have. Not only were residences and commercial buildings destroyed, but so were all of the homes for wildlife. Many animals did not find their way to safety, thus drastically reducing the populations for many wildlife species.

For instance, we lost an enormous amount of squirrel nests because of all the trees that were destroyed. For the first couple of years after Charley we did not receive very many squirrel jobs at all.

Then came the fall 2006, when wildlife came back with a vengeance. I haven’t seen so many squirrels in all my life.

My company was handling more jobs from these little rodents in two days than we had tackled the entire year before. We were literally going nuts with these calls, and they haven’t stopped yet.

The reason why is because while we can replace structural damage, only Mother Nature can grow the trees ? thus leaving squirrels few options other than to invade commercial and residential dwellings.

Squirrel tales

The problem lies in that squirrels are one of the most destructive species of wildlife in Florida. They are from the rodent family and need to chew to survive. Their incisors continually grow and need to be filed down. After all, it’s not like squirrels can walk into a veterinarians’ offices and say, “I need a trim.” So, they chew on things like the wood on homes, wires in attics and almost anything else they can get to.

I have seen houses that had so much damage on fascia board that I wondered whether the wind blew inside, or if they had leaks. I have seen wires so chewed that I told the customers they needed electricians to fix them before re-entering the buildings.

One customer in Sun City Center, Fla., had a squirrel that chewed the pipes in his attic. He called a plumber to repair the leak, and called me to get the squirrel. So I set some traps and left.

The next morning, I got a call first thing saying that there was a problem. I went back to the account and could not believe my eyes: This squirrel had chewed another hole a mere 6 inches from the previous hole, which then flooded the condo. The water damage was so bad, the ceiling had fallen into a bedroom and all of the furniture was ruined.

Still, the customer was happy that the little critter was in the trap.

So, with all of the storms the Gulf Coast has had in the past few years, squirrel populations are back stronger than ever. It took a few years, but I’m finally getting all of the wildlife calls I expected when Charley first hit.

Isn’t it fascinating how Mother Nature adapts and changes things so wildlife species can survive and thrive in this delicate environment in which we live?

You can reach Jeff Norris, president of Nuisance Wildlife Relocation in Palmetto, Fla., at 941-729-2103 orjeff@flnwr.com.