Around Rhode Island
Conditions vary across the state. Choose your city below, then describe what’s happening around your home or business.
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Local wildlife information
Wildlife control in Rhode Island
Learn what to look for around your property, explore your city, and ask about an inspection or a quote.
Wildlife in Rhode Island: what to know
What to note
Where you see wildlife, how long it has been going on, and anything you’ve already tried are the most useful details to mention.
A useful next step
Ask about an inspection, what treatment would involve, and whether follow-up visits are included. You don’t need to identify the problem yourself before getting in touch.
Local research
Wildlife in Rhode Island: what the public record shows
Before you compare quotes, it helps to know which wildlife actually live in Rhode Island, when they are busiest, and what the state figures look like. Everything below links to the agency or university page it came from.
Prohibited statewide
Relocation of wildlife
Moving a captured wild animal to another location is prohibited in Rhode Island; RIDEM does not remove or relocate wildlife either.
Rhode Island DEM Division of Fish and Wildlife$25, valid January 1 to December 31
Nuisance Wildlife Control Specialist permit
Applicants must pass an examination and hold a current Rhode Island trapping licence.
Rhode Island DEM Division of Fish and WildlifeHumane, legal euthanasia under state regulation
Disposition of captured animals
With relocation off the table, on-site release or euthanasia is the outcome.
Rhode Island DEM Division of Fish and WildlifeNuisance Wildlife species recorded in Rhode Island
- Raccoon (Procyon lotor) — Top terrestrial rabies vector in the East; relocation banned in most states.
- Striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) — Primary rabies reservoir in Texas and the central U.S.; Illinois requires euthanasia of trapped striped skunks.
- Big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus) — Most common building bat; protected with maternity-season exclusion limits.
Rhode Island classifies all carnivores, woodchucks and all bat species as rabies vector species, which drives the relocation ban.
Rules that apply in Rhode Island
For context, nationally
Sources: Rhode Island DEM Division of Fish and Wildlife; Rabies in the United States: Protecting Public Health; Class A (commercial) Nuisance Wildlife Control Permit study packet (17 Ill. Adm. Code 525); Impacted Bats. Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources
Explore Rhode Island cities
Coventry
Humid Continental · suburban setting
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Cranston
Humid Continental · urban setting
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Cumberland
Humid Continental · suburban setting
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East Providence
Humid Continental · suburban setting
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Pawtucket
Humid Continental · urban setting
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Providence
Humid Continental · urban setting
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Warwick
Humid Continental · urban setting
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Woonsocket
Humid Continental · urban setting
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Middletown
Humid Continental · suburban setting
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