Around South Dakota
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 South Dakota
Learn what to look for around your property, explore your city, and ask about an inspection or a quote.
Wildlife in South Dakota: 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 South Dakota: what the public record shows
Before you compare quotes, it helps to know which wildlife actually live in South Dakota, when they are busiest, and what the state figures look like. Everything below links to the agency or university page it came from.
Before midnight of the second full calendar day east of the Missouri River, third day west
Trap check interval
Traps or snares fully submerged under ice get five full calendar days statewide.
South Dakota Game, Fish and ParksMust be released or immediately and humanely killed
Disposition of captured furbearers
Possession of live furbearers is otherwise prohibited, apart from a single pet furbearer per household.
South Dakota Game, Fish and ParksPine marten, black-footed ferret, swift fox, fisher, wolf and black bear
Protected species that cannot be taken
Accidental live captures must be released alive; a dead one must be left undisturbed and reported to GFP within 12 hours.
South Dakota Game, Fish and ParksNuisance Wildlife species recorded in South Dakota
- 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.
Rules that apply in South Dakota
For context, nationally
Sources: South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks; Rabies in the United States: Protecting Public Health; Class A (commercial) Nuisance Wildlife Control Permit study packet (17 Ill. Adm. Code 525). Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources
Explore South Dakota cities
Aberdeen
Humid Continental · rural setting
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Brookings
Humid Continental · rural setting
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Huron
Humid Continental · rural setting
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Mitchell
Humid Continental · rural setting
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Pierre
Humid Continental · rural setting
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Rapid City
Semi-Arid Continental · suburban setting
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Sioux Falls
Humid Continental · urban setting
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Watertown
Humid Continental · rural setting
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Yankton
Humid Continental · rural setting
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Vermillion
Humid Continental · rural setting
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