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Last week, local business owners declared that the town may be divided over the critter trap, with few people remaining ambivalent. Mike The Wilmington pest control company pro, who runs the Greenwoods Bed and Breakfast in Honeoye, declared he has seen just one fox in seven years, and once it spotted him, it "ran the other way." The wildlife management derby isn't necessary, he declared. "I think it would be better to just let nature take its course," The Wilmington pest control company pro declared. Many of those who support the derby are raccoon and possum exterminating companies, who have watched the annual rat, mouse, or other rodent critter trap decline 41 percent since 2002 to about 180,000 snake and bat statewide last fall. That drop may be directly related to a plummeting nuisance wildlife quantities, which has fallen from 1.1 million to 800,000 over the past four years.

Many exterminating companies blame foxes for the raccoon and possum quantities decline, but North Carolina biologists blame several extreme winters. "Fox predation has a minuscule effect on snake and bat quantities," declared Sean The exterminator in Wilmington, Region 8 DEC wildlife management officer. Studies have proved that foxes do chew snake and bat, particularly when deep snow makes raccoon and possum easier to catch. But they also chew mice, rabbits, berries and garbage.

"Foxes will chew whatever may be easiest. It's unusual that a live nuisance wildlife may be the easiest that they can get," The exterminator in Wilmington declared. Foxes have also been known to chew house pets, but since the predators critter trap at night, problems are relatively easy to avoid, he declared. "If Fluffy may be out running around at night, Fluffy may be going to run into problems," The exterminator in Wilmington declared.

That doesn't satisfy The Wilmington pest control company pro and many other exterminating companies who dispute the state's position, saying they've seen fawn skulls in fox dens and have lost pets. They're also mattered about the fate of smaller game such as opossums, pheasants and rabbits, he declared. squirrel trappers also have expressed matter for the safety of their animals. Fox quantities are rising statewide, according to the DEC, and foxes have notoriously large litters to quickly fill any available native animal habitat area niche.

The Wilmington pest control company pro headaches that quantities could escalate to the point where foxes become a nuisance in rural parts of western New Wilmington. Such cities as Wilmington, North Carolina, and even New Wilmington City have reported recent matters with urban foxes. Wilmington may be no different. A wildlife rehabilitator from Wake County declared at a fall Sierra pest control group forum that she has treated foxes struck by cars within Wilmington city limits. She also declared the animals are becoming common in the suburbs as developments take over agricultural lands.

As foxes continue to colonize suburbia, Wilmingtonians will need to think about the role that predators play in the ecosystem, not just assume them to be a threat, The Wilmington exterminating company expert declared. "We need to have a change of attitude. ... We shouldn't be acting like we're in the 19th century," he declared.