# Florida Nuisance Wildlife Trapping Law, Species by Species > What Florida law actually allows when an animal is in your attic, species by species. FWC issues no trapper license; rule 68A-9.010 is what binds the work. Source: https://drcritter.com/blog/florida-nuisance-wildlife-trapping-law-species-by-species/index.md Type: Article Author: Blog Admin Published: 2026-08-18 --- Almost every wildlife company in Florida, this one included until recently, has told customers it holds a state trapper license. It does not, because no such license exists. That is not a technicality. The belief that a license is what makes wildlife work legal has crowded out the rules that actually decide what may be done to an animal in your attic, and those rules are strict, specific and enforceable. What follows is the law as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission publishes it, species by species, with the rule number behind every claim. Where a question turns on judgment rather than rule, it says so instead of guessing. ## The licensing rule everyone gets wrong The FWC states it plainly on its own [Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator Registration](https://myfwc.com/license/wildlife/nuisance-wildlife-permits/trapper-registration/) page: it does not license nuisance wildlife trappers. What exists instead is a voluntary directory. Operators may ask to have their name and counties added to it, and the FWC is explicit that those listed are not regulated by the FWC but must follow all applicable rules and regulations. It goes further than that. Under the agency guidance on [nuisance wildlife](https://myfwc.com/conservation/you-conserve/wildlife/faqs-nuisance-wildlife/), trappers and property owners do not need to notify or obtain FWC authorization to take most destructive or nuisance wildlife from private property. You may legally trap a squirrel out of your own attic today, with no paperwork at all. One species breaks the pattern. Only a licensed nuisance alligator trapper may take an alligator, which is why an alligator call goes to the Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program and not to a wildlife company. So if a license is not the constraint, what is? Two things: the method you use, and what happens to the animal afterward. ## What happens to the animal once it is caught This is the part homeowners break most often, and it is governed by [Florida Administrative Code rule 68A-9.010](https://myfwc.com/conservation/you-conserve/wildlife/remove/). Once a native nuisance animal is in a trap, there are four lawful outcomes and no others: - Release it on the property where it was captured. - Release it off site, but only where the release site is a minimum of 40 contiguous acres, is in the same county as the capture site, and you hold written permission from that landowner. - Transfer it to a licensed facility. - Euthanize it humanely, in accordance with the AVMA Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals. Driving a raccoon to a park on the other side of the county line is not on that list. Neither is releasing it in a patch of woods behind a subdivision, because a patch of woods is not 40 contiguous acres. This is the most common illegal act in Florida wildlife work, and it is almost always committed by someone acting kindly. Method carries its own permits. Steel traps require a permit, and so do gun and light permits for certain species, both under the same rule. The FWC position is worth repeating because it sits above all of this: trapping and relocating or killing native wildlife should be a last resort. Sealing the entry point is what ends the problem, which is why [humane removal and exclusion](https://drcritter.com/services/humane-critter-removal/) are one job rather than two. ## Squirrels Gray squirrels are native nongame wildlife and fall squarely under the nuisance provisions. You may trap one on your own property without notifying anyone, and the four disposition outcomes above apply. The catch is that squirrels are territorial and a sealed roofline is what keeps the next one out. Removing the resident animal without closing the gap it used simply advertises a vacancy. Take care with any squirrel that is not a common gray. State-listed and federally listed species require a permit before any take, and identification is the homeowner responsibility, not the trap. ## Raccoons Raccoons are where the relocation rule bites hardest, because they are the animal people most want to drive somewhere scenic. The 40-acre, same-county, written-permission standard applies in full. They are also a principal rabies vector species in Florida, which is the public health reason the disposition rules are written as tightly as they are. ## Opossums Opossums sit under the same framework and the same four outcomes. They are also the species most often trapped unnecessarily. An opossum under a deck in December is sheltering rather than nesting, and it usually leaves on its own once the weather turns, provided the access point is closed behind it. ## Rats and mice Roof rats, Norway rats and house mice are not native wildlife, so the protections that govern a raccoon do not apply to them. They are handled instead as structural pests, and they are the one group where a pest control company and a wildlife company genuinely overlap. What does not change is the building work. Rodent control without exclusion is a subscription, not a repair. ## Armadillos Armadillos generate more yard damage calls than any other species in Central Florida and almost no legal complexity, because the damage is structural rather than interior. The disposition rules still apply once one is in a trap. There is more on [what armadillo damage actually looks like](https://drcritter.com/animal/armadillos/), and a fuller treatment of the rules in our guide to [armadillo removal, trapping laws and yard damage](https://drcritter.com/blog/armadillo-removal-in-central-florida-trapping-laws-and-yard-damage/). ## Snakes Native snakes are protected nongame wildlife under Florida Administrative Code rule 68A-4.001, which tends to surprise the person holding the shovel. Most of what turns up beside a pool cage in this state is both harmless and protected, so identification comes before any decision. Venomous species add a second layer. Anyone transporting or possessing a live venomous reptile is required to hold a captive wildlife permit, so a live venomous snake is not something to move in a bucket, however confident you feel about the drive. ## Birds Birds are the strictest category on this page and the one most often broken in ignorance. Every bird protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act is off limits without additional permits, and that covers most of what nests in a Florida soffit or dryer vent. An active nest with eggs or chicks is not a removal job. It is a wait, followed by an exclusion. Introduced birds are the exception. Species such as the house sparrow, the European starling and the rock pigeon carry no such protection, and the FWC treats non-native species separately. ## Skunks Skunks fall under the same framework with the same four outcomes, and like raccoons they are a rabies vector species. The practical constraint is not legal but structural. A skunk denning under a shed or mobile home skirting is there because the skirting has a gap, and a removal that does not close it is temporary by design. ## Bats Bats are the hardest legal constraint in Florida wildlife work and the one homeowners break most often, usually in July, usually with good intentions. All 13 native bat species are protected. Under rules 68A-4.001 and 68A-9.010 they may not be taken at all, which means bats are never trapped. The only lawful method is exclusion: sealing every gap except the ones in use, then fitting one-way devices that let a bat out and give it nowhere to return. Timing is not negotiable. According to the FWC guidance on [bats in buildings](https://myfwc.com/conservation/you-conserve/wildlife/bats/bats-in-buildings/), it is illegal to evict or exclude bats during maternity season, April 16 through August 14, because the pups cannot yet fly and an exclusion would seal them in. April 15 is the last lawful day before the window. August 15 is the first day after it. The method carries its own requirements. An exclusion device must be left up for a minimum of four nights, and the work must be done when the overnight temperature is forecast to reach at least 50 degrees Fahrenheit, so the colony can actually leave. There is more on our [bat removal page](https://drcritter.com/animal/bats/). ## What a homeowner may do without calling anyone More than most people assume. You may trap most nuisance species on your own property without a permit or notification. You may seal entry points at any time, for any species except bats inside the maternity window. You may remove attractants, cut back the branch that bridges to your roofline, and cap the chimney. What you may not do is decide the animal fate outside the four outcomes in 68A-9.010, use a steel trap or a gun and light without the relevant permit, touch a bat between April 16 and August 14, take a protected bird or an active nest, move a live venomous snake without a captive wildlife permit, or handle an alligator at all. The honest summary is that the paperwork barrier is far lower than the industry implies and the conduct standard is far higher. Most people calling a professional are not buying a license. They are buying someone who knows that the woods behind the subdivision is not a lawful release site. ## Methodology and sources Every legal statement on this page is taken from material published by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and is linked at the point it is used: the [Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator Registration](https://myfwc.com/license/wildlife/nuisance-wildlife-permits/trapper-registration/) page for the licensing position, [Removing Nuisance Wildlife](https://myfwc.com/conservation/you-conserve/wildlife/remove/) and the [nuisance wildlife FAQ](https://myfwc.com/conservation/you-conserve/wildlife/faqs-nuisance-wildlife/) for rule 68A-9.010 and the release conditions, and [Bats in Buildings](https://myfwc.com/conservation/you-conserve/wildlife/bats/bats-in-buildings/) for the maternity season dates and exclusion requirements. Rule numbers are quoted as the agency states them rather than paraphrased. Rules change. This page was last reviewed on August 18, 2026, against the FWC pages above. Nothing here is legal advice, and a situation involving a listed species or an active nest is worth a call to your FWC regional office before anyone opens a trap. You may republish these figures and rule references with attribution and a link to https://drcritter.com/blog/florida-nuisance-wildlife-trapping-law-species-by-species/. Photo by [Benimoto](https://www.flickr.com/photos/44545509@N00) on [Openverse](https://www.flickr.com/photos/44545509@N00/2459991569), license BY 2.0 --- Dr. Critter Wildlife Control, FWC-registered Florida nuisance wildlife control operator since 1996. Sanford, FL, serving Orlando and Central Florida. Phone: 800-932-7287.