All of my research is dealing with mice... Let's just say, the PETA people would not like me... But, if they wanna FCUK with me, I am insured by Smith and Wesson... I digress...
So a few years ago, I lived in SoCal... My mom decided to have a birthday party for me but invited all her friends... My folks have a pool and it was around Labor Day weekend when she had my party... It was a nice warm evening and everyone was outside talking having a good time. Then out of the corner from the backside of the house ran this little gray furry thing that immediately jumped into my folks pool... It started swimming around and found a way to get on this crawl space between the spa and the regular pool. Me, I was going to grap it and "euthanize it by cervical dislocation"... But someone got the pool net and scooped it up. We had it hanging over the pool like as if what to do... All the afraid of bizarre animal folks were freaking out (like my mom and brother)--whereas all the health practioners were like, what's the best way to get rid of this varmit... I was down for the full euthanization--but others were like whatever... So the guy that had the net just threw it in someone elses backyard where there are dogs and cats...
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Last year, my husband the vet and I were visiting my folks (same house) and speaking to my visiting grandmother... Now, just to let you know, the PETA people DEFINITELY DO NOT LIKE my husband--'cuz he's dealing with the regulatory affairs for the humane care of ALL research related animals although is specialty is aquatic animals... So basically, when any animal gets sick in our facilities he's the person who has the say so to euthanize those animals--he makes the call... So here we are, having a discussion with my grandmother when some pigeon decided to fly into a window--thus committing suicide--and falls to the ground... Again, my mom freaks... My dad is clueless... My grandmother could care less... And my husband--well, he goes and wants to necropsy (like autopsy but on an animal--that's the official term) the dayum thing... He goes out, takes a pin, lifts of the wing, analyzes its injuries and makes the diagnosis...
... Then he wraps it up--in paper towels and puts it in a plastic bag, ties it off and throws it in the trash can...
So the official AALAAC accredited IACUC approved procedure to remove carcasses (dead mammals) is:
Put on rubber gloves
Remove carcass with paper towels and/or plastic bags
Put into another plastic bag, then into a paper bag if you have one
And set it outside by your trash and call animal control to come pick it up...
Why? Because animal control may be doing animal studies of "vectors" that go around into houses that may or may not be carrying diseases. And they may want to test for those items.
Catching the vectors alive is very difficult and should be done humanely since these kinds of things bite... Just let an exterminator or "qualified and approved" animal technician do that...
As far as removing the "vectors" not coming into the house... Well, traps work... Boric acid around your house works... The diazonine (sp.) will remove the insects--ants in particular... You have to keep your house sterilely clean--barely any nooks and crannies for animals to thrive there... And they are looking for food and water. The food they like is sugary, but they also like the starches... So keep most of your sugar items--like cereal in the refrigerator... Make sure stacks of newspapers are removed regularly. Keep other items encased in strong plastic containers. And keep water leaks to a minimum. If you have pets, minimize the amount of food area that they eat in. And pets usually do not eat in food if other animals eat there too... Those are the kinds of things if you want to minimize the number of nusiances...