Two-man team catches live animals in University buildings

For Facility Services employees David Perault and Jeremy Bernard, "Sportsman's Paradise" isn't just the state motto — it's their job description.

Perault and Bernard, who comprise the two-man animal control division of Facility Services, have been using their experience hunting and fishing to capture live animals that have nosed their way into campus buildings.

The pair have encountered everything from squirrels, opossums and raccoons in buildings to small and full-grown alligators in the campus lakes. Perault said they had to call the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to deal with the alligators that were too big.

Perault, who has been working for Facility Services at the University for 30 years, said one day an animal problem arose in one of the buildings, and he took care of it. Now Perault has be the University's go-to guy for animal control for the past 20 years. He said eventually the problem got out of hand and he hired Bernard, who currently takes emergency calls.

When the two get a call, Bernard, nicknamed the "critter getter" by his colleagues, will go to the scene of the report and talk to whomever called in the problem. Bernard will then scout out the scene and lay traps for the animals. If the problem is too big, he'll call Perault to assist him. Once the animal is captured, Perault said they release the animals on University property off of River Road. If the two catch cats, the felines will be sent to a shelter.

"It's not like the TV shows," Perault said. "It's very humane. We release the animals we catch."

Perault said cats are a big problem because they spread fleas, which are expensive for the University to eradicate. He said they are trying to cut down on the number of feral cats around campus.

Bernard said the pair's greatest challenge came when they encountered bats living in the Student Union ceiling. Bernard used his knowledge to design a trap for the creatures. He knew that in order for bats to fly, they must first swoop down and then up.

They placed box-like contraptions underneath the cracks in the ceiling where the bats were entering and leaving to trap the creatures. The bats flew down, but didn't have enough time or room to fly back up once they were in the boxes.

Bernard said the two will often use the resources available from Facility Services to design their own traps.

The two agree that the animals are "mainly a safety issue" to students. However, in all of his years working to get rid of the animals, Perault said the worst animal-related injury he has seen is scratches from trying to get too close to the animals.

Perault estimates they capture about 50 animals per year, but it depends on various factors, such as the weather or construction.

"We can go two or three days of catching something and then go a week without catching anything or getting a call," Perault said.

Animals come to campus either from the lakes or will travel from the levee when the Mississippi River rises, according to Perault. Bernard said animals also seek shelter in buildings during cold weather.

Perault said squirrels work their way into buildings through holes in the roofs or through external vents that lead into the buildings. In these instances, the animals will sometimes come and go from the building as they please, according to Bernard.

Although Bernard said the role isn't exactly a "dream job," it's an important one that needs to be done by someone at the University.

"If you don't [get rid of the animals], it'll get out of hand," Perault said.

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Contact Kevin Thibodeaux at kthibodeaux@lsureveille.com