Dead Animal Removal in Wilkes-Barre, PA

Why Wilkes-Barre Has the Dead-Animal Calls It Does

Wilkes-Barre anchors the Wyoming Valley and Luzerne County's roughly 326,000 residents, sitting in a steep-walled valley where the Susquehanna River cuts between Wilkes-Barre Mountain and the Back Mountain ridge. The county's anthracite legacy shapes wildlife work in ways found almost nowhere else: abandoned mine lands, culm banks, stripping pits, and vacant colliery structures create extensive denning habitat for raccoon, groundhog, fox, and coyote right against dense residential blocks. The valley's pre-1940 double-block housing stock generates constant attic and reachable wall-void recoveries, while Nescopeck State Park, the Seven Tubs area, and the Bear Creek and Mountain Top uplands drive deer and bear-adjacent calls. Deer-vehicle collisions concentrate on I-81, PA-309, and the Northeast Extension of the Turnpike (I-476) where they climb out of the valley.

Common species calls in greater Wilkes-Barre: Most-called species across Luzerne County: raccoon (Wyoming Valley double-block housing plus abandoned mine structures; primary PA rabies vector), deer (I-81 and PA-309 mountain grades, peak Oct-Dec rut), groundhog (culm banks and undermined foundations), skunk, opossum, and squirrel. Black bear calls occur in the Bear Creek, Mountain Top, and Back Mountain uplands.

Pickup jurisdiction in Wilkes-Barre: The City of Wilkes-Barre runs its own Health Department (71 North Franklin Street) — one of only four municipal health departments in Pennsylvania under Act 315. Outside the city, Luzerne County is served by the Luzerne County State Health Center under the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and the PA DOH Northeast District Office is likewise located in Wilkes-Barre. City and borough public works handle right-of-way carcasses; PennDOT covers I-81, I-476, PA-309, and US-11. Private property is the owner's responsibility. Roadway deer and bear fall to the Pennsylvania Game Commission Northeast Region office (3917 Memorial Highway, Dallas — 570-675-1143) — the region office sits in Dallas, inside Luzerne County.

Neighborhoods in and around Wilkes-Barre: Wilkes-Barre, Kingston, Hazleton, Pittston, Nanticoke, Plymouth, Dallas, Mountain Top, Swoyersville, Forty Fort, Shavertown, Back Mountain.

All Wilkes-Barre field work is performed by independent partner operators, following the Pennsylvania Domestic Animal Act (PA Department of Agriculture) and PA DOH rabies-vector protocols (PA DOH rabies-vector guidance).