Your mission: Raise awareness in your community about wild animals and how to live peacefully with them.

Why? No matter where you live, you’re sure to have wild neighbors. Deer, geese, skunks, raccoons, bears, pigeons, crows, coyotes… These are just a few of the animals who live near humans. Though many people enjoy the sights and sounds of wildlife, people and wild animals don’t always get along.

Sometimes, conflicts with wildlife are dealt with in ways that hurt or kill the animals. For example, pigeons have been poisoned because of the droppings they leave outside of restaurants and other businesses. Prairie dogs, coyotes, rattlesnakes and other animals who are perceived as pests are killed in round-ups -- contests in which contestants compete to kill the most animals for fun and prizes. Hunts are held in places where they are claimed to be “too many” of a certain species, such as deer or black bears. Countless other critters, like squirrels, skunks, and chipmunks, are killed each year after making their homes in people’s chimneys, attics, or basements; others, like moles, are killed in cruel traps because they disturb lawns or golf courses.

There is a better way! For just about every wild animal problem, there is a safe, effective, and humane solution.

How? Teach your community how to live peacefully with wildlife. Pick an animal, then hang posters and hand out fliers letting people know how to humanely solve conflicts with that animal. Just follow the steps below.

1. Get the bear facts. Find out if there is an animal causing a conflict in your town. Have flocks of geese taken up residence on the athletic fields? Are herds of deer munching on landscaped lawns, shrubs, and flowers? Often, the first response to these problems is to arrange for the animals to be killed. However, these quick fixes never solve the problem. In fact, hunting often makes it even worse, since animals compensate for the population decline by reproducing more.

Learn all you can about the animal and look for lasting, humane solutions to the problem at hand. Download our Go Wild for Wildlife factsheet. Visit www.hsus.org/wildlife/a_closer_look_at_wildlife and www.hsus.org/wildneighbors (click “Solving Problems with Your Wild Neighbors” for details on the animal you picked). Other good sources of info include www.livingwithwildlife.org, www.wildlifehotline.org, and www.wildlife-international.org. If there isn’t a community-wide problem for you to focus on, choose any animal that is common in your area. Teach people humane methods of preventing common conflicts, such as keeping critters out of the chimney or keeping wildlife from feasting on the garden.

2. Write on. Write a letter to your local newspaper about living peacefully with wildlife—specifically the animal you chose. Include what you learned while doing your research. Encourage readers to appreciate their wild neighbors! Find tips on writing a letter to the editor in our Mission: Humane Action Guide.

3. Ready, aim, shoot! Send us a copy of your letter to the editor. (Email it to teens@humanesociety.org or mail it to us at Mission: Humane, 67 Norwich Essex Turnpike, East Haddam, CT 06423.) Once we receive it, we'll mail you a disposable camera. (When contacting us, please be sure to include your name and mailing address. Group leaders, indicate how many students are in your group.) Use your camera to take pictures of wild animals you see—but be sure not to disturb them! Remember the four L’s of watching wildlife: Look. Listen. Learn about them. Leave them alone.

4. Start spreading the news. Make posters and fliers about the animal you choose. Use the photos you took or pictures printed from the Internet. Include interesting facts about the animal and suggestions for preventing and solving common problems with that animal. Make sure you let people know where to turn for advice. Include a Web address (such as www.humanesociety.org) and the phone number of a wildlife hotline. The HSUS’s Urban Wildlife Hotline is available seven days a week at 203-389-4411.

Post your posters at grocery stores, libraries, vet’s offices, shopping areas, and community centers. (Make sure you get permission first.) Set up a booth at your school or a fair, concert, or other community event where you can get your fliers out. See if you can present what you found to a class or your school’s animal protection club.

5. Tell us about it. Fill out our Mission: Accomplished form. Send it to us with your photos, posters, and fliers.