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DNR referral triage
A public WDCO listing helps you find permitted operators, but the phone number is not a free public support line. This public triage page is a route checklist for the call process, not an extra public survey. Maryland Wilderness can do a brief safety screen, then route the call to emergency, local onsite, official-source, or paid phone-assessment paths.
Paid phone assessment: $150.00 for up to 30 minutes during business hours (Monday-Friday, 10 AM-10 PM Eastern). After-hours or emergency impromptu calls are double rate: $300.00 for up to 30 minutes.
License scope
Maryland DNR Wildlife & Heritage Service WDCO license no. 58150 — Michael W. Deem, d/b/a Maryland Wilderness Company. Authorized license species: Birds, mammals (including bats), reptiles, and amphibians.
Choose the right path
Use these routes to decide whether the next step is emergency/health, onsite local WDCO, official-source, free prevention reading, or a paid Maryland Wilderness phone assessment. For a no-personal-information screen before calling, use the free route check.
1 · Active animal inside now
Keep people away, do not corner or touch the animal, close interior doors only if safe, and avoid food-service areas. If there is immediate danger, call emergency services. If onsite response is needed and we are not local/available, call the next in-county WDCO or animal-control path first.
2 · Bite, scratch, saliva, bat, or rabies exposure
Do not handle the animal or carcass. Contact local health department, animal control, or emergency services as appropriate. A WDCO phone assessment does not replace health-department exposure direction.
3 · Paid phone assessment
If no immediate emergency or health exposure path controls the call, we can review details, help organize evidence, identify official-source issues, and decide whether a local onsite WDCO is still necessary.
Commercial food setting
If you think a raccoon or other animal is inside a restaurant or food-service area, keep customers and staff away, do not chase/corner/touch the animal, secure food only if it can be done safely, and contact the proper onsite/local response path. Health, food-safety, and local code obligations remain the business operator’s responsibility.
Maryland Wilderness can provide paid phone triage and documentation guidance, but a phone call does not guarantee capture, removal, reopening, sanitation clearance, code compliance, or onsite response.
Call boundary script
Opening question
“Is the animal currently inside, outside, or only suspected? Is anyone in immediate danger?”
Exposure question
“Has anyone been bitten, scratched, touched, exposed to saliva, or was there direct contact with the animal?”
Onsite question
“Does this need someone physically present now? If so, and we are not local/available, call the next in-county WDCO or proper animal-control path.”
Paid-assessment transition
“If you cannot reach local onsite help and want property-specific triage, I can continue as a paid phone assessment at $150.00 for up to 30 minutes.”
Scheduling priority
Calls to service, active onsite jobs, urgent field issues, and business operations take priority over scheduled phone assessments. Maryland Wilderness may reschedule a phone assessment if a service call or active job conflicts. Same-day online scheduling is intentionally blocked; the earliest public online appointment is at least 1 day ahead. If Maryland Wilderness offers a reschedule because service-call priority changes availability, the customer may accept the new appointment time. Declining reschedule or being unavailable for the rescheduled time does not create a refund because all sales are final.
Better assessment
Term paths
Open the floating glossary or these glossary hubs when a term needs context. The hubs collect the vocabulary that helps readers find the right department faster.
