Private property
What operators take on
By animal
The six animals, one page each
Colorado law counts a wild animal as wildlife whether it is alive or dead. Each of these six brings its own question before anything is moved: antlers and chronic wasting disease for deer, rabies for skunks and raccoons, plague for ground squirrels, and federal rules and bird flu for wild birds.
Dead deer
Mule deer live in Colorado suburbs as well as open country, and most local governments leave a deer that dies on private land with the owner.
What this involves →
Dead raccoon
Raccoons now live statewide at moderate elevations, helped by towns and planted trees, and they often die where they were living: under a deck, in a garage or in an attic.
What this involves →
Dead skunk
Striped skunks live throughout Colorado, and along with bats they are the state's main source of rabies, which changes the first thing you should do.
What this involves →
Dead opossum
Opossums are newcomers to Colorado and live in the eastern part of the state, where they den in burrows, under buildings or in brush.
What this involves →
Dead squirrel
The fox squirrel is the one in most Front Range backyards. Rock squirrels are a different case, because plague is often found in them.
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Dead bird
Most native birds are federally protected. Since the end of 2024 federal rules let anyone pick one up for disposal, though state permits may also apply. Several dead birds in one place are a report first.
What this involves →By situation
3 situations, grouped by how the animal is reached rather than by what it is. Each one can be reached without cutting a finished wall, ceiling or floor, which is the line operators work to.
In the yard
The easiest carcass to reach and the one with the most local rules attached. A few Colorado places will take it; most leave it with you.
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Under a deck or crawl space
The job none of the Colorado public services we checked publishes that it will do. The question is access: a hatch, lattice or skirting that comes off.
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Attic or garage
An attic or garage carcass can usually be reached through the hatch or the door. What decides the job is whether it is in the open space or sealed inside a finished cavity.
What this involves →Photographs on this site are stock or AI-generated images showing conditions and equipment typical of this work. They are not photographs of jobs carried out by this site or by any operator.
Animal pages and situation pages. The animal pages cover what the species changes in Colorado, from the health department's rabies and plague advice to the federal rule on wild birds. Whether there is a paid job at all still turns on where the animal is lying, and the situation pages work through that by access. Live animals are a separate, regulated job that this site does not cover.