Colorado Outdoor Vertebrate Pest Control Practice Test

Handling wildlife carries a real risk of disease transmission, so using a barrier and cleaning up afterward is essential. Wearing protective gloves creates a shield between your skin and potentially infectious materials like saliva, urine, feces, or blood, reducing the chance of pathogens entering through small cuts or pores. After you’re done, removing gloves carefully to avoid spreading contamination and then washing hands thoroughly with soap and running water for at least about 20 seconds removes any pathogens that may have gotten onto your skin or onto surfaces you touched. This approach minimizes exposure because pathogens can be transmitted even when you don’t feel sick yet, and it’s much safer than handling with bare hands or delaying handwashing until illness appears.