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Hattiesburg Wildlife Problems: Animal Control, MDWFP or an Operator?

Checked against City of Hattiesburg, MDWFP and Mississippi State Department of Health pages on November 7, 2026. How we research this site.

Hattiesburg’s animal control sits inside the police department and does respond to dead, injured and biting animals. Removing a live animal from a house is outside that. For that, Mississippi’s system points you to private operators permitted by MDWFP.

Situations and contacts

Hattiesburg Police Animal Control

The city publishes the animal control chapter of its police operations manual, and it is more specific than most. Officers respond to loose livestock, to any report of an injured or deceased animal, and to any bite or scratch that breaks the skin, whether from a wild or a domestic animal. For a biting dog, the manual requires impoundment and observation for 10 to 14 days. For wild, exotic or endangered animals, the officer takes the report and decides whether the state wildlife agency should be brought in, which it must be for a deer or other large game animal hit by a vehicle.

The city phone directory lists Animal Control on 601-554-3603. The police non-emergency line is 601-544-7900.

MDWFP and the South Region office

MDWFP writes the rules and leaves the hands-on work to the private sector. From its nuisance wildlife page you can search for a permitted specialist or find the permit application operators use. Its 2025 county map puts Forrest and Lamar counties in the South Region, whose office is at 1201 North Clark Avenue in Magnolia, (601) 783-2911.

Only six animals are nuisance species in Mississippi law: skunk, fox, coyote, beaver, nutria and wild hog. The raccoon is not one of them. Trapping away from your own land takes a licence from age 16, and bait is banned while lure is permitted. Rule 2.3, on nongame wildlife, is what lets a resident deal with a nongame mammal living in a building or a snake on their own property.

Alligator trouble goes to the South Region office. If the animal is somewhere people cannot avoid, a road, a carport, a store car park, MDWFP’s hotline is 1-800-BE-SMART.

The health side

Rabies in Mississippi’s land mammals is very uncommon, according to MSDH, and bats carry most of the risk. If one is loose indoors, get out of the room, close it off and keep the bat there; if it may have touched anyone, including a pet, it should be tested. MSDH epidemiology: 601-576-7725, or 601-576-7400 out of hours.

Common mistakes

Treating a raccoon like a skunk. Only six species are legal nuisance animals in Mississippi, and the raccoon is not one of them.

Letting a bedroom bat go. Once gone, it cannot be tested. What to do instead.

Trying the bat exclusion yourself. MSDH advises that it be done by a professional.

Waiting for the city to find a hidden carcass. Officers collect reported animals they can reach. The rest.

Questions people ask

Does Hattiesburg animal control handle wild animals?

Partly. Under the police department’s animal control procedures, an officer responds to reports of injured or dead animals and to bites from wild or domestic animals, and takes the details of wild animal complaints to decide whether the state wildlife agency should be called. The city does not publish a service for removing wildlife from a house.

Which MDWFP office covers Hattiesburg?

Forrest and Lamar counties are in MDWFP’s South Region, whose office is at 1201 North Clark Avenue, Magnolia, (601) 783-2911. MDWFP’s main office in Jackson is 601-432-2400.

Is a raccoon in Hattiesburg a nuisance animal under Mississippi law?

Not legally. Mississippi’s nuisance animal list is beaver, coyote, fox, nutria, skunk and wild hog. Raccoons, opossums and squirrels are regulated under other rules, which is one reason to use an operator with an MDWFP permit for one in the attic.

What about an alligator in a Hattiesburg pond?

The South Region office in Magnolia, (601) 783-2911, takes nuisance alligator reports for Forrest County. An alligator blocking a road or sitting in a garage or car park is an emergency, and MDWFP’s hotline for that is 1-800-237-6278.