More Top Picks Return Policy
player ready...Angel Litoborski (right) is the Oak Forest animal control officer, dealing with domestic as well as wild animals. She also is a wildlife rehabber licensed by the state and federal governments.
Q. Do you go out and look for strays?
A. Yes. I pick up stray animals, and I also spend time trapping wildlife like skunks, squirrels and possum from people’s houses. You name it and I do it.
Q. Once you’ve captured the animals, are they taken to a shelter?
A. We hold them for three days. If after that time no one claims them, we take them to the animal welfare league in Chicago Ridge. The wild animals are either destroyed or relocated to the wild.
Q. What’s been your strangest adventure on the job?
A. A skunk got caught in a basement window well and he tried to dig a hole to get out, but his head got stuck. I had to dig for four hours to reach him to push him back through the hole. He sprayed me in the face.
Q. How can people avoid situations like that?
A. Don’t feed the wildlife. Once you put food out, they’ll keep coming back. If you try to stop, they’ll go after your garbage cans, so put straps on the cans to hold the lids in place, and put ammonia on the lids to repel the animals.
Q. Do animals really have their own language?
A. I would have to say yes. I’m watching two ferrets now and they do seem to communicate.
Q. What was your first pet? How many pets do you have?
A. I got a cat when I was 2. I’ve always had two dogs and two cats. Right now my family (husband Ron and children Tiffany, Kyrstin, Hailey and Blaine) has three dogs, two cats, two birds, two ferrets, two possums and two hamsters.