The basic answer to that is it will depend on whereabouts they were captured and then again on whereabouts they are released. They're actually been a couple of studies done on the survival rate of wild animals that are relocated up to 5 miles or more from the point of capture. Both studies showed the average survival time of an animal released more than 5 miles from its home range is four days. If the Arizona animal does survive the first two weeks it will generally continue to survive as by then it knows it's new territory. There were two basic groups of animals they studied, one group which was wild animals that had been brought up in wilderness had about a 20% survival rate, the other group which was animals brought up in an urban environment had a survival rate of zero.



Both of these groups of Tempe animals were released into wilderness areas and for the small time they could actually watch them the urban born and bred animals were obviously completely bemused by the whole experience from moment one. The size of the rodent in question has no bearing on their survival chances, it is all about the knowledge they have and what they were taught by their mother, if they were taught how to survive in an urban jungle then they have no idea what to do with grass under their feet and trees all around them, they are completely lost and out of their depth. There is one recorded case of a young raccoon that was taken from the center of a main city and relocated 40 miles into a national park, this raccoon only managed to move about 40 feet before it was killed by a predator simply because it had no idea how to take cover in that place.

There is a new train of thought on how to deal with live capture Arizona animals that the person who captured them wants to release them alive and unharmed. They are now suggesting that what you do is you capture the animal, keep it in the cage for a couple of days but keep it fairly constantly being frightened of what is about to happen to it, you use this time to seal up all the entrances the animal was using to get into your home or building, once all that is completed you take the animal down to your furtherest boundary and release it, it is also said to be a good idea to use something like a garden hose to chase it off the property when you release it. The whole idea of this is to let the animal know that it is not welcome on your property or in your house and unless there is a really important reason for the animal to return they say, generally, the animal will not return.

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