CODY (AP) - There are few animals in even fewer states that wildlife capture teams from Hawkins & Powers Aviation haven't caught.

Moose in New Hampshire, bighorn sheep in New Mexico. Even elk in Michigan.

You name it, Cody resident Wes Livingston has probably netted it.

Livingston is a gunner for Hawkins & Powers, a Greybull-based aviation firm that officials say runs the largest and most active wildlife capture teams in the United States.

"When someone hires us to do a job, we don't figure out if we can do it, but how we're going to do it," pilot Gary Brennan said.

The teams are hired annually by state and federal agencies to collar or transplant animals, take biological samples and measurements or conduct wildlife surveys.

They use a helicopter, sweeping down within 10 feet of the ground so gunners like Livingston can deploy a net from a gun.

Crew members known as muggers then hop out, hobbling the animal and removing the net before blindfolding it to keep the animal calm.

Darts aren't used to drug wildlife, which is good for the animals but can make things tricky for crew members.

"For what we do, it's amazing we aren't hurt more," Livingston said. "Guys get twisted ankles running through rocks. We get banged up. The buffalo are a little hard on guys."

Muggers are also sometimes caught in nets and dragged by bull elk. One crew member was gored in the arm by a bison.

"It gets wild sometimes," said Livingston, who is in his fourth year with the teams.

The weather can also be hazardous, especially in the environments to which the teams are often dispatched, Brennan said.

"There are no doors on the helicopter and we're flying at 60-100 mph in temperatures that are sometimes 10-15 below zero," he said. "When the guys are on the ground working, they sweat, and as soon as they get back on the helicopter (the sweat) freezes."

The well-being of the animals, however, comes first, which is why the captures are performed only between October and April each year.

"During the winter months, the females are no longer pregnant, so there is no danger to the fetus and the last offspring is old enough to be weaned," said Brennan, who has been flying captures since 1987. "Also, it's cooler in the winter, so they won't get hot if we chase them. Some of the animals stress easily."

Livingston estimated his team captured more than 1,400 animals last year. Depending on the assignment, he can be out for 10-15 days at a time.

"It's like hunting camp," Livingston said. "You're up before daylight and you're out all day without stopping. You go until it's dark or the job is completed."