How We Solve Richmond Wildlife Problems
It starts with your phone call. We answer our phones 24/7, and we will carefully listen to your wildlife problem. Every case is different, so we will ask appropriate questions to help
us understand the situation better. Questions like, "do you hear the noises at night or during the daytime?" or "what type of roof do you have?" After we have a general idea of your
situation, we can provide a ballpark price range, and schedule a same-day or next-day appointment to inspect your property.
INSPECTION: Once on site, we will perform a full inspection of your home and property. This allows us to use the correct strategy and traps. If the animals are in an attic, a full building inspection is crucial, including the following:
- All ground-level areas, such as piper or A/C line entry & exit areas, A/C chase bottoms, ground-level vents, etc.
- All mid-level areas, such as dryer vents, siding gaps, first floor eaves or dormers, etc.
- We inspect the entire roof, including all plumbing stacks, ridge caps, vents, and other potential gaps or holes.
- We also inspect inside your attic, to identify animals and damage they have caused.
- If the animals are outside, we notice many subtle clues that will assist us in a successful strategy.
TRAPPING, EXCLUSION, REMOVAL: Once we understand what animal species we are dealing with, and the problem, we use the most effective means of removing the animals. We use dozens of different types of traps.
- Trapping - If trapping the animal(s) in live cage traps, trap type, set, and location are crucial to success.
- Exclusion - Oftentimes, we are able to simply set one-way doors or other exclusion devices that allow the animals inside a building to safely exit, but never get back inside.
- Removal By Hand - Sometimes we actually remove animals by hand, or with special tools like snare poles.
- The Law - In all cases, we obey state and local laws regarding wildlife, but aim to take the most humane approach.
ENTRY HOLE REPAIRS: Repairs are a crucial step in the wildlife removal process. In many cases, such as bat or rodent control, the job cannot be performed without detailed repairs, and in all cases, sealing the entry holes shut ensures that no future wildlife will ever enter your home.
- 100% of the entry holes must be found, and sealed shut, or the job is not complete.
- Our repairs are professional contractor grade, look good, and when applicable we use steel, which rodents such as rats or squirrels are unable to chew through.
- We give a written guarantee on our repairs against any future animal entry.
ATTIC DECONTAMINATION SERVICES: It may be desirable to clean your attic after we've removed the animals. They can leave behind large amounts of droppings, urine, hair, oils, food, nesting material, and so on. These remnants can attract insects like cockroaches, and the scent left behind can encourage new animals to chew their way into your house. You might experience odor problems from the waste. It's possible that mold will grow on waste areas.
- We remove or vacuum all droppings, or remove all the soiled insulation.
- We fog the attic with a special enzyme-based cleaner that destroys any organic matter and deodorizes the space.
- We repair damage, such as ductwork, electrical wires, pipes, insulation, and more.
It's beautiful experiencing all four seasons here in Richmond. However, it's not so beautiful when the seasonal changes cause wildlife to seek shelter in your home. If you are hearing noises, such as scratching, in your attic you could have a raccoon or squirrel issue. We answer our phones 24/7 to service you when you need us! We proudly service the following cities: Atlee Beach, Bon Air, Centralia, Chesterfield, Disputanta, Enon, Ettrick, Fair Oaks, Glen Allen, Glendale, Highland Springs, Kingsland, Lakeside, Laurel, Matoaka, Midlothian, Montrose, Moseley, New Bohemia, Prince George, Sandston, Short Pump, Soloman, Varina, Winterpock, Mechanicsville, Petersburg, Hopewell, Colonial Heights, and Chester. We also service the following counties: Amelia County, Caroline County, Charles City County, Chesterfield County, Dinwiddie County, Goochland County, Hanover County, Henrico County, King William County, New Kent County, Powhatan County, Prince George County, and Sussex County.
Other Richmond animal pest control topics:
Will Pest Control Remove a Rat
Squirrel Nests
How to Keep Raccoons Away From Chickens
Do Bats Chew Wires
To learn more about our services, visit the Richmond wildlife control home page.
This month's wildlife how-to article: How to get raccoons out of a wall
How to get raccoons out of a wall
To remove the raccoon in the walls, you should first be aware if the raccoons are in the wall or not. The first thing that will let you know that you have the raccoons in the wall is through the noise they make. You will start to hear the scratching on its base or where the wooden frame start, you may hear the clawing and the scratching while the animals climb up or down of a wall. Since raccoons are normally larger compared to other animals, they can make heavier, slower and louder voice with deeper pitch. The vocal sounds are normally the really giveaways. The raccoons contrary to the rats or squirrels, they use different types of the vocal noise and they tend to emit them while other animals do not this. The raccoons can chatter or growl and they can make different noises. When you have the raccoons in the wall, they may be making the chattering noise especially if there are also the babies.
When you hear the raccoons within your wall, it means that they may have come down from the attic so you should also learn how to get rid of the raccoons from the attic. When it is time to get rid of the raccoons out of the wall, you can use different approaches. You have to see first if the raccoons can be grabbed using the snare pole from the top and to be dragged out. However, this is not the task that can be done by anyone but it is something that can be experienced by the wildlife professionals. After removing the mother, the babies should be removed through the use of the snare pole. When the mother is not around, you should remove the babies and to set them as a life bait so that you can rule the mother where you can get it. If the wall cannot be accessible by the use of the attic, you will need to cut the walls to get access to the raccoons. When you use the saw to cut through the wall, you should know that the mother will not wait so you should be aware of where you cut so that you do not cut through the raccoons.
You can feel the warmth of the raccoons near the wall so that you can be aware of where you have to cut. When you get rid of the babies in the wall, you should also make sure that you got rid of the mother, if not, it will come back to make the future litter in the same place. You should be aware that the raccoons can carry serious illness like fatal virus and the rabies that can be passed to the humans anytime of the day. The raccoons can also damage your home if you are not able to get rid of them.
