How We Solve Westchester pest 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.
Westchester County presents a host host of nuisance wildlife and pests due to its location. Located in southern New York, Westchester is bordered by New York City and the Hudson River. Homes in the County are susceptible to rats and cockroaches from the city as well as wildlife from nearby Hudson River. We handle all of your pest and wildlife problems including skunks, groundhogs, raccoons, mice, cockroaches, termites, bees and a host of other pests. We will deal with your nuisance wildlife quickly and professionaly so give us a call before the problem persists. We service Westchester County and surrounding towns including Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, White Plains, Peekskill, Rye, White Plains, Bedford, Port Chester, Harrison, Bronxville and more. We are trained and prepared to take on your pest control needs. To learn more about our services, visit the Westchester pest wildlife control home page.
This month's wildlife how-to article: How to Clean up Bat Guano Inside a Building
Guano or bat droppings as it is otherwise known not only can give off a pretty bad smell, but also has the potential to be dangerous to you, your family and other animals that live in and around your home.
Histoplasmosis is the thing that you will have to worry about with bat poop – this is a lung infection, and you can get it from inhaling the bacteria that actually lives in the droppings. The scary thing about this medical condition is that it has very few symptoms and few people actually realise they have it until things get very bad. In infants and also those that suffer with a weak immune system, histoplasmosis can cause a number of symptoms including chest discomfort, headaches, chills, fever, muscle aches, dry coughing and more. It is safe to safe that it is very unpleasant indeed.
The other problems with leaving the bat droppings lying around in your home is the fact that it can attract all number of other insects which can, in turn, bring with them a whole host of diseases which are considered unpleasant. You will have cockroaches to contend with, as well as other bat colonies that can come as a result of the guano. Guano is bad news but it can often be the first indication that you have a problem within your home – the droppings are often one of the first signs that you have a small colony growing inside your property.
When it comes to having the good clean up, you must think sensibly and use a reliable and reputable company to first remove the bats themselves. What’s the point in clearing up after them if they are going to continue to fly in and out of your home, leaving poop wherever they go. You must ensure that the company that you use not only removes the bats from your home, but also seals off the exit points to ensure that a recurrent problem doesn’t arise.
You should remember that it is actually illegal to fumigate these critters out – you aren’t allowed to harm them. This is why you should always use a professional company.
The cleanup will be a lengthy one and you are going to want to be prepared for it. In fact, you will find that it is probably for the best that you hire a professional company to do the job for you, simply because the steps involved and materials needed can be a dangerous combination, especially when you don’t really know what you are doing beforehand.
The first step will involve taking the “chunks” of the guano down and an industrial sized vacuum cleaner is often the best choice for this. Then the remainder of the debris left behind by the bats will require shovelling and dumped into bags that can easily be sealed for safety. A finer vacuum head will then be used to remove all the little bits that you haven’t yet cleaned up.
Once the actual guano itself has been removed, you can then go ahead and use a special cleanser that is enzyme-based in order to remove any hint of the droppings. This will also help to kill off any bacteria/bugs that might be left as a result of your inhabitation and this will also help to give the surfaces a good clean. You will find that the droppings left by the bats will leave rather nasty staining that doesn’t look nice at all. Some people have found the need to at least repaint after the ordeal is over.
While you are cleaning the surfaces that your bat inhabitants have seemingly destroyed, you are going to want to be protected and this will involve wearing special “gear”. You are going to want a complete body suit to cover everything, including your footwear, and incredibly strong and thick rubber gloves are a definite must have. A mask to be worn around the mouth to cover this and your nose is a good idea to stop you inhaling the bad bacteria that can cause histoplasmosis, and you are pro0bably going to want to invest in a good pair of goggles too. See – this is why you should leave the hard stuff to the professionals!
Other Westchester animal pest control topics:
How to Keep Raccoons Out from Under a Shed or Porch
What should I do if I find a nest of squirrels in the attic?
Do squirrels make good pets?
About Skunk: Appearance, biology, life cycle, habitat, diet, behavior
