Urban Wildlife Control for Homes and Businesses
YardDoc provides a holistic approach to critter control and urban wildlife removal. Live trapping and relocation is usually the best method of control.
Where Do the Critters Come From?
Critters and insects are driven by weather changes to seek shelter from the heat and cold. Our living spaces become very attractive destinations that offer an ideal mid-range temperature and shelter from the rain.
In addition, our ever-increasing urban sprawl continues to take over land from animals used to living in a natural setting. Rather than moving away from humans, these animals, which include raccoons, possums, armadillo, squirrels, and skunk, adapt to this new environment.
Urban wildlife that makes its way onto your property causes many critter control problems. There is the ever-present danger that an animal could be rabid and transfer rabies to you, a family member, or pet through a bite.
We all know the problem a visiting skunk can cause! Some of these critters are also diggers. Your lawn offers a tempting place to forage for bugs. Other scavengers happily root through your trash cans for food.
Signs You May Need Critter Control
Some indicators you may have unwelcome guests include:
- Scratching or running sounds in your attic or walls
- Seeing droppings
- Evidence of gnawing/chewing on cables, insulation, pipes, or timbers
- Runways/tunnels in your insulation
- Nests or gathered nesting materials
Which Critters am I Hearing?
Scratching on the roof? The first question would be, when do you typically hear the noises? Daylight, dawn/dusk, or at night?
This gives a clue to the type of visitor that has taken up occupancy.
Size of access hole and markings around the access hole also give a good indication.
Invite an experienced YardDoc technician to your home for a free consultation estimate.
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Related: Rodent Control
Some Common Critters and Their Habits
Raccoons
Raccoons are noted for their intelligence. Studies show this mammal remembers solutions to a task for up to three years. Once they figure out how to pry open a trash can, they don’t forget quickly.
While omnivores that generally eat acorns and walnuts, they will devour food in your cat or dog’s dish and anything they can find in your trash, which they eagerly spread over your yard.
They have been known to eat chicken and duck eggs as well as the birds themselves. This is a concern for poultry owners and bird lovers. Raccoons often live in fallen trees and hollow logs but have increasingly taken to entering the roofing cavities of homes.
Skunks
Like the other animals on this list, skunks are omnivores. They generally eat berries and nuts, but are also eager to scavenge through your trash for an easy meal. They will eat the carcasses of rats, birds and other animals as well.
Skunks will find their way into basements, crawl spaces, or other areas where homeowners often leave their pet food. You may find them living under your deck or porch. They dig up lawns and gardens in their search for grubs and insects.
They are usually amiable creatures that want to avoid you as much as you do them. The biggest concerns are digging, and the odor of their spray near your property, or very unfortunately, on your pet.
Armadillos
Unlike the rest of the country, where most people may know about armadillos and might have seen one, Texas has a special relationship with the animal.
Armadillos are diggers and can destroy your yard. They burrow into the ground for a place to live and give birth to young. They dig tunnels to escape predators and other dangers. And, on your property, usually at night, they dig for food like grubs, earthworms, beetles, and other insects.
If you wake in the morning to a lawn full of holes, you've probably been visited by an armadillo. We recommend having your lawn treated for grubs and a consultation with us regarding our critter control, live trapping, and wildlife removal service.
Few would ever suspect that this creature actually carries the leprosy virus which can be transmitted to humans via handling or eating armadillo meat.
Protecting Your Home from Urban Wildlife
The best offense is a good defense. Keeping your home in a state that attracts fewer critters is what’s known as a holistic approach.
At YardDoc, we have used the holistic approach to critter control with great success for many years. We believe urban wildlife can coexist with us, but not at the expense of our homes, gardens, and health. We achieve this by helping you clear your property of all possible wildlife enticements.
Here are some things you can do right now to turn on the 'No Vacancy' sign for unwanted critters.
Open Access Points
Walk around your property and look for any obvious access points. Sometimes you can see them and sometimes not. If you see a hole, are there gnawing marks around the hole? Are there brown smears around the hole? Typically, these would indicate an access point, and this is something you want to seal up.
Clear Away Vegetation
Remove dead or overgrown vegetation to deter critters, mosquitos, and carpenter ants from using these areas as hiding places.
Branch or Foliage Access
Trim back bushes and plants that make it easier for insects and critters to gain access to your roof space. Ideally, branches should be cut at least four to five feet away from the roof. Many of the guests you don’t want can comfortably leap smaller gaps to gain access, even inviting pests in gutters. Need a roof trim? YardDoc's handyman and landscaping services can help!
Trash Containers
Put your trash out the night before collection, using a can with a secure lid, to prevent scavengers from visiting your home in search of leftovers. Wash out the inside of garbage cans monthly.
Food Sources
This is the attractant that most commonly brings unwelcome guests into your home, including:
- Compost bins
- Open trash cans
- Pet food
- Wild bird food
- Fruit trees
Secure Pet Food
Secure your pet’s food in closed, airtight containers and never store it in the open, on the lawn, or walkways to and from your home. This minimizes the chance of critters like skunks and raccoons discovering a new food source. Try to eliminate all food sources that could be attracting pests. This doesn’t mean you can’t have foodstuffs, but keep them in steel or glass containers.
In addition, remove water sources, keep your pool maintained, and remove dog waste regularly.
Once you make the area less attractive and/or less accessible, you can look at critter control or rodent control in the form of capture and relocate or bait, depending on what critters you have.
