How We Solve Annapolis 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.
Are you sick of raccoons getting into your trash? Have you tried DIY repellents and traps with no prevail? Our team is licensed and trained in trapping and removing Annapolis wildlife. These critters can cause serious damage, attract other animals, and potentally put your health at risk if they enter your home. We answer our phones 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! We proudly service the following cities: Arden on the Severn, Brooklyn Park, Crofton, Crownsville, Deale, Edgewater, Ferndale, Fort Meade, Glen Burnie, Herald Harbor, Jessup, Lake Shore, Linthicum, Maryland City, Mayo, Parole, Pasadena, Pumphrey, Riva, Riviera Beach, Severn, Shady Side, Severna Park, Arnold, Cape Saint Claire, and Odenton. We also service the following counties: Baltimore County, Calvert County, Kent County, Howard County, Prince George's County, Queen Anne's County, and Talbot County.
Other Annapolis animal pest control topics:
What are the Best Ways to Repel Snakes
Squirrel Trapping Tips
Information About Raccoons
What are the Best Ways to Repel Groundhogs
To learn more about our services, visit the Annapolis wildlife control home page.
This month's wildlife how-to article: How to kill a groundhog
How to kill a groundhog
Before you can even attempt going after groundhog that is raided your garden and dug a few holes in your lawn, then here are some facts about the animal you're looking to kill. Groundhogs are a member of the squirrel family that live in burrows that they dig themselves, these borrows they usually from 2 to 5 feet deep and can extend up to 30 feet in any direction from the main entrance, the borrower consists of passageways that link larger chambers, some of these chambers are used for storing food. As well as eating up to a pound of vegetation a day the extensive burrow if close to a building can do extensive structural damage by undermining the foundations.
Groundhogs can be very difficult to get rid of because they are very shy and avoid contact as much as possible. There are a number of tactics you can use when dealing with a groundhog problem. If you decide to trap the animal alive before disposing of it than the first thing you must do is make sure the trap you use has no trace of human scent on it because if the groundhog smells human it will not go near the trap. Bait the trap with fruit or vegetables with cantaloupe as the number one favorite choice of groundhogs, because groundhogs are such solid and strong little buggers you need to put a couple of bricks on top of the cage to help prevent the animal turning it over.
Try and camouflaged the cage a little bit, and a few twigs, sticks and leaves scattered inside and around the cage could help, if the cage has been set on a bare patch of ground then do not add anything. The best time to trap a groundhog is early spring, just after they finish hibernation and when they are at their most hungry, the next best time is late fall before they start hibernation, this is the time they are trying to fill their food chambers.
Poisoning groundhogs is only ever attempted by fumigation, you buy a fumigation cartridge or three, the first thing you need to do is to collect a piece of precut sod beside each entrance you're going to fumigate, now place the cartridge inside the entrance/s of the burrows, light the fuse and push it deeper into the burrow, place the precut sod over the entrance and go and get a cup of coffee. The fumes from the fumigation cartridge are poisonous and if the groundhog breathes them it will die.
