Fuzzy Intruders

Bat Removal Northern Virginia

2010-08-03T07:03:00.000-07:00

We've been getting a lot of bat calls this past month. Bats are inhabiting many attics in northern virginia. There are two types of bat colonies, a maternity colony and a bachelor colony. We can evict and exclude the bachelor bat colony at any time as long as the bats are not protected. We have to wait until the end of August to evict and exclude the maternity colony because they babies cannot fly well until the end of August. We would not want to evict the mother bats and end up leaving baby bats in the attic to die. We have successfully convinced many homeowners to wait until the end of August to evict and exclude the materinty colonies. We have found that most of the bat colonies we have seen are Big Brown bats, notorious for living in attics. Did you know that in the Western part of the U.S. Big Brown bats only have one baby but in the Eastern part of the U.S. the Big Brown bats have twins? Interesting and fascinating creatures!!

Groundhog Removal Northern Virginia

2010-08-03T07:00:00.001-07:00

There is no need to remove groundhogs from your yard. You can get them to leave willingly!! All you have to do is put a couple of pinwheels in your yard. The groundhogs don't like them and will leave your yard willingly. Groundhogs don't see very well so their sense of movement is hightened to protect them from predators. When the pinwheels move in the wind, it makes the groundhogs nervous because they think it might be a predator. After being nervous for just a day or so, the groundhogs will move out. They don't like looking over their shoulders constantly worried about a predator. You can find pinwheels at a toy store or even the dollar store.

Animal Removal northern virginia

2010-07-15T05:50:00.000-07:00

Make sure you ask the wildlife removal company you hire what they mean by Humane. Many companies advertise that they humanely remove wildlife from your home but what they actually mean is they humanely kill the animals. In Virginia, if wildlife is removed from your property, it has to be killed. It cannot be relocated by law. So, many of the wildlife removal companies are removing the animal and killing it. In fact, some of them will tell you that they are relocating it but they don't actually do that, they kill it.

All this killing is not necessary to solve the problem. The animals can be evicted from the home and then, if the proper materials are used, the way the animal is getting in can be closed off so entry is no longer possible. Please ask your wildlife removal company what Humane means to them!!!

Birds in Chimney

2010-07-15T05:46:00.000-07:00

At this time of year in Virginia, Chimney Swifts are making nests in chimneys and having their babies. Most homeowners realize there is a bird in their chimney when they hear the flapping of the wings of the mother or they hear the babies crying. The cry of the baby Chimney Swifts is really loud. It is unbelievably loud! Chimney Swifts are a federally protected migratory bird so we cannot remove them from your chimney. We can wait until they leave and then put a chimney cap on the chimney to prevent them from getting in next year. From the time the babies hatch until they time they leave the nest is about 18 days. By the time the homeowner hears the babies they leave in about one week. It seems crazy but these birds can actually fly vertically up and down the chimney. Most people think there is a bird stuck in their chimney.

Bat Eviction and Exclusion

2010-07-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

Bats have their babies in the early spring. At first, the babies are small enough for the mother to carry while she looks for food but soon enough, the babies become too large so the mother has to leave them behind in the roost while she looks for food. Since the mothers leave their babies in the roost during at least May, June, July, and most of August, it makes bat eviction very difficult. In fact, we don't evict bats until late August when the babies can fly. Once the babies can fly, a one-way door can be used to evict the bats. After eviction is complete, exclusion can begin.

Did you know that in the western part of the U.S., Big Brown bats have a single baby but in the eastern part of the U.s. Big Brown bats have twins? So, for every female Big Brown bat in the attic in Virginia and Maryland, there are likely two babies. Also, some bats actually live in maternity colonies.

Bats are a very valuable animal to humans. They eat at least two times their body weight in bugs every night. If the bats where not eating those bugs, those bugs would be eating us!!!

Removing and Killing Wildlife Won't Solve Your Problems

2010-06-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

Many times, the reason wildlife moves into your home or your yard is because there is good food and water sources near by. Also, your home provides good shelter. If you have that wildlife removed and killed, and you have exclusion work done, another animal will move in right behind the one(s) you had killed. If there is space, food, water, and shelter, wildlife will move in. Please don't pay someone to remove and kill the wildlife. It is very simple to evict and exclude the wildlife, even if they have babies. If a wildlife removal company comes into to your home and tells you they are going to trap the adult raccoon in your attic, make sure you ask them what they are going to do with the babies. Every call we got this year in regards to a raccoon in the attic, there were also babies. We have had to clean up after the companies who only remove the mother raccoon. After two days with no food, the babies start to really scream for their mother and the homeowners can't take it any more. The homeowners call the company that trapped the mother and they can't come out for several days. That is when we get the call. We rescue the babies and get them to a rehabber because their mother was killed once she was removed. There is a better way. None of this has to happen. We can simply evict the mother raccoon, put her babies where she can get them, and then exclude her from the house. It works very well.