Winter’s Chill Drives Rodents Indoors

Winter’s Chill Drives Nuisance Animals Rodents Indoors

 

rats in cold weather
Rats looking for warmer space.

By NPMA Staff

 

During the chilly winter months, most people seek refuge in the warmth of their homes, but they are not alone. From October through February, rodents, including mice, rats and squirrels, often take shelter in homes, causing potential hazards to both health and property.

Rodents seek to protect themselves from winter’s chill by invading your home, says Missy Henriksen, vice president of public affairs for NPMA. Rodents invade an estimated 21 million homes in the United States every winter and are a considerable health and property nuisance.

Rodents can enter homes through almost any opening. Once inside, rodents can cause severe damage as they can chew through wallboards, cardboard, wood and even electrical wiring, increasing the potential risk of a fire.

Henriksen advises homeowners to inspect for rodent droppings in undisturbed areas, including pantries, attics, and garages as these droppings can cause allergies and disease, such as Hantavirus.

NPMA also recommends taking these precautions to keep rodents outside:

 

  • Make sure all holes, cracks and voids are sealed.

 

  • Don’t overlook proper drainage at the foundation and install gutters.

 

  • Keep branches and other plants cut back from the house.

 

  • If you find rodents in your home, call a local pest professional to identify and correct the problem.

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed limiting the use of several rodent bait products to certified applicators who have had sufficient training to know when and how to use these products in order to limit risks. Although homeowners will be prohibited from purchasing these rodenticides, licensed pest professionals will be allowed to purchase and apply these products to meet critical public health needs.

Homeowners facing rodent problems can benefit from the knowledge and training of licensed pest professionals in areas such as rodent biology and integrated pest management. They should feel encouraged to contact a pest professional for a complete inspection and treatment, if necessary.

http://www.pestworld.org/news-and-views/pest-articles/articles/winters-chill-drives-rodents-indoors/

 

Fall Guide to Preventing Pest Destruction

How to Prevent Pests from Coming Indoors

Once the leaves start turning color, the air turns crisp and the temperature starts dropping, fall aficianados tend to enjoy their favorite season by cozying up in our warm, comfortable houses. Unfortunately, insects,racoon in tash rodents and other pests have the same appreciation for warm, dry surroundings, and would like nothing more than to move in and share your accommodations. To avoid sharing your home with unwanted critters, preventative pest-fighting strategies are in order.

Call Nuisance Wildlife Removal, Inc. today, to humanely solve your wildlife problems, and wildlife proof your home. 866-263-WILD or 729-2103.

Who is sneaking in?

While it is pretty easy to identify small invaders such as ants marching across your kitchen counter, or larger invaders such as garbage can-thieving raccoons, it’s not always easy to tell what some pests are. Taking a picture of the invading insect will help you locate it on PestWorld.org. Once you know what you are dealing with, it will be easier to figure out how to evict your unwanted guests.

For many homes, when the seasons change, the most common pests seeking refuge from the outdoors are rodents, spiders and cockroaches. Fall pest-proofing can play an important role in keeping those pests from making themselves comfortable in your home.

  • Rodents can carry diseases such as Hantavirus and Salmonella, and can cause structural and property damage, including fires, by chewing through electrical wires and nesting in insulation.
  • Cockroaches’ saliva and droppings can trigger asthma attacks, particularly in young children.
  • Many spiders, including brown recluse spiders, will deliver a painful bite if disturbed or threatened.

Call Nuisance Wildlife Removal, Inc. today, to humanely solve your wildlife problems, and wildlife proof your home. 866-263-WILD or 729-2103.

When the weather cools down, and your warm home becomes inviting, your best bet is to be proactive to prevent pests from coming indoors by performing some simple household tasks:

  • Repair damaged screens and install door sweeps on exterior doors.
  • Seal cracks and crevices on the outside of the home, including areas where utilities and pipes enter.
  • Cover vents and openings to chimneys with screens.
  • To discourage rodents, store food in airtight containers and dispose of properly sealed garbage regularly. Remove and relocate any wandering “scouts”, before they invite their family to settle in. HavaHart.com offers cruelty-free catch-and-release traps.
  • Replace weather stripping around your basement foundation and windows.
  • Fix any moisture problems, such as leaking pipes and clogged drains. Look for a reputable plumber on Angieslist.com or ask friends and family for referrals.
  • If you suspect a serious pest infestation in your house, contact a professional pest control specialist to identify and treat the problem.

Call Nuisance Wildlife Removal, Inc. today, to humanely solve your wildlife problems, and wildlife proof your home. 866-263-WILD or 729-2103.

Focus on windows and doors

Because these are the most likely entry points for pests, make sure your screens are tear-free, and seal around your window and door frames with caulking or foam. For commercial businesses and offices, you may want to consider renting a scissorlift from SunbeltRentals.com to reach the upper floor windows. Remember that plants and shrubs are a haven for insects and rodents, so keep plants a few feet away from your home, and store firewood at least 20 feet away.

By eliminating easy access to pests, you can enjoy watching the colorful leaves falling from inside your warm home – without having to share it with uninvited intruders.

Creative Commons image by Arrr!

Call Nuisance Wildlife Removal, Inc. today, to humanely solve your wildlife problems, and wildlife proof your home. 866-263-WILD or 729-2103.

Yikes! What Made All This Blood Splatter On My Wall?

Blood Splatter from Animals

It happens… It’s late Monday night and we receive a call
from a homeowner that is absolutely beside herself. She starts off by saying
there is something that is bleeding all over her walls… Just the walls in
several rooms. I ask her if there is any tracks or blood from room to
room…she responds with no just on the walls.  She then proceeds to tell
me that they had just purchased the home and that the carpet had just been
taken out but the tack strips were still there… along with that the entire
interior was painted she pauses and says well maybe the painter cut himself and
bled everywhere…I said ok that might be possible but i would think it would
be everywhere not just in a few spaces here / there and def not in the closet?
So I set up an appointment to come out and inspect and see if we can
determine what is going on.  We are in route to the customers home and she
calls stating that she sees the culprit and it appears to be a flying squirrel.
I asked her to keep her eye on it and we were about 20 min away. We get there
and she shows us all the blood in the closet and on the walls… she then shows
us the culprit… A HUGE frog that had scraped it’s nose trying to get out…
This was def one for the record books for sure… We rescued the frog and set
him free in the pond out back.

 

 

Frog that left blood splatter on wall

Top 3 Things To Check before Buying a Home

Check This List Before You Make An Offer

So, you have found the perfect home. All the pieces fit, from the bedrooms and baths to the big yard and dream kitchen. The hard part is over, right? There is a term used in real estate – homebuyer’s remorse. It’s the itchy feeling buyers get once they make an offer on a property. The National Association of Realtors reports over 6 million existing homes sold as of June and new constructions going up all the time. Whose to say a better house won’t appear after the bid?

This feeling is something most homebuyers experience. Instead of giving in to it, take the time to expand your research and learn more about the property.

Get to Know the Neighborhood

You are not just buying a structure; you’re buying into a neighborhood, so do your research. Neighborhood Scout is an online tool that provides details on almost every neighborhood. Did you know that the crime rate in the tiny town of Las Animas, Colorado is around 3.2 percent for every 1,000 residents, as NeighborhoodScout.com reveals? This is a subscription service but it does offer a substantial amount of free information.

The interactive map allows you to click on the state and then a second map pops up that lets you choose the city and neighborhood. You have the option to look at schools, crime rates, home appreciation and other pertinent facts. Clicking “overview” brings up a map of the city broken down by neighborhood.

Realtor.com reminds you to check for Home Owners Associations for the neighborhood too. See what fees they charge and what services they offer. Find out if they have any pending lawsuits against them. The Secretary of State website often lists HOAs for each area. Otherwise, ask your real estate agent, or even knock on a few doors in the neighborhood to get details.

Ask the Seller What’s Wrong With the House

Fox Business offers a proactive approach that saves time and effort. Ask the seller:

“Is there anything wrong with the house that I should know about? Are there any insect or rodent problem? When was the last time someone came out and checked for rats or raccoons?”

If they hesitate, remind them that a full inspection is necessary anyway, so you might as well get the problems out in the open. They want to sell the house and part of that is building your trust. Chances are you will learn a few things you didn’t find out on the walk-through.

Check the Home Insurance Rate

It makes no sense to buy a bargain house if your home insurance rates are about to triple. Insurance brokers will be able to give you a basic estimate, according to HomeInsurance.com. They offer an online tool that lets you see the average insurance rate is by state. Just slide your cursor over the map. The site also lists which states have the highest premiums and which states are showing increases.

Ask for a List of the Fixtures

Don’t assume that light you fell in love with is part of the sale. Fixtures are permanently attached items such as the kitchen cabinets. Often a seller will throw in some extras like window treatments, as well. Real estate agents provide a list of common fixtures, but you want to dig further. Ask for a complete listing before you bid. Once you get it, try negotiating to retain anything else that caught your eye. They want to sell and may offer more just to seal the deal.

 

About the author.

John Hopkins is a stay-at-home dad and part-time handyman who loves the outdoors. He writes about his experiences in building, environmentalism and parenting.

Yellow Jacket Stings Hurt

image of yellow jacket

Yellow Jacket Bees Are Different Than Honey Bees

Yellow Jackets, unlike honey bees, can sting repeatedly without harm to themselves. You’ll usually find them in underground burrows or tree hollows. They build their nests of a paper like substance from chewing wood pulp. And their nests can be huge in size.

Yellow Jackets Are Aggressive

When agitated, they can get very aggressive. We recently had a technician completely covered from head to toe in a beekeeper suit, yet he was stung repeatedly through a tiny opening in his hat that he did not know about.

If you encounter yellow jackets on your property, do not try to handle them yourself. Call an expert. We recommend  checking out this website for more information, and then CALL us.

 

CALL 866-263-WILD (9453)

Nuisance Wildlife Removal

Raccoons In My Attic

image of raccoon in an atticAre Raccoons Homesteading In Your Attic?

The best thing you can do when it comes to raccoons in your attic is to call a professional wildlife trapper.

Raccoons don’t have a very long life span, and a high percentage of them die where their nest is. If that is in your attic, then you’ll know pretty soon if something has died up there. The pungent odor can make your home unlivable for weeks.

We can catch them, or if it’s too late, retrieve their carcass and treat the area with odor eliminating enzymes. Both dead animal removal and odor control are services we offer at Nuisance Wildlife Removal.

Raccoon droppings can be toxic to humans. Raccoons tend to use a common latrine area. If that area is in your attic, its a no mans land of bacteria and disease.

Raccoons are often infected with the Baylisascaris roundworm. This is a common parasite in raccoons, some areas of the country have a 70 to 100 percent infection rate. If infected, the raccoons droppings will be full of microscopic round worm eggs, that can stay viable for years, until ingested by a mammal, where it hatches and goes to work on the host’s brain tissue, causing a host of health issues and death.

I Certainly Would Never Put Raccoon Poop In My Mouth!

You would be surprised at how easy it can be. If raccoons have lived in your attic, even in the past, their droppings will eventually degrade and turn to dust. If anything stirs that up, those little roundworm eggs become airborne. If the raccoons happened to damage your air conditioning duct work, then that airborne toxin can enter your ventilation system and you could be breathing it right now.

Do you keep your Christmas decorations in the attic? Are they dusty? Be careful wiping those boxes off if you have ever had a bat or raccoon infestation in your attic.

Raccoons go out usually at night, to forage for food. They might decide that your mulch or compost pile seems like a good outdoor bathroom. Just digging through the pile to distribute it may also be distributing a health risk in your yard. Small children are at the highest risk for Baylisascaris roundworm infection due simply to the fact that they touch most things that they see, and their hands go in their mouths more often than older kids and adults.

Do Not Take Chances With Your Family’s Health

If you hear something walking around or chattering in your attic, call the professionals at Nuisance Wildlife Removal of Florida, at 866-263-WILD. We will assess the situation for FREE, and give you a cost estimate for trapping and removal, sealing all potential entrances to prevent a repeat visit, and complete biological cleanup of you attic space, including complete replacement of your attic insulation. Much of this service can be covered under your home owner’s insurance, and we’ll help you with that too.

CALL 866-263-WILD (9453)

Python Recipes

python

Poached Garlic Python Steaks

Here is a delightful recipe we’ve found for all that python meat that will be flooding the Florida meat markets soon. Please enjoy, and add your own.

Poached Python steaks with curried garlic and lemon grass sauce

INGREDIENTS

Python Steaks (1 kg)
Shallots (4-5 peeled and sliced)
Turmeric powder (1 tablespoon)
Garlic cloves (5-7 cloves, peeled and pounded)
Ginger (2-3 inches long, peeled and pounded)
Lime wedges
Lemon grass (ten stems, peeled; tender parts finely chopped and pounded)
Paprika (2 tablespoons)
White rice wine Salt (2 tablespoons)
Peanut oil (2 tablespoons)
Spring water (2 quarts)

METHOD

First boil and poach the steaks with lemon peel, rought lemon grass stems, adn skins of shallots, garlic and ginger in the quart of spring water. When the flesh is soft, take the Python steaks out and let cool. Next, saute’ shallots on low heat until lightly brown and add the ginger, garlic and all other spices. Next turn up the heat until the toasted aroma arise from the pot. Add flaked Python, rice wine, and more spring water and reduce heat for 10 minutes. Serve with hot steamed rice and greens and cold crisp Chardonnay wine.

Bon-less Appetit !

Hurricane Season

Wild Animals May Seek Refuge In Your Home To Survive

Once again as of June 1st, we are in the start of the Atlantic Storm Season. Here in Florida we usually just call it Hurricane season. Part of your hurricane preparedness plan might be to have your home checked for places where animals and wildlife can enter your home. Here is why.

Rodents And Nocturnal Animals Run On Instinct

When a storm like hurricane Charley, Wilma, or Katrina hits, its not just human habitats that are affected. Even a medium sized storm will knock down thousands of trees, even where no humans live. That forces the wildlife to seek refuge somewhere else. If the only things left standing are human structures, well that is pretty inviting to rats, squirrels, raccoons, bats and many other wild creatures.

 

Even a medium sized storm can decimate a large portion of Florida forest, and force wildlife to seek shelter elsewhere

These squirrels found an easy access to their new home after being displaced by a storm.

 Call Up For A Inspection Of Your Home

An expert like those at Nuisance Wildlife Removal will show you where those access points to your home or business are. He will carefully inspect your roof and attic areas inside and out, and offer to fix the flaws in construction or earlier damage caused by animals. The time to prevent animals from taking storm refuge in your home is now, before the storms hit.
You can reach us at 866-261-WILD. Call today for a FREE inspection and cost estimate. Don’t let your house become a storm shelter for homeless and displaced animals.

CALL 866-263-WILD (9453)

Storms Bring Animals Inside

Storms Drive Wildlife To Your House For Shelter

The official Atlantic storm season is from June 1st to November 30th. What we see here a lot at Nuisance Wildlife Removal is animals driven into people’s homes by high winds and flooding of their natural habitat. It is only natural to head for high ground as water encroaches.

If you’ve ever looked in your attic or upper crawl space, you can see that it is dark and dry. This is very inviting to a rat or raccoon trying to keep their babies safe and dry during a storm or it’s aftermath.

Prevent Unwanted Animal Visitors From Homesteading

Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc. offers free inspections to your home and property, to assure that all possible entrances to your home are covered or excluded, to prevent any non-intended habitation by wildlife during the coming storm season.

Contact us by calling 941-729-2103 or through the contact form on this website.

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CALL 866-263-WILD (9453)

Stack Guard

Stack Guard Is A Great Idea To Keep Out Unwanted Animals

Wildlife can keep finding their way into homes and businesses. It only takes one access point for small animals to enter any dwelling. So, how do you prevent this? Stack Guard.Stack Guard will prevent pests from entering your home or business through plumbing vents.

It Just Makes Good Preventive Sense

Stack Guard can prevent damage from nuisance wildlife. Typically, wildlife chews on flashing used to make the stack, leaving holes and the potential for more problems including water damage to your structure.
We now can stop these entryways to your home and business.

Your plumbing vent without Stack-Guard

As the only Wildlife Control Professional buying directly from the manufacturer, we have complete access to their full line of products.

Call today to schedule your wildlife home inspection and find out how Stack Guard can help save you money on future repairs.

CALL

866-263-WILD (9453)