Raccoons In Cold Weather

Posted on December 28, 2010 by admin

Feed Your Pets But Not The Raccoons

When winter comes and it’s cold out, it is lean times for wildlife.

If you don’t want to come nose to nose with a raccoon on your Orlando porch when going out to get your paper, one simple remedy is removing the pet food for the evening.

Raccoons Have Free Reign

Raccoons may travel far and wide looking for something to eat. Raccoons survive naturally on acorns and stream life, but a dog or cat bowl outside your Tampa home is easy pickings.

Your pet won’t starve being without its food until morning and the critters will be tempted to your Orange County doorstep. Raccoons will also be lured by food in any trash outside that is not in a secure location.

Wildlife Will Move In Without Notice

Holes in your Orlando home’s eaves make a fine winter shelter for raccoons. Not to mention opossums, and squirrels as well. If they are comfortable in your attic over the next few months they may believe this location is a safe spot to rear their young.

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
811 South Palm Avenue
Sarasota, FL 34236

CALL 866-263-WILD (9453)

Florida Bat Season

Posted on February 15, 2010 by admin

A bat flying overhead

Bats Will Soon Claim The Night Sky In Florida

That is right, Bat Season in Florida. Runs between April 15th and August 15th and is considered Bat Maternity Season. Bats in Florida are already considered a beneficial and therefore protected species because of the massive amount of flying insects they consume at night. That is why we never harm bats, even when we are called to remove them from a home or business.

We just convince them to find another place to roost. However, during the maternity season, we are forbidden by law (and so are you) from molesting or disturbing bats, regardless of where they are roosting. That is so the next generation of these little flying rodents is assured of consuming their fair share of nuisance insects from the Florida sky.

Will The Bats Claim Your Home This Season?

So if you suspect that a roost of bats has taken up residence in or near your house or out buildings, now is the time to call. We can prevent the problem from becoming worse, and clean up the area as well. One of the services we offer is attic insulation removal, attic decontamination, and insulation replacement.

CALL 1-866-263-WILD (9453)

Nonnative Animals Freeze Out

Posted on February 15, 2010 by admin — 1 Comment ↓

The Big Chill Takes The Bite Out Of Nonnative Wildlife

South Florida’s recent unusual cold weather might be helping with the problem of nonnative species.

Pythons and other snakes, reptiles and fish are dying by the thousands as temperatures drop.

Colder Weather Puts Things Into Balance

Vultures circled over the Anhinga Trail inside the Everglades National Park where thousands of dead nonnative fish floated in the marshes.

Among the Burmese pythons found in the park lately about have of them are dead.

Dead iguanas have dropped from trees and into lawns and patios across South Florida.

Southern Tip Of Florida No Exception

In Western Miami-Dade County, three African rock pythons were found dead.

Although South Florida’s warm, moist climate has nurtured a vast range of non-native plants and animals, a January cold snap reminded these intruders that they’re not in Burma or Ecuador anymore.

Temperatures in the 30s have apparently killed Burmese pythons, iguanas and other unwanted species.

“Anecdotally, we might have lost maybe half of the pythons out there to the cold,” said Scott Hardin, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s exotic species coordinator. “Iguanas definitely. From a collection of observations from people, more than 50% fatality on green iguanas. . . . Lots of freshwater fish died; no way to estimate that.”

Nonnative fish that have infested the Everglades are turning up dead in the thousands, including the Mayan Cichlid, walking catfish and Spotfin Spiny Eel, said David Hallac, chief biologist at Everglades National Park.

Experts Agree Cold Weather Stuns Exotic Wildlife Living In Florida

No one knows how many Burmese pythons live in the Everglades, where some were released as unwanted pets and others found refuge after hurricanes destroyed their breeding sites. But there are a lot fewer today than there were a month ago.

Greg Graziani, a police officer who owns a reptile breeding facility, is one of several licensed python hunters who stalk snakes in the Everglades. In four days, he found two dead snakes, two live ones and one on the verge of death.

“Vultures had pecked through 12 inches by 4 inches down the back of this animal’s body,” he said. “I thought it was dead, and we reached down to pick it up, and it was very much alive.”

In cold weather, Graziani said, pythons go into a catatonic state, and if they don’t make it to a safe place to ride out the weather, they freeze to death.

“We’re finding the smaller pythons are handling it better than the large ones,” Graziani said. “The smaller ones can get into different cracks and crevices to maintain the temperatures they need.”

Some information from the LA Times

If you discover any kind of exotic wildlife living in the bushes or canals around your property anywhere in Central Florida. Do not hesitate to give Nuisance Wildlife Trapper a call immediately. The number is:

866-263-WILD (9453)

Yellow Jacket Stings Hurt

Posted on January 30, 2010 by admin — 1 Comment ↓

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

Nonnative Wildlife In Florida

Posted on December 28, 2009 by admin — 1 Comment ↓

South American Animal Kingdom Has Moved To Florida

The powers that be in Marco Island Florida hired a wildlife trapper six months ago to catch and kill their nuisance Iguanas. There are a list of complaints. They dedicate in pools. Eat up shrubs and flowers. They are able to undermine foundations and seawalls. The State of Florida requires the trapper to kill them because they are a nonnative species, and as such, cannot be released back into the wild once captured.

There Is More Than Meets The Eye With Nonnative Species

Iguanas are just one example of non-native species in Florida becoming a nuisance.

Some others are:

armadillos
foxes
hogs
rats and mice
European rabbit

That is just some of the mammals that have made it into the Florida ecosystem.

The reptiles on the list include:

Boa constrictors
pythons
monitor lizards
Brown Anole

Don’t know what an Anole is? Ever seen those cute little lizards that stand on the side of a tree and make their throat stick out to warn others and attract a mate?

We won’t even get into the debate here about Africanized Honey Bees in Florida.

What Does Belong In The Florida Wildlife Kingdom?

Here is a good idea of how diverse Florida wildlife really is without all the nonnative species moving in on our territory.

The point is that practically everything in Florida is nonnative, including most of the people.

Our job here at Nuisance Wildlife Removal is to trap and remove the animals and insects that have become nuisances to people. Now you know why we can’t just move some species to another location and let them go.

CALL 866-263-WILD (9453)

Avoid A Snake Encounter

Posted on July 8, 2009 by admin — 1 Comment ↓

rattlesnake preparing to strike - Don't put yourself in this position.

Snake Are Predictable Until You Step On One

This is the perfect time of year for people to cross paths with snakes in Florida. It has been extra hot, we’ve had a lot of extra rain lately, and there is always more construction during the warmer months. All of these things can combine to cause snakes to move around more during the day.

They may be looking for relief:

from the heat
from the wet conditions
moving to wetter conditions to cool down.
construction projects may also cause the snakes to look for a more stable place to hide.

Avoid The Snake Encounter

What ever the reason, they are more likely to encounter human interaction. Aside from the unfortunate little girl in Central Florida killed by a family pet python, there have also been at least 3, possibly 4 snake bite victims in Florida, in just the last few weeks. All of these were reportedly rattlesnake bites. The latest was a child.

If you encounter snakes on your property, don’t take any chances. Call an expert to remove the serpent before there is a tragic event with your pets or family. Call Nuisance Wildlife Removal of Florida at 866-263-WILD.

Our expert wildlife technicians will find and trap or capture the snake, determine whether it is poisonous, and either relocate it or euthanize it after that determination.

Don’t take chances with the well being of your family.

CALL 866-263-WILD (9453)

Hurricane Season

Posted on June 4, 2009 by admin — No Comments ↓

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.

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)

Wildlife Invades Florida Homes.

Posted on June 3, 2009 by admin — 2 Comments ↓

Always Seek A Qualified Person For The Job

Would you ask your plumber to fix your car? Of course not. He has his specialty, and so do we at Nuisance Wildlife Removal. We remove animals such as raccoons, snakes, opossums, bats, and bee hives, when they invade peoples’ spaces. Do it yourself people often think they’ll save money by hiring a handy man or even doing the job themselves, but often that can cause a bigger problem.

How Do We Get A Raccoon Family Out Of Your House?

The baby raccoon on the right would have died if the homeowner had gone ahead with his plan to wait until the raccoon in his attic left at night, then seal up the entrance.

First of all, a mother raccoon would have just frantically made a new entrance to get to her babies, causing even more damage to the house.
Secondly, if she had failed, then the owner would have the foul odor of rotting dead raccoons in his attic to deal with.

Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed. His wife called Nuisance Wildlife Removal services for a FREE assessment of the situation. We showed the owner that there was indeed a nest of babies in his attic, and that momma had more than one entrance to his house. We went to work by first convincing the mother raccoon that she should not stay any longer. To do this, we sprayed a predator scent, which alerts her to constant danger to her and her babies. In exiting the only route that we had left her, she stepped into a trap we had set.

Once the young family was evicted, we fixed all the places on the home where the raccoons had done damage to get in. Unfortunately, it was also obvious that this was not the first time this house had been used as a raccoon nursery. We ended up having to do a complete attic restoration for this home owner. We pulled out all the old insulation and disinfected the entire attic area, and sprayed for the thousands of fleas we found there. We then replaced all the insulation, and even had some crushed vent work repaired.

By the way, this was covered by his home owner’s insurance.

The raccoons were taken to an animal rehab facility until the babies can fend for themselves in the wild.

CALL 866-263-WILD (9453)

Africanized Bees

Posted on May 26, 2009 by admin — 1 Comment ↓

State Seeks To Eradicate Colonies

Africanized bees are over taking the wild populations of European bees in Florida. That is why the state advises residents to exterminate feral colonies found on properties close to people.

“Public safety is ultimately our goal,”

said Jerry Hayes, chief of the apiary section of Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

“Three or four years ago, the bees we were finding might show 20 to 30 percent Americanization. Now it’s 60 to 80 percent.”

Bees Feel At Home In Southern Florida

Southern and southwest Florida has a higher density of the bees than other parts of the state, he said. That’s probably because the area resembles Central and South America, where Africanized bees started in this hemisphere.

“Beekeepers are not part of the problem,” Hayes said. “We don’t want them zoned or ordinance out of being. But having more managed colonies will not stop Africanized bees from expanding.”

information was used from

http://www.news-press.com/

CALL 866-263-WILD (9453)

Bee Removal Rising

Posted on May 18, 2009 by admin — No Comments ↓

Bee Hives Are Becoming Commonplace These Days In Florida

We often get calls here at Nuisance Wildlife Removal Inc. about bees invading a home or other structure on a property. The unseen hive usually has the iceberg effect, where you only see the

entrance, and not the main colony.

On this call, the bees were spotted going in and out of a hole up near the rain gutter of a two story house. Once the gutter and drain pipe were removed, you could see the damage and rotted wood, which

allowed the bees to enter the structure and start their hive.

We Had To Peel Back The Structure

Our trained technician removed some fascia board, and the hive combs a were pretty big. This hive was not a new one. It had been there for more than one season. The deeper he dug into the damaged wood, the worse things looked for the home owner.

Why Some Bees Must Be Destroyed

First things first, the bees need to be eliminated. Some people don’t understand why this is necessary, considering the world wide distress that domesticated bees are in due to CCD or “colony collapse disorder”. Bees are dying off by the billions due to everything from infections, to mites, to lack of food, pesticides and even the stress of being trucked all over the country at harvest time.

The bigger danger is that the healthy domestic bees would be contaminated by cross breeding with the AHB or Africanized Honey Bees which have now invaded our part of Florida. We can’t take the time to try and recognize whether we are dealing with the AHB or just wild honey bees. We exterminate the hive to help the Florida bee industry keep its good hives intact. In the past, a licensed bee keeper may want to take the wild hives that we find, but not any more.

Taking Out The Hive

Now that the bees have been “dusted”, we start the removal process. You can’t just leave an empty hive in place, or it will attract maggots which would feed on the dead bee larvae. Also, all that honey may eventually start running down the inside walls. That is a mess you don’t want to ever have to deal with. Bees and humans are not the only creatures who like to eat honey.

Our technicians will make sure that all traces and remnants of the hive are cleaned away, and the area is left ready for the contractor to repair any structural damage left behind by the bees.