Category: Blog

Though they are one of the world’s most misunderstood creatures, there is no denying that bats play a critical role in our natural ecosystem. Yet, while they benefit us by eating outdoor pests, pollinating flowers, and dispersing seeds, they can wreak havoc on the inside of a residential home. If you come across a single bat somewhere in your home, chances are it may have gotten in through an open window or door. But if you see bats more frequently, then they could be unwanted house guests roosting in your attic.

To discover how bats get inside your home, you will need to complete a thorough home inspection by a wildlife removal expert who has the proper tools and experience to safely remove bats.

How Bats Get Inside Homes

Bats never make holes to get inside of buildings; they only use entry points that are left open such as:

• Cracks and gaps as small as half an inch around windows, conduits, and utility vents
• Loose or missing shingles or tiles
• Gaps in the bricks of walls
• Openings in the attic
• Barns or warehouses with large doors
• Loose-fitting doors
• An unprotected chimney
• Broken or poorly-fitted screens

How to Get Rid of Bats in Your Home

While your first instinct may be to close all of the entry points you find around your home during your inspection, you cannot begin bat proofing until you are absolutely sure there are no bats still living inside. If you block all of their entry and exit points, the bats will get trapped and end up flapping around the home looking for a way to escape. As the bats begin to panic, they will become agitated, spread contamination, and cause even more damage to your home. Before any bat entry points can be closed, a live bat exclusion must be performed by professionals. This will ensure all the bats are safely removed by allowing them to exit but keeping them from returning.

Rely on Your Orlando Bat Removal Professionals

At Critter Control® of Orlando, we have over three decades of experience in excluding and removing nuisance bats from the inside of homes. For more information on how we can help you get your home restored to its previous condition, call us today at 407-295-7194 and schedule an inspection to receive a free bat removal estimate.

 

Having rats in the attic is something no homeowner wants to even think about. Unfortunately, many Orlando residents who find themselves in this situation don’t actually discover their wildlife issue until their home has become a massive breeding ground for diseased rodents. On top of the health risks rats introduce to homes and businesses, these critters often create expensive damage if not handled quickly and carefully. Here’s how you can tell if you have rats in the attic.

What Draws Rats in the Attic?

Rats gravitate to attics for a number of reasons:

• Ample nesting space – Rats are in search of warm, dark, and cozy conditions to build nests and breed. Attics tend to be uninhabited, giving rats a perfect space to hide and establish a home.
• Access to nesting materials – Because rats have incisors that are constantly growing, they need to gnaw on tough materials to trim and maintain their teeth. From cardboard and electrical wiring to wooden beams and PVC piping, there are countless options for the critters to chew on.

The Damage of a Rat Infestation

Many homeowners tend to take an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach to home maintenance, but it doesn’t take long for rats to create unignorable damage. For starters, when these rodents soil your attic insulation with urine or tear it apart to be used as nesting material, your HVAC unit loses efficiency — costing you more in energy expenses each month. Additionally, when rats chew on plumbing pipes or electrical wiring, they heighten the potential for a massive water leak or serious fire hazard.

How Do Rats in the Attic Go Undetected?

Wild animals naturally try to avoid direct contact with humans. For this reason, rats often attempt to enter a home through access points on the roof or near the attic, such as:

• Damaged exhaust vents
• Gaps between the soffit and roof lining
• Openings in roof junctions
• Rubber roof mats

These nuisance critters can also make their way in from the ground level, using cracks or holes as small as one inch in diameter to squeeze inside. From there, rats journey up to the dark and secure attic space to start nesting, breeding, and feeding.

The Dangers of DIY Rat Removal

The costs of DIY rat removal along with the health and safety risks of post-removal cleanup are enough to steer most Orlando homeowners toward professional wildlife management. Therefore, instead of risking your personal safety and health by trying to remove rats on your own, partner with the trained team at Critter Control® of Orlando.

Get Rid of Rats in the Attic with Professional Orlando Rat Removal Services

At Critter Control® of Orlando, our licensed experts will first inspect your home and attic to determine how and where the rats got inside. From there, we will strategize a plan to successfully and permanently rid your home of all rats, clean up any contamination they left behind, and block all holes, gaps, and cracks to ensure they don’t return.

If you are dealing with rats on your Central Florida property, then contact the expertly trained rat removal team at Critter Control® of Orlando. To learn more about our services or to schedule an inspection and receive your free rat removal estimate, call Critter Control® of Orlando today at 407-295-7194.

When a wild animal decides to make its nest in your attic, your insulation is often ripped up, destroyed, and otherwise compromised by feces and urine. Fortunately, the wildlife removal professionals at Critter Control® of Orlando can remove any animal-soiled or damaged insulation from your attic and replace it in order to get your home back in top shape.

How Wild Animals Can Affect Your Attic Insulation

Soiled attic insulation that is contaminated by animal waste makes for a messy and smelly home. Insulation that has been nested in or trampled down by critter activity is also less effective, causing significant energy loss. Once the efficiency of your attic insulation is ruined, you can expect your utility bills to rise. Therefore, any attic or insulation issues, wildlife-related or otherwise, should be handled as quickly as possible to avoid any unnecessary costs or spread of contamination.

Further Threats of Wild Animal Infestations

Physical damage is just one of the dangers posed to your attic and insulation by wild animals. Their waste represents a huge health hazard that should be handled by a professional. The trained experts at Critter Control® take the utmost care in removing all contaminated insulation and waste from your home to ensure that your family is not in harm’s way.

Avoid DIY Wildlife and Attic Insulation Removal

Removing invasive wildlife or soiled attic insulation is not something a homeowner should attempt on their own. The dangers associated with removing a wild animal or soiled insulation from a cramped and contaminated attic are significant. From various diseases to risking inhaling potentially toxic insulation fibers, it’s best to leave it to the pros.

Rely on Your Local Wild Animal Removal Specialists

If you are dealing with unwanted and unsanitary wild animals on your Central Florida property, then contact the expertly trained wildlife removal team at Critter Control® of Orlando. Our licensed and trained technicians will remove and replace your attic insulation and repair any damaged attic structures safely and efficiently. To learn more about our services or to schedule an inspection and receive your free wildlife removal estimate, call Critter Control® of Orlando today at 407-295-7194.

Finding a wild animal in your attic is, unfortunately, not very uncommon. Oftentimes, wildlife will roost in residential attics when in search of food, water, or shelter or when it’s time for them to reproduce. After all, attics give them a dark, safe place to give birth and raise their young. In fact, due to urbanization, loss of habitat, and other factors, your Orlando attic can seem like the perfect refuge for a variety of wild animals.

Here are some of the common wild animals known to occupy Central Florida attics and why you should only rely on experienced animal removal professionals to get rid of them.

6 Common Attic-Dwelling Wild Animals

Wild animal species that regularly inhabit residential attics include:

1. Squirrels
2. Rats
3. Opossums
4. Mice
5. Raccoons
6. Bats

The Risks of DIY Wild Animal Removal

Because the above wild animals are unpredictable, attempting to get rid of them by yourself can be very unsafe. To avoid injury or the risk of contracting an infectious disease, it’s highly recommended you rely on trained wildlife removal specialists to get the job done safely and efficiently.

Effective Ways to Remove Wild Animals in the Attic

The experienced wildlife removal technicians at Critter Control® of Orlando will inspect your property to determine the size of the infestation and understand how the animals entered your attic. Then we will strategize a custom removal plan to quickly and safely remove all nuisance pests from your property. Afterwards, we will install safeguards and modify all entry points to keep them from returning. Our licensed and trained technicians will also clean and repair any contamination or damages the wildlife left behind.

Reliable Animal Removal Services in Orlando

If you are dealing with unwanted and unwelcome wild animals on your Central Florida property, then contact the expertly trained wildlife removal team at Critter Control® of Orlando. To learn more about our services or to schedule an inspection and receive your free wildlife removal estimate, call Critter Control® of Orlando today at 407-295-7194.

Even though most snakes are generally harmless and will do everything possible to avoid humans, it can be very unsettling to see a snake slithering around your home or property. After all, there are several species of snakes in Florida that are venomous and can inflict serious, life-threatening injuries if they feel cornered and strike in defense. Therefore, to keep your residence snake-free, it is recommended that you apply the following snake deterrent tips even if you haven’t noticed snake activity on your Orlando property.

Effective Snake Deterrent Tips

Preventative measures that will help snakes keep their distance include:

• Keeping the Clutter Down

Things like wood stockpiles, mounds of rocks, or any other sort of debris all offer snakes a perfect place to seek shelter. By carefully clearing away the clutter from your property, you’re giving snakes one less place to stay.

• Mowing the Lawn Regularly

Because snakes only stick up an inch or two from the ground, it’s easy for them to go undetected in grass that hasn’t been mowed in a while. Therefore, it’s critical to keep your lawn mowed on a regular basis, especially during the summer months in Central Florida when the grass grows alarmingly fast.

• Keeping the Hedges Trimmed and Neat

While snakes generally don’t use hedges and bushes for shelter, the critters that they prey on do. Eliminating food sources is a big part of keeping your property pest-free, and by trimming your hedges regularly, you’re helping keep mice, frogs, and other common snake food sources away.

• Checking for Entry Points Around Your Home

It only takes a small gap in your foundation or a hole in a wall to invite snakes inside. Depending on their size, a snake can enter through a hole as small as ¼ of an inch. By sealing off entrances around your home, you are safeguarding you and your family against the dangers of these slithering critters.

The Dangers of DIY Snake Removal

While the above measures are great for discouraging snake activity on your property, they won’t do much to get rid of a snake that is living inside your home. If you encounter a snake on your property, we strongly recommend keeping your distance and not attempting to remove it on your own. Instead of risking a painful or deadly bite, call the snake removal specialists at Critter Control® of Orlando.

Contact Orlando’s Snake Removal Professionals

The experienced wildlife removal technicians at Critter Control® of Orlando will inspect your property to determine the size of the infestation, strategize a custom removal plan to quickly and safely remove all nuisance snakes from your property, install safeguards to keep them from returning, and clean and repair any damages the pests caused.

To schedule an inspection and receive your free snake removal estimate, call Critter Control® of Orlando at 407-295-7194 today.

Having wild animals on your property is not only destructive but also incredibly dangerous. Wildlife like rats, raccoons, mice, squirrels, armadillos, and opossums can tear up lawns, damage structures, and contaminate large areas of your property in their attempt to establish a nest and access your food and water sources. However, the pests can also pose even more serious threats to those who occupy your residential home or commercial business. Here are some of the dangerous risks that a wild animal can bring to your Orlando property.

Common Diseases Carried by Wild Animals

While invasive wildlife’s ability to wreak all sorts of havoc on your property is well known, not everybody knows just how serious of a threat these critters pose to the health of you, your family, your guests, and your pets. Many of the wild animals that invade residential properties on a regular basis are known carriers of infectious diseases such as:

• Leptospirosis

  Commonly spread by rats, leptospirosis is a bacterial infection that is generally contracted through contact with urine or feces. Symptoms often include a headache, fever, vomiting, aching muscles, or a rash. Severity ranges from a mild annoyance to potentially fatal symptoms depending on the situation. If you notice rats or rat waste around your property, do not attempt to remove it on your own without proper safety and sanitization gear.

• Histoplasmosis

  Yet another rat-related disease, histoplasmosis is contracted via the air. Fungus forms on rat waste, which is then released into the air when the fungus is broken down. This means the potential for disease to be spread anywhere in the home, and does not require direct contact with the rat waste itself.

• Rabies

  Perhaps the most widely-known animal-transmitted disease, rabies is a huge threat to both humans and wildlife alike. Common carriers include raccoons, bats, armadillos, and rats. Vaccinations are available as a preventative measure against the virus, but even still, large numbers of domestic pets are affected each year by the disease. Though rabies is on the decline, once it is contracted and symptoms begin to show, it may be too late.

The risk of contracting any of the above diseases illustrates why it is highly recommended that you keep a safe distance and contact wildlife removal professionals when encountering a wild animal on your property.

Professional Wildlife Removal Services in Orlando

If you suspect that there’s animal activity in or around your home or office, don’t take a chance on your health. Call the experts at Critter Control® of Orlando. Our experienced wildlife removal technicians will inspect your property to determine the size of the infestation, strategize a custom removal plan to quickly and safely remove all nuisance wildlife from your property, install safeguards to keep them from returning, and clean and repair any damages the pests caused.

To schedule an inspection and receive your free wild animal removal estimate, call Critter Control® of Orlando at 407-295-7194 today

Rats are known to chew and gnaw on any type of material they come across; however, when it comes to nourishment they actually prefer to maintain a particular diet. This fact is not lost on Central Florida homeowners as the large rodents are often attracted to outdoor citrus fruit trees and vegetable gardens. Unfortunately, rats that are drawn to your residential yard are not likely to keep their activity outside. Here are some common food and water sources that attract rats to your Orlando property and ways you can get rid of them.

Common Rat Food Sources

While rats enjoy eating sugary and citrus fruits for its moisture content, they don’t necessarily need it to be fresh. In fact, the rodents will happily feast on rotten and unripe fruit. Types of produce Orlando rats commonly eat include:

• Lemons
• Limes
• Grapefruits
• Oranges
• Tangelos
• Tangerines
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Walnuts, almonds, pecans

Rats will also eat anything you feed household pets. If you feed your animals outside or store their food in an easily accessible area of your home like a garage, shed, or porch, rats can chew their way into bags of bird seed, grains, and dog or cat food. Finally, if desperate enough, rats will eat lizards and insects, and household items such as soap, paper, and candle wax.

Common Rat Water Sources

Rats will use their strong, ever-growing teeth to chew through plastic piping and other building materials to get to water. To deter rats from accessing your property’s water supply, frequently check the following inside and outside water sources to make sure any leaks are fixed and rats are not present.

• Faucets
• Sprinkler heads, irrigation boxes and irrigation lines
• Bird baths
• Water fountains and Ornamental ponds
• Irrigation lines
• A/C condensation drip lines
• Pet water dishes

Rats are a particular nuisance to homes and communities throughout Orlando, especially those with citrus trees. If your property has become overrun by hungry rats, rely on the professional rat removal services provided by Critter Control® of Orlando.

Expert Rat Removal Services in Orlando

Critter Control® of Orlando knows all the signs of a rat infestation in Orlando and can help you find the potential food and water sources that may attract rats to your Orlando home. Our experienced wildlife removal technicians will inspect your property to determine the size of the infestation, strategize a custom removal plan to quickly and safely remove all nuisance rats from your property, install safeguards to keep them from returning, and clean and repair any damages the pests caused.

To schedule an inspection and receive your free rat removal estimate, call Critter Control® of Orlando at 407-295-7194 today.

No one wants the inconvenience of having unwanted critters in or around their home. Wild animals like squirrels, rats, mice, raccoons, and snakes can all put you and your family in danger of personal harm as well as cause costly damage to your property. Despite the risk of injury, many homeowners attempt to take on the wild animal threat on their own. Not only is DIY animal removal ill-advised, but it is also dangerous and quite often ineffective.

DIY Animal Removal Risks

Before attempting any sort of wildlife removal on your own, it’s important to understand the risks of such an endeavor and why it should ultimately be left to animal removal professionals.

• Physical injury risks

  When animals invade homes, they typically build their nests in hard to reach areas like inside walls or in attic crawl spaces. Attempting to navigate such narrow and tight quarters puts you at risk of encountering a likely hostile and threatened animal. With you situated between the frightened critter and its only route of escape, you can expect a few bites, scratches, bruises, and other injuries.

• Chemical risks

  Pesticides and chemicals are commonly used as animal deterrents, but they can be incredibly harmful to you and your family’s health. Professional animal control technicians are fully trained and equipped to use chemical sprays without putting anyone at risk.

• Disease risks

  Many wild animals are carriers of dangerous infectious diseases. Attempting to remove a wild animal on your own puts you at risk of contracting an illness such as hantavirus, leptospirosis, or rabies. Professional animal removal specialists are equipped with the technology and skills required to stay safe from harm.

• Disposal risks

  Proper disposal of any deceased or trapped animal is critical to limit the risk of exposure. While it may be tempting to dispose of a dead animal carcass in the trash and leave it for your garbage man to handle, this can put you and your trash pick-up service provider at risk. Any animal carcasses removed from your property should be disposed of properly by a qualified wildlife control service to ensure sanitary disposal.

Safe and Effective Animal Removal Services

Don’t allow an animal infestation to put yourself, your family, or your home at risk. Instead, rely on the equipped and experienced wildlife removal specialists at Critter Control® of Orlando to get the job done right the first time. Our licensed and trained technicians have the gear and expertise to permanently take care of any nuisance critters that are disturbing your Orlando property. To schedule your inspection and receive a free estimate for our fast and efficient wildlife removal services, call Critter Control® of Orlando today at 407-295-7194.

Squirrels are clever critters that seem to find their way into residential homes no matter what homeowners do to keep them out. While there are several store-bought and home remedy options that promise to effectively repel squirrels, do they actually work? Here are some of the pros and cons of squirrel repellents and a way you can permanently get rid of nuisance squirrels.

Common Types of Squirrel Repellents

Most squirrel repellents come in one of several forms:

• Spray bottle squirrel repellent
• Pellet squirrel repellent
• Ultrasonic device squirrel repellent
• Aromatic plants and scents that squirrels dislike include cinnamon, garlic, rosemary, peppermint oil, white vinegar, coffee grounds, and dryer sheets.

The Pros of Squirrel Repellent

There are many reasons people opt for squirrel repellents, but the main reason is their ease of use. With squirrel repellents, you can basically set it and forget it. Squirrel repellents are also affordable, as a large bottle of spray repellent costs a bit less than a single trap. Beyond price and usability, the use of humane ingredients in the above squirrel repellents is often a big selling point for homeowners.

The Cons of Squirrel Repellent

While squirrel repellents may be the cheaper option, they are not an effective way to remove squirrels that have already nested in your home. Additional drawbacks of squirrel repellents include:

• Squirrel repellents must be strategically placed. Unless you understand how to search for and identify squirrel nests and entry points, you won’t get the most out of your squirrel repellent.
• Squirrel repellents may inadvertently repel other wanted animals, including pets such as cats and dogs.
• Squirrel repellents don’t always work. If you have a large property, a single spray bottle or jar of pellets probably won’t get you far, so you may spend hundreds of dollars investing in a full arsenal of squirrel repellents without solving the problem.

Instead of waiting around in the hope that your squirrel repellents will eventually work, rely on the squirrel removal professionals at Critter Control® of Orlando to safely and humanely capture and remove nuisance squirrels from your property.

Professional Squirrel Removal Services in Orlando

If you have squirrels in your home, don’t leave the job to an ineffective repellent — call a wildlife removal professional. When it comes to squirrel prevention and control, the experts at Critter Control® of Orlando are the best around. We’ll use non-toxic and humane techniques and equipment to remove the squirrels and make sure they don’t return.

To schedule your inspection and receive a free estimate for our fast and efficient squirrel removal services, call Critter Control® of Orlando today at 407-295-7194.