Jacob Lehman, owner of Destination Wildlife Control, a wildlife control company in Northern Virginia, says his motto is “I work with anything bigger than a bug and smaller than a deer.” So when should you call him and when should you call a pest control service? And who shouldn’t do your wildlife removal work? Let’s have Lehman parse this for us.
The difference between pest and wildlife control is about the size of the pest. The typical pest control company only deals with bugs (termites, roaches, bed bugs, ants), rats, and mice. They try not to deal with larger animals. When pest control companies do try to deal with nuisance wildlife, they may get lucky and catch an animal, think they are done, and try to do a repair (if they even do a repair). Inevitably, because of their lack of experience and knowledge on wildlife removal, they don’t find the right spot to repair, or they find it but don’t get all of the animals out and instead trap them inside. I can’t tell you how many times homeowners have called me because of animals trapped inside their walls by pest control operators.
Another common call I get is from homeowners who had a handyman do their wildlife removal work. While handymen might do a good repair job, they don’t know where to put the trap, if they even try to trap the animal. Often they look in the attic, don’t see the animal, and assume the animal is gone. This is a big mistake: Animals as large as raccoons can hide under insulation or inside walls.
Local government animal control agencies can also remove animals from your living space — and at no cost. If the animal is in the attic, on the roof, in the chimney, or any place other than the living space, you may simply be loaned a trap and told to check it every hour. But what they won’t do is figure out where the animal got in or how to keep other animals out. For that, you need a qualified wildlife control specialist.
If you think you have animals in your house, call a wildlife control company like Destination Wildlife Control. A good wildlife control operator will take his time to find the source of the problem. A great one will also educate you the homeowner about the animal and how the it gained entry, as well as potential entry points and how to correctly repair these areas. At Destination Wildlife Control, we perform emergency service calls, nuisance animal removal, dead animal removal, exclusion services, cleanup services, handyman services, home inspections, termite inspections, and general pest control.
