There is a variety of natural habitats around Douglasville, Georgia, that offer a mix of forests, wetlands, and waterways, providing a home for numerous plant and animal species.
Whether you live in Douglasville, Kellogg, Villa Rica, or Carrollton, you may find bats, opossums, snakes or other nuisance wildlife seeking shelter in the quiet areas of your home like attics and crawl spaces.This presents a big problem with the potential for extensive property damage. In need of pest control in Douglasville? Call Critter Control.
Raccoons inhabit all parts of the state, tend to stay near a reliable source of water, and are comfortable in urban areas. Raccoons can wreak havoc trying to gain entry to your home and cause significant damage creating a den in your attic. They can cause a mess of garbage and destroy home gardens and birdfeeders. Because they are nocturnal, you’ll most likely hear a loud thumbing at night if you have an attic.
Female raccoons will seek out shelter during the breeding season. The breeding season peaks in February and March but can happen anytime between December and June. Raccoons are nocturnal, but a female will be active during the day to forage for food if she has a litter.
Before trying to remove a raccoon from your home by yourself, remember they can carry diseases, and if threatened, they may bite. Calling nuisance wildlife animal control experts is recommended. Critter Control’s three-step process works well for raccoon removal.
During the inspection, we determine the severity of the raccoon infestation. We look for physical evidence like footprints in or around the home, stains from raccoon feces and urine. On the exterior of the house, we look for damage like scratches on boards, broken vents and screens, ripped apart shingles, destroyed soffits, and every possible entry point.
Live trapping is one of the most efficient ways to get rid of a raccoon. Depending on the situation, a one-way door or excluder valve can be installed. An excluder valve works by allowing the raccoon to leave but blocks its reentry. The choice of device is largely dependent on the season and location of the raccoons on your property. Direct capture is not commonly used because raccoons are a rabies vector species. If we must trap, we place traps strategically to safely catch the raccoons and we check traps frequently, based on state laws.
We provide a wide range of repair and restoration services. We can repair raccoon damage like broken screens on vents and chimneys and broken boards on decks and porches. It is essential to apply cleaning agents and ectoparasite treatments on areas inhabited by raccoons.
Georgia is home to sixteen bat species, but the little or big brown bats are most common in Atlanta homes. These local species gather in large colonies in attics and barns to roost. Bat maternity season lasts from April 1st to July 31st. During this time only certified Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators can remove bats on account of flightless pups.
Bats in the attic, or elsewhere in your home, can be a particularly troublesome nuisance. Not only do they make a lot of noise, but their nests and droppings can negatively affect your health and the health of your family.
Bat guano is the surest sign you have bats and the greatest risk to your health. A large accumulation of guano can lead to structural issues and spread two fungal diseases.
We perform a full interior and exterior inspection and search for signs such as rub marks, guano, a strong scent of ammonia, and small openings. The most common sign is the accumulation of guano (feces).
The most effective and humane way to remove bats near you is by utilizing a bat valve in conjunction with a full home exclusion. A bat valve allows for bats to exit your home but not re-enter. We follow all local ordinances for humane bat removal. We will never abandon flightless pups in your attic.
After removing the bat valves, we seal the entrance hole(s) so bats can no longer enter your home. If there is substantial guano in your attic, you should consider taking advantage of our attic remediation services to remove the soiled insulation and replace it.
The Norway and roof rats and the house mouse are common in south Metro Atlanta, and there is no lack of food, water, and shelter. So why are they such a nuisance in your home? Simply because it, too, gives them food, water, and shelter.
You won’t likely see too many rats and mice. They are active at night and know how to stay out of sight. They are sneaky creatures, snagging crumbs off countertops and chewing their way through boxes in your pantry. One way you know they are there is the droppings they leave behind, the ones that can be toxic to humans. There may also be gnawed materials like wood or wires and shredded insulation. If it is soft and accessible, rodents will chew it.
Setting a rat trap is a temporary fix. Eventually, others will find their way into your home. We can make it much harder for them, however.
During a rodent inspection, we thoroughly inspect your attic and provide a complete exterior home inspection. The most common signs of rodent activity are gnaw marks, feces, rub marks, nesting material, runs in insulation material, and small entry points.
A Critter Control wildlife specialist will create a strategic trapping plan to remove the rodents found in your home. Critter Control specialists may use snap traps and live traps to capture and remove mice and rats. Rodent trapping can usually takes between five to fourteen days.
The best rodent control for your homes is to seal possible entrances. Exclusion methods include caulking cracks in foundations, capping chimneys, and installing mesh covers over vents and crawl space entrances. We also strongly recommend a maintenance service. Rodents have front teeth that continuously grow, which means they can gnaw a new way back into your home.
Squirrels can impact your quality of life. They are active from dawn to dusk. The most common sign of squirrels is the sound of scurrying early in the morning. Squirrels can breed twice a year in Georgia. Once in late winter, and once in late summer. They will nest in attics and vents if they’re able to access the home. You’re most likely to hear a squirrel family in your home in early spring and early fall.
Squirrels are active during the day so you might hear squealing, running, or gnawing early in the morning. Squirrels’ teeth never stop growing so they constantly gnaw and chew damaging attic insulation, fraying electrical wire, and destroying house structures.
Effective squirrel removal near you, the wildlife technician will employ a variety of tactics such as live trapping, one-way doors, deterrents, and direct capture.
Wildlife specialists look for signs such as chewing on, in, or around your home, small openings leading to the attic or the crawl space, droppings, and debris like nuts or nesting material. Beams, wires, pipes, and insulation may all show signs of damage from squirrels.
Live trapping or one-way doors are the most effective and humane ways to get rid of squirrels. One-way doors should never be used during birthing seasons (Spring & Fall), so our specialists will decide which is the best tool for the job. If we have to trap, we place traps strategically to safely catch the squirrels and check those according to state laws.
We can restore your home or office by squirrel proofing all entry points after we have removed the offenders. We can also clean-up the nesting sites and remove any debris, food, feces and soiled insulation.
Skunks are a common pest in metro Atlanta. These animals are known for foraging for food in trash bins and pet food bowls. They’re also profound and efficient diggers and can mutilate an entire yard in a single night searching for grubs. They’re distinctive black and white fur, and their pungent odor that can linger for days, are unmistakable. If you happen to cross paths with a skunk, do not try to scare it away. Please also remember that skunks can carry rabies; therefore, it’s best to let a professional handle removal for you.
In addition to noting any pungent odors that signal the presence of a skunk, we will inspect the condition of your landscaping, as skunks are known for tearing-up lawns and shredding grass while hunting for grubs and insects. We will also inspect the perimeter of your building’s foundations and under decks, to locate burrows.
Never try to remove a skunk from your property yourself. Getting sprayed is a very unpleasant experience. Furthermore, these animals may carry diseases that can spread to humans and pets, such as rabies. Our specialists will use live traps to capture and remove skunks for you, or they’ll use a one-way exclusion device to evict skunks from their harborage areas. The most effective ways to control a skunk problem is exclusion and habitat modification.
The most effective ways to control a skunk problem is exclusion and habitat modification. Methods like sealing foundation gaps, replacing and screening broken foundation vents and installing hardware cloth (rat walls) around unprotected sheds and decks are the most effective and permanent ways to keep skunks out.
We recommend keeping pet food inside and securing any trash bins.
Critter Control is here for you every step of the way in the wildlife removal process. From inspection to removal—and even exclusion and repair—we have the services you need to get rid of raccoons, rodents, and other nuisances fast. First, we identify the animal on the property, then use humane methods to remove the animal and secure weak points where more could enter. If damage has been done, we can make those repairs for a complete restoration. Contact a Critter Control office near you today.
During the inspection we try to ascertain how many animals there are, where they are located, and how they got in. Based on what you have seen, heard and smelled, we start the inspection where you have noticed signs of animal activity. Evidence of animals inside your home include nests, dens, feces, and animal tracks. We investigate the exterior of your home looking for possible entry points, any evidence of animal damage, tracks, fur, animal waste, or rub marks.
We use several methods to humanely remove the animal from your home. Depending on the species, the number of animals, and the condition of your property, we develop a custom wildlife removal plan. Humane wildlife removal strategies include animal traps, one-way doors, and repellents. Once we guarantee all animals are gone, we implement exclusion techniques. Exclusion techniques provide a safe, long-term solution to nuisance wildlife in your home. We create barriers to prevent animals from getting to resources. We only apply exclusions once we are sure all animals are gone from your home.
Wildlife will damage your home. Exclusion techniques repair any damage the animal causes getting into your home. Inside your home, animals build nests and dens out of readily available material. They will create runs through the insulation. Rodents will gnaw on anything including electrical wires and pipes. Animals can also spread diseases. We apply sanitation agents to clean up feces and urine. Mammals can host pests like fleas, ticks, and mites. Ectoparasite treatments exterminate those pests so you don’t become their next host.
