The combination of being a growing city, horse mecca, and tourist destination makes Lexington, Kentucky, a perfect target for nuisance wildlife. It’s quite common for people and wildlife to clash in urban areas close to farmland, with residents and businesses experiencing damage to structures and outdoor lawns and gardens from raccoons, rodents, opossums, squirrels, and more.
Regardless of this area losing a lot of its natural habitat to growth, nuisance animals don’t seem to care that southern hospitality is not being extended to them. Call Critter Control when you need professionals who can detect what animal is in your home, locate their whereabouts, get rid of them, repair the damage they created, and exclude them from entering your home or yard again.
Raccoons are a prevalent nuisance animal. Unafraid of people, they forage for food in residential, restaurant, hotel, and commercial trash cans, backyard gardens, and barns throughout Lexington. Their usual den can be found high up in trees where they feel safe from predators, but as their natural habitat is shrinking, attics, chimneys, barns, and sheds close to their scavenging places have become their homes of choice. Unfortunately, these smart, strong, and willful animals can create quite a lot of damage when creating a hole to gain entry to a property and once inside.
Barns, sheds, attics, and window shutters are the usual spots bats choose to roost. Kentucky is home to
16 species of bats; three of them are endangered, and all are protected. Because the mold that grows in bat guano and urine can cause disease, getting rid of bats as soon as possible is important to the health of you, your family, or co-workers. From mid-spring through summer, bats are caring for their young, who are quite helpless without their parents.
Bat removal is best done in fall when the pups are already able to fly and hunt for food on their own.
Squirrels are in the rodent family along with mice and rats but have distinct differences as well as similarities. Unlike other rodents like mice and rats, squirrels are active during the daytime and can be quite noisy when living above our heads in the attic. And, like mice and rats, they like to gnaw on wood and wires to help them keep their ever-growing teeth at a manageable length, so they can create quite a bit of damage. Unlike mice and rats, they will not raid your pantry but collect a stash of nuts and seeds close to where they’ve created their nest in your home or office. The most prevalent squirrels in Lexington are gray squirrels and fox squirrels. Gray squirrels do especially well in neighborhoods with mature trees next to homes. In Kentucky, you can shoot a squirrel during hunting season, but getting rid of a squirrel may be best left to professionals when living in a more populated area.
Rat and Mice Pest Control
Lexington homeowners, business owners, and horse owners are all susceptible to
rat and
mouse infestations. Attics, basements, restaurants, and barns are sought out spaces for these nuisance animals to make their home. Rodents’ teeth grow throughout their lives, and they are notorious for chewing through electric wires, walls, and floors to create pathways to pantries, horse stalls, and restaurant storage areas. Rats and mice will contaminate food in pantries, and they also carry diseases including hantavirus, salmonella, and leptospirosis. They reproduce quickly and often, making it imperative to get rid of rats and mice quickly.
Armadillos are fairly
new residents of Kentucky. The name armadillo in Spanish means ‘little armored one.' Because of rising temperatures, these mammals have been migrating further north. While they may look slow and harmless, their long nails enable them to be aggressive diggers that can ruin a yard in search of insects and grubs. They also build extensive burrows that can uproot foundations, retaining walls, driveways, and sidewalks. Armadillos can also spread leprosy to humans. Because their burrows are large with multiple openings, it takes an expert like Critter Control to locate and get rid of an armadillo on your property.
Opossums are nocturnal and active all year long. Quite common in Lexington, opossums are North America’s only marsupial. Beneficial insect eaters, they will also eat garbage and pet food that is left outdoors. Opossums will inhabit attics, basements, sheds, crawl spaces, and under porches and decks. Critter Control recommends getting rid of an opossum quickly as they can transmit disease and parasites to humans and pets.
Kentucky has 33 snake species, but only four are venomous, including the copperhead, water moccasin, timber rattlesnake, and pigmy rattlesnake. In summer, snakes like to hide out in cool, damp places, including basements, crawl spaces, and barns. As the weather cool, they need to keep warm by seeking the same type of shelter. One often overlooked hideout of snakes is
horse trailers.
Snakes are elusive and will hide out once they’ve entered a property. Critter Control specialists are expert detectives when it comes to locating a snake with a home or barn.