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Saturday 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
By County: Macomb County, Monroe County, Milan County, Wayne County
More than 5.5 million people live in the Detroit metropolitan area, which includes the surrounding suburbs of Westland, Rochester Hills, Grosse Pointe, Dearborn, and Southfield. Detroit borders three lakes where wildlife can live: Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair, and Lake Huron. The Detroit River runs alongside the city and connects all of these lakes. Water is the perfect environment for critters such as birds, raccoons, muskrats, and beavers.
Detroit’s freezing, snowy, and windy winters make life closer to human civilization much more appealing to wild animals during these hard months. Detroit’s downtown area has many streets and alleyways full of entertainment and thriving businesses where these animals can gain entry, with plentiful access to warmth, food, and water.
Raccoons in their natural habitat are excellent climbers and use the cover of trees to protect themselves from predators. But that also makes attics and chimneys an ideal substitute when the weather turns cold, and the availability of trees is low. Although these creatures are quite cute, they are also quite destructive.
Raccoons are strong and will tear a hole in the roof to gain entry. Once inside, they tear insulation and gnaw on wood and wires. Because of their size, if a raccoon was in your attic, you would definitely hear them banging around. Raccoons can become fierce when confronted, especially if there are kits. It is important to call a wildlife control specialist like Critter Control to remove them.
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.
Rats and mice need water to survive. Detroit’s access to the Great Lakes makes it a natural habitat for them. Residents and business owners will find them coming inside in the fall and winter as the weather turns colder. Unfortunately, rats are responsible for the spread of many diseases, mostly caused by them contaminating food with their urine or feces. This is especially dangerous in homes with children or in restaurants and hotels where cleanliness and diligence are a necessity.
All rodents have large front teeth that continue to grow throughout their lives. To keep these teeth at a manageable level, they will gnaw on wood and wires in your home, creating a risk for electrical fires. They also reproduce all year round, so several mice or rats in your basement can quickly become a large infestation.
Rats and mice can squeeze through the tiniest of spaces, including gaps in doors and windows as well as the space around your gas pipes.
Rats and mice are nocturnal creatures and you will most likely hear them in your walls or above your head at night. Should you see one during the day, it is most likely because you, unfortunately, have a large population of them.
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.
Squirrels in attics are a common animal nuisance problem in Detroit. Nine squirrels live in Michigan. One species that has been growing in the region is the black squirrel. While these black squirrels can be found in many places around the country, they are most prevalent in Michigan.
Squirrels are rodents, and while they can be entertaining when scurrying about outside, they are no fun to find in your attic or crawl space, where they have been known to make a mess and cause electrical fires. As rodents, their teeth continue to grow, and gnawing is the only way they have to keep them at a manageable length.
They are also carriers of parasites such as ticks, mange mites, fleas, and internal parasites. And their feces and urine can transmit leptospirosis, salmonellosis, and tularemia.
Unlike rats and mice, squirrels are most active in the daytime. If you hear scurrying above your head in the mornings, you most likely are listening to squirrels.
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.
Michigan is home to nine bat species, but the ones that like to roost in Detroit homes and businesses are the little brown bat and the big brown bat. All Michigan bats like to eat a variety of insects, including moths, flies, mosquitos, and beetles. Under normal conditions, they can eat 600 to 1,000 mosquito-sized insects per hour! But, while they are great at ridding our yards of unwanted insects, they are not welcome guests when roosting in an attic, chimney, or behind shutters.
Despite their benefits, the guano from bats is a potential danger for diseases such as Histoplasma fungus. Bats are a protected species in Michigan, and it is illegal to capture or kill them.
Bats give birth each spring to a single pup. Pups remain helpless through the spring and summer and are weaned by fall. It is at this time that bats can be removed from an attic without harming the young
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 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.
Nocturnal by nature, skunks can cause plenty of damage when burrowing for food and shelter. Although it is legal to kill a nuisance skunk on your property, please leave removal to a trained specialist. Not only is their spray foul-smelling and hard to remove, but skunks in the Detroit area also have been known to carry rabies.
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.
