Critter Control of San Antonio

Locally owned and operated in San Antonio and surrounding areas for over 28 years!

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Squirrels, bats, raccoons, snakes, lizards, rats, mice, minks, voles, armadillos, opossums and rabbits are a few of the Texas wildlife you can see roaming Bexar County. They are in search of food, water and shelter. Depending on the season, they may be preparing for winter or preparing to give birth. Depending on the season, they may be preparing for winter or preparing to give birth.

As a homeowner, you always try to fend off any problems that might cause costly repairs or risk your family’s health. While some chores, such as sealing gaps in your roof and foundation and keeping trash cans tightly closed, help to make your property less attractive to wildlife, they don’t guarantee you will never have an infestation.

Wildlife can quickly become nuisance wildlife when they start damaging your property, annoying you and your family, or posing a threat to humans. Calling a wildlife removal company can help you avoid risks, like being bitten by a potentially diseased animal, further damage to your property and fines due to broken laws. 

At Critter Control, we know the local and state laws and have the best safety equipment and extensive wildlife training. Our three-step process of inspection, removal and repair effectively gets rid of unwanted wildlife from your property quickly.

Wildlife Removal Services

Wildlife can quickly become a nuisance when they start damaging your property, annoying you and your family, or posing a threat to humans.
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.

STEP 1

Pest Control Inspection

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 includes nests, dens, feces, and animal tracks. We investigate the exterior of your home, looking for possible entry points and any evidence of animal damage, tracks, fur, animal waste, or rub marks.
The pest control inspection will accomplish the following:
  • Find out the species
  • Discover how many animals are present
  • Uncover where they are living
  • Identify all animal entry points
STEP 2

Animal Trapping and Removal

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 by creating barriers that prevent animals from accessing resources. We only apply exclusions once we are sure all animals are gone from your home.
STEP 3

Exclusion and Repair

Wildlife will damage your home. Exclusion techniques repair any damage the animal causes when 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.

Raccoon Removal in San Antonio

 

In Texas, raccoons are protected furbearers and cannot be harmed outside of certain seasons. In San Antonio, raccoons are urban nuisances. With their cute masks and fuzzy-banded tails, they seem harmless. But as the sun goes down, they look for food and water. They eat insects, bird eggs, frogs, rodents, and fish in a more natural habitat. But, in a more urban setting, they are happy to dine on pet food left outside, garden crops, and what they can get out of your trash can.

Raccoons create nests in hollowed trees, chimneys, and attics. They will force their way into your home by breaking screens and boards, or they will walk right through your pet door if it is left open. Raccoons create costly damage to attics, like chewing wires and shredding insulation. When they block vents and chimneys, it could become a fire hazard. Raccoons are excellent climbers and can manipulate objects well with their hands. While many nuisance animals squeeze through existing gaps, raccoons can tear holes in siding and shingles where there were none.

Calling experts to remove a raccoon is best. They not only know state and local laws, but they also will keep your family safe, as raccoons can become aggressive when threatened. Additionally, they can carry rabies and spread parasites.

Inspection

Inspection

Critter Control will determine the severity of the raccoon infestation. We look for physical evidence, like footprints in or around the home and 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 shingles, destroyed soffits, and every possible entry point.

Trapping and Removal

Raccoon Trapping

Critter Control is fully trained and equipped with the skills to humanely rid your home or property of raccoons in one of two ways. 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 of the risk of rabies. If we must trap, we place traps strategically to safely catch the raccoons, and we check traps frequently based on state laws. Critter Control has the required permits to trap and remove wildlife legally. When there are kits involved, we try to keep the family together and sometimes rely on wildlife rehabilitators for assistance.
Repairs

Exclusion & Restoration

We provide a wide range of repair and restoration services. We can repair raccoon damage, such as broken screens on vents and chimneys, as well as broken boards on decks and porches. It is essential to apply sanitation agents and ectoparasite treatments on areas inhabited by raccoons. One of the benefits of using Critter Control is our commitment to restoring your home to its original state and employing methods for keeping it safe from future infestations.

Rat and Mice Pest Control

There are up to 50 species of rats and mice in San Antonio and across Texas. Looking for a warm place to nest with ample access to food, Norway and roof rats can enter your home through the tiniest of gaps or chew through siding, screens, electrical wiring, and shingles. Sometimes, they burrow underground, under trees, sheds, or your home. This can make foundations unstable. The house mouse and its relatives chew holes in walls, baseboards, pantry cabinets, and food containers inside your home.

Both rats and mice leave trails of feces and urine as they travel around your home. Because rats and mice can carry several transmissible diseases, don’t risk getting bitten by removing them yourself. We can help get rid of your rat and mouse problem. Rodents multiply quickly, so it’s best to call while the infestation is small.

Inspection

Inspection

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.

Trapping and Removal

Rodent Trapping

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.
Repairs

Rodent Control

The best way to lessen the possibility of a future rat or mouse infestation is to allow Critter Control to seal all 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.

San Antonio Squirrel Removal

Texas squirrels on your San Antonio property include the gray, fox and flying species. Squirrels enjoy fruits, nuts, grains, seeds, garden crops, and even bark when times are hard.

As members of the rodent family, squirrels’ teeth are constantly growing. To prevent overgrowth, they gnaw on hard objects. If squirrels are in your yard or home, hard objects can be walls, floors, rails, pipes, furniture, electrical wires, and more.

Squirrels are collectors, gathering items and storing them for later. They accumulate their food and nest items in ducts and vents, creating a fire hazard. They tear insulation for their nests, causing an increase in your electric bill. They even leave their feces and urine behind.

Outside, they will damage siding, fascia, shingles, and your yard. They love to dig holes in your yard to store food.

While squirrels are cute and fun to watch, they can also carry diseases. If you try to remove them alone, they may feel threatened and bite or scratch. To avoid getting injured, contact a professional wildlife service like Critter Control. Our process works for squirrel removal near you.

Inspection

Inspection

Our 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.

Trapping and Removal

Squirrel Trapping

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 the birthing seasons (spring and 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 them according to state laws.
Repairs

Squirrel Control

We can restore your property. After squirrel removal near you, we seal your home with our whole-home exclusion services.  We can also clean-up the nesting sites and remove any debris, food, feces and soiled insulation.

Bat Removal

San Antonio bats are beneficial to the environment and are a protected species. They eat thousands of insects every night, which is why they are an essential factor in our ecosystem. Also, they are excellent pollinators, and their feces, or guano, is a great fertilizer. There are species of bats that live in colonies and species that are solitary.

Over 30 species of bats live in Texas. Eleven of those can live near humans and transmit diseases. Six of these species live in colonies, while the others are solitary. Since bats are creatures of habit, it’s important to do what you can to bat-proof your home, barn, or other structures. Otherwise, you may have a bat nuisance problem every year.

Bat guano can become a problem. It will stain floors and walls, and it is so acidic that it can erode metals and wood.

Trying to get rid of bats yourself puts you at risk of contact with their feces, which can carry mold spores. Also, they may bite you and transmit disease. Let our experts keep you and your family safe from bats.

Inspection

Inspection

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).

Trapping and Removal

Bat Removal Near You

Bats are federally protected because of their vital ecological role and declining numbers. Harming a bat can lead to stiff penalties, especially during their maternity season, which lasts from late spring to the fall, when their young become able to fly and feed on their own. Many bat species are protected by state and local ordinances.

Critter Control is fully versed in how to humanely and legally remove bats. We utilize a bat valve in conjunction with a full home exclusion. A bat valve allows bats to exit your home but not re-enter. In addition to following the law, we will never abandon flightless pups in your attic.

Repairs

Bat Exclusion

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.

Armadillo Control

The nine-banded armadillo is the state’s official small mammal. The armadillo has great qualities, like its armor, which protects it from predators. When startled, it shoots straight up in the air, shocking its predator and giving it time to hide. It has claws for digging, which is what it does all the time. It digs only to search for food like insects and grubs.

Digging, when it’s done on your property, can also become a nuisance when the roots of trees are destroyed, killing the tree that may fall on your home. Or, if armadillos dig under driveways, gardens, or livestock fences, damage can follow. Because they live in burrows underground, it’s crucial to make sure armadillo holes do not interfere with the structure of your home or buildings.

Armadillos can carry leprosy, so you mustn’t handle them yourself. Critter Control has over 40 years of experience in wildlife removal, especially with armadillos. If you have an armadillo destroying your yard, give Critter Control a call.

Inspection

Inspection

Our experts understand the habits and habitats of armadillos. We can assess if damages were caused by their burrows or digging. We look for holes that are shallow and wide, made as the armadillo roots for insects. These holes look as though the grass has been torn away from the ground. Just one armadillo can leave holes all over your lawn in just a few hours of foraging. Another way we identify your nuisance animal as an armadillo is that their burrows are much closer to the walls of your shed, house, or garage than many other animal species, which will dig their burrows farther underneath. The scent of an armadillo is quite distinct and something a Critter Control specialist will recognize. They also have an unusual nose print.

Trapping and Removal

Armadillo Removal

To keep your family safe from disease and an armadillo’s aggression, only a professional should get rid of this nuisance. We use humane live traps to capture the animal and relocate it to a suitable, nonresidential area far from your property.

Every armadillo removal is different and may require different safety techniques, from live traps to fumigations and repellents. Armadillos have a keen sense of smell, and castor oil repellents that penetrate the ground make the grubs and insects they eat distasteful to them.

Repairs

Armadillo Repair

Armadillo repair includes both exclusion and restoration methods. Once the armadillo is removed, adding exclusions such as fencing that extends underground or hardware cloth helps keep them away. Other exclusions include clearing debris, brush, and piles of wood or rocks from your property. These are spots armadillos like to hide. We also recommend motion-activated lights to scare them away. We also cover burrows so that an armadillo cannot return.

The Critter Control Difference

Trained Specialists Animal removal is a highly sophisticated job. As such, we vet and train our team members to ensure they have the knowledge and skill to remove any pest from your building. Our wildlife experts utilize advanced removal and exclusion techniques and damage repair.
Guaranteed Work Your satisfaction is always guaranteed. Critter Control® takes great pride in providing quality workmanship resulting in customer satisfaction.
Residential and Commerical Invading nuisance wildlife can wreak havoc on property. If left unattended wildlife and pests can cause costly property damage. Whether a residential property, apartment buildings, retail stores, office buildings, industrial plants, medical facilities, or warehouses, our trained professionals can handle any wildlife removal problem.
Locally Owned and Operated The original Critter Control has been locally owned and operated in San Antonio since 1996, and it is owned and operated by long-time residents Russell and Lynne Van Hellen.

Serving San Antonio since 1996

Q&A with Critter Control of San Antonio

What are some of the most common wildlife issues that homeowners face in San Antonio?

Raccoons, squirrels, opossums, rats and bats in attics, between floors, in chimneys or vents. Noises between floors, in walls or the attic. Skunks and armadillos digging in yards, flower beds or gardens. Bees in the attic, wall or chimney.

How do the seasons affect wildlife activity in your area?

Hotter seasons generally have less animal activity in the attic. Rodents can be found year-round in the attic. Skunks and armadillos are very active with digging in the yard/flower beds in the summer season. Fall and spring bring baby season, and there is an increase in wildlife moving into attics.

What are some common signs of nuisance wildlife activity?

Digging in the yard or flower beds. Noises and scratching in the attic and walls. Finding droppings, chewed wires in the attic, or torn insulation. Smelling odors inside the house. Vents screens are pulled away or missing from the vent.

Any prevention tips for residents in the your area?

Don’t feed wildlife. Keep your pet food in animal-proof containers (not plastic) and don’t leave your pet food unattended outside. Make sure garage doors are closed in the evening. Keep trees and bushes trimmed around your house. Remove any brush or wood piles. Don’t feed the birds. Make sure there are no open holes where an animal can get inside your attic. Call Critter Control to inspect your home for animal entry and have us seal every hole or entry point.

When should homeowners call Critter Control?

As soon as they hear a noise or scratching in the attic, walls or between floors. Also, as soon as they see any droppings inside the house or attic, or if insulation has been removed.

This franchise is independently licensed and operated by RJ Van Hellen, Inc, dba Critter Control of San Antonio.