Rusty Fields, Author at RAC

Goose Roundup Season is Fast Approaching: Here’s How to Prepare

Rusty Fields on May 9, 2023

With goose roundup season just around the corner, the time to devise a plan is now. Here’s what you need to know to prepare.

Left uncontrolled, Canada geese can quickly become a nightmare for property owners and managers. Aggressive geese are known to attack people and pets and their unsightly waste may contaminate water and even carry parasitic diseases like Giardia.

While geese can threaten health and safety any time of year, it isn’t uncommon to notice an uptick in goose conflicts, loitering and waste accumulation in the spring through midsummer. Once goslings hatch in the spring, Canada geese go through a process called molting. During this time, (approximately June 3 to July 10) geese shed their flight feathers (and temporarily lose their ability to fly).

Flightless geese and their goslings tend to congregate in areas with open sightlines, cover and resources including food and water — like golf courses, business parks and office courtyards. Adult geese tend to exhibit increasingly aggressive behavior toward humans to protect their young during this time.

Molting season may trigger increased goose conflicts but does have an upside. During the brief season – and with some advanced planning – geese may be physically removed from properties with an effective solution: goose roundups.

How Goose Roundups Work

When large numbers of stubborn geese cannot be managed by alternative control strategies, goose roundups are recommended.

During a goose roundup, permitted property owners or certified Waterfowl Control Operators corral the birds and load them onto a trailer. Geese are then safely relocated to an approved fish and wildlife area or taken to a euthanasia site. This decision is made on an individual basis by the property owner or manager.

Goose roundup in action

Don’t Miss Your Chance to Remove Geese from Your Property

In Indiana, barring extenuating circumstances, goose roundups may only occur during their molting period. A permit is always required.

Although many people see Canada geese as a nuisance, it is important to remember they are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. Before geese are removed from a property, approval must be granted by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (INDNR).

The best practice is to partner with a professional wildlife control agency who understands INDNR permitting. Without a proper permit, geese may only be harassed – and not physically touched or removed. Doing so without a permit may result in a hefty fine.

Schedule Your Goose Roundup Today

Because goose roundups may only be conducted during their flightless period and a permit must be secured prior to the service, the time to act is now. Luckily, scheduling a roundup service is easy.

The seasoned professionals at Rusty’s Animal Control (RAC) will help you through every step of the roundup process. The team will help you complete permit application paperwork and answer any questions that arise about the process.

Once the permit application is approved, the team will work with you to remove geese on a day that aligns with their molting period and fits into your schedule. Once geese are rounded up, our team will relocate the geese or take them to a euthanasia site, depending on your preference.

For more information about goose roundup and other goose management services, reach out to speak to a member of our team.

Contact us to learn about our goose control services

Indiana’s Most Common Nuisance Birds

Rusty Fields on April 27, 2023

Indiana is home to nearly 500 species of birds, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR). While many of those birds pose little to no threat to humans and properties, a number do exhibit aggressive behavior, deposit unsightly, disease-causing waste and damage the structures they roost and nest in.

If you are a property manager, business or residential owner, or landlord, it’s wise to be aware of nuisance birds and the damage they cause. Here is a guide to the five peskiest birds in the state – and some (dis)honorable mentions to boot.

Indiana’s Top Five Pest Birds

1. Canada Goose

The Canada Goose is an amazing conservation success story. In fact, they have been so successful at adapting to urban areas that they are the top nuisance bird nationwide and the bread and butter of the bird control industry. With their copious waste deposits and aggressive behavior, the Canada Goose comes in at number one for the most common nuisance bird.

2. Pigeon

Also known as the rock dove, the pigeon is a non-native resident of North America. After living closely with humans for thousands of years, these birds do not shy away from people, dwellings or cars. Able to nest year-round and sneak into small openings, pigeons quickly infest available barns, warehouses, overpasses, loading docks and city streets, leaving a mess of droppings, feathers and egg debris everywhere they go. And they go everywhere. It’s no surprise this adaptable bird occupies our second spot.

3. European Starling

A small invader to our lands, the European starling causes a wide variety of damage both to humans and the local ecosystem. Flocks, sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands, decimate crops, eat and foul livestock feed, damage buildings by stuffing nesting material into crevices, and kill native birds to take over nesting space. A menace in every industry and environment, the European starling brazenly takes the bronze.

4. House Sparrow

The house sparrow is another invasive species from Europe. Similar to European starlings, house sparrows love to nest in building crevices, stuffing anything remotely like nesting material in every nook and cranny they can find and aggressively removing native species like bluebirds from their birdhouses. Their nesting material can create a fire hazard and their droppings make a mess. No structure is safe from encroachment by house sparrow, whether residential, commercial, or industrial. Despite their diminutive size, these nettlesome birds come in at number four on our list.

5. Turkey Vultures

Fast becoming a nuisance on taller buildings, turkey vultures have extremely acidic droppings that can quickly eat through paint. They also love to pick apart weatherstripping around windows and doors. They loaf on balconies and rooftops waiting for the scent of roadkill or a good thermal draft to soar on, especially along highways and near landfills. Nature’s garbage disposal, vultures do a lot of good cleaning up dead and decaying animals, but as more and more of their habitat is converted to urban sprawl, conflicts are rising. It’s easy to see how this species wedged into the final spot on our list.

Dishonorable Mentions

The following nuisance birds didn’t crack the top five but are well known to ruffle the feathers of property owners and managers in Indiana.

Swallows

There are a few species of swallows here in Indiana that love to use human dwellings as nesting areas. Loading docks, garages and warehouses all make excellent nesting spots. Their droppings and nest debris make a mess, but they are beneficial as well, eating tens of thousands of insects like mosquitos.

Wild Turkey

Wild turkeys moved into urban and suburban areas during the hushed months of COVID-19 lockdowns. These big and beautiful birds stop traffic, damage cars while pecking at their reflections, and even chase people and pets. Drawn to bird feeders, hand-feeding, and ornamental fruit and nut trees, turkeys are a fast-growing nuisance across the state.

Gulls

Two closely related species, ring-billed and herring gulls, are common nuisance-causing birds, especially near landfills and along the Lake Michigan coastline. Aggressive colonies of gulls number in the tens of thousands in some areas. They nest on rooftops and blanket people, buildings, cars and beaches with their bacteria and acid-laden droppings.

Your Partner in Pest Bird Management

Pest birds can wreak havoc on structures and health (and sanity!). If you struggle to manage nuisance birds on your own – the professionals at Rusty’s Animal Control (RAC) can help.

Reach out to learn about our pest bird solutions – including egg addling, round-up services and removal of Canada geese – for ensuring the health and safety of your property and minimizing the risk of bird conflicts. Our tools and solutions are safe, humane and cost-effective.

Contact us to learn more about our bird control services

They’re Almost Here: Are You Ready for Goose Season?

Rusty Fields on March 6, 2023

You didn’t invite them exactly, but your property has everything they’re looking for to settle down and start raising this season’s crop of little geese… Soon, like other property owners across the Midwest, you could be dealing with flocks of Canada geese settling in – sometimes where you least expect them.

It can be difficult to understand a goose family’s choice of location for building their nest; they frequently choose spots near busy retail and commercial entrances, seemingly undeterred by the presence of people moving in and out.

But as soon as they’ve chosen their spots, they make their feelings clear, with aggressive behavior and even attacks directed at anyone who comes near.

Get Help with the Chaos of Nesting Geese on Your Property

At Rusty’s Animal Control, our experience in preventing and managing the chaos of goose romance season keeps us very busy in the spring. By mid-March, the first pairs of Canada geese will have moved in and started to build their nests and lay their eggs.

Goose pairs nesting in areas with a lot of human traffic is the biggest conflict our clients face this time of year. Geese near a busy public entrance to a store or office building can pose a serious threat to customers, employees and anyone who gets too close in nesting season, especially once there are eggs in the nest.

It seems silly that they would get their feathers in such a ruffle after they chose the spot in the first place. What drives geese to make nests in places where they feel constantly threatened once their eggs are laid?

In order to understand such behavior, it helps to look at the world from a goose perspective. The nesting process does not happen all in one effort. Geese pass through different behavioral phases impacted by hormones and instinctive nesting drives.

The Four Phases of Nesting Canada Geese

Phase 1: Stake Out a Territory

This phase occurs in very early spring, mostly throughout February and March, though some pairs may start later due to specific circumstances. Older pairs prefer to nest in the same general spot every year, so they may spend less time looking for a territory and focus on staking their claim instead. A goose’s focus during Phase 1 includes:

Finding an area relatively close to water
Competing for space with other pairs of geese

Phase 2: Patrol & Hold Territory

Once a pair has chosen a neighborhood, they need to hold their territory against other pairs of geese and other waterfowl while also avoiding the attention of predators. The female will also check out potential spots to build her nest. During Phase 2, a goose’s instincts drive several key behaviors:

Patrolling regularly for competition from other birds
Fighting with other geese and waterfowl to drive them out of the territory
Surveying their territory from high vantage points (like rooftops)
Scouting potential nesting locations

Phase 3: Nesting

Once the female picks a spot, she will dig a shallow bowl and lay her eggs. This is where things get confusing for humans. Some places, like muskrat mounds, seem like a sensible spot to nest. They are surrounded by water that creates a barrier for predators like coyotes and foxes. Other choices are harder to understand. They’re strange or full of apparent risks. But the thing is, the female goose isn’t thinking that far ahead. She’s only looking for what seems like a safe place to sit and incubate her eggs. During Phase 3, a female goose is seeking:

An area safe from land predators. This means off the ground, in the middle of water on a mound or island, or somewhere with some cover where she can easily escape to water: an area she can see well from, but not easily be seen.
Protection against the wind, in a spot where she can tuck in or put her back against a barrier. Corners are a favorite.
An area with little predator and scavenger activity. Spots near human dwellings or parking can seem like a good place to avoid coyotes, foxes, raccoons and other predators.

Phase 4: Defense of the Nest & Incubation

After the first egg is laid in the nest bowl, everything changes. Hormones shift and a goose’s first priority switches to defending that egg from any potential threat, even non-predators like humans and cars.

Geese attempting to defend their nest

Phases 3 and 4 are where things go wrong for some pairs of urban geese. The instincts that serve them well in their natural habitat can go a bit haywire in our city environments, leading geese to nest in odd, unsafe, or illogical places. A site that seemed safe and instinctively correct in phase 3 becomes confusing, stressful, and dangerous for both geese and the humans sharing their space.

Nesting near the entrance of a building may discourage coyotes, but now the geese are launching their defenses against shoppers just trying to hit the Easter sales. Or, what seemed like a nice, elevated and well-sheltered area may actually be inside an HVAC system on a three-story roof with only a parapet wall between geese and a drop that goslings can’t survive. That parking lot island looked like a real island but instead of safe water, it’s a dangerous spot surrounded by moving vehicles.

Here are some additional examples of nesting instincts gone wrong.

Prevent Nesting Geese Conflicts on Your Property

When geese nest too close to humans on foot or in cars, there are safety risks for all involved. Geese are fierce in their defense of their nests and can launch powerful attacks. Don’t wait until you’ve got a bigger problem on your hands, like a slip and fall or a parking lot crash.

The professionals at Rusty’s Animal Control can provide reliable, experienced help for your bird conflicts, with safe, humane and legal options for managing conflicts with Canada geese, in nesting season and year-round. Our services include egg addling, round-up services and the removal of aggressive geese.

Don’t wait! Managing nesting pairs early in the season is the best strategy. Our work starts with a careful assessment of your property and your situation to ensure a cost-effective solution.

Connect with one of our team members to learn more about the best solutions for your goose conflicts.

Contact us to learn more about our bird control services

It’s the Season of Raccoon Intruders: Take Steps to Protect Your Property and Your Health from these Messy Pests

Rusty Fields on February 7, 2023

Temperatures in the Midwest may be plummeting, but raccoon mating season is heating up.

During the season (which runs through March) houses and other buildings are vulnerable to these uninvited, ring-tailed pests.

Many raccoons – whose maternal instincts are now in high gear – will spend the coming months seeking out warmth and shelter.

Unfortunately, your attic, crawlspaces and walls can provide plenty of both. Expectant females will burrow in to establish a den where they will give birth and raise their kittens. Once the kittens are born, the family will generally remain in place for at least 60 days, until the young are old enough to venture outside on their own.

While evicting raccoons from your home may seem like a challenging task, it is important to act quickly if you suspect a furry family has moved in. Left unresolved, the mess raccoons leave in their wake can snowball into a dangerous and expensive issue.

The Mess: Rapidly Accumulating Waste

Raccoons are creatures of habit who deposit their waste in the same spot (or “latrine”) every time nature calls. Raccoon latrines are communal and can quickly become unmanageable if no action is taken. Once litters arrive, the new kittens (sometimes as many as six) contribute to the latrine and exponentially grow the mess.

Worse yet, because raccoon families nest in place after kittens are born, piles of waste are often left to accumulate for months.

The Risks: Disease and Home Damage

Raccoon droppings harbor organisms and parasites that can sicken humans. Their waste carries Baylisascaris procyonis, a roundworm that can infect humans (and pets) and cause ocular and neurological issues. Raccoon droppings also transmit histoplasmosis, which can trigger severe and/or chronic respiratory diseases.

Raccoons and their waste can also threaten the structural integrity of your home or building. They can damage insulation, wiring and woodwork. The longer raccoons are in your home, the worse (and more costly) cleaning and remediation efforts become. In severe cases, all insulation must be replaced, and entire attics must be remediated.

The Solution: Call Rusty’s Animal Control

Head off expensive renovations and health risks caused by raccoon interlopers by seeking professional help immediately. An experienced and licensed wildlife management company like Rusty’s Animal Control can safely evict your raccoons, prevent them from returning, and mitigate the damage and mess left behind.

With a decade of experience in wildlife removal, our team provides thorough and effective wildlife removal, sealing of entry points, cleaning and sanitizing, and the replacement of damaged or soiled insulation.

We offer a wide range of services to manage other common pests as well. To learn more about the solutions we can provide for your business or property, reach out to one of our team members.

Contact us to learn more about our raccoon solutions

8 Reasons To Start Planning Your Bird Management Strategies for Spring

Rusty Fields on January 5, 2023

Winter only feels like it lasts forever… it’s time to start preparing your spring bird management plan.

At this time of year, the return of green grass and flowering trees can seem far away. But, as we like to remind our clients at this time of year, time flies!

Now is the time to begin preparing for the flocks of migrating birds that will soon be back for the spring months.

While there are many reasons to look forward to winter’s end, spring will bring all of the common, but potentially hazardous, bird related issues we know so well: sparrows nesting in your eaves, geese pooping all over your picnic areas, birds crashing into your windows, and dive-bombing gulls are on their way – along with the blooming flowers, and thawing temperatures.

While the RAC team loves being able to swoop in and save the day, it’s better and more cost-effective for your team if you start the planning process before you’re facing the newest season of Birds Gone Wild.

Here are eight reasons to start the process now, instead of waiting until your bird problems are upon you.

1. If you have had nesting in the past, you are almost guaranteed to have nesting again this year. Many birds exhibit “natal site fidelity,” returning every year to the site where they hatched or to the site of a previous year’s nest.

2. Once birds become established and successful at nesting and surviving on your property, getting them to leave becomes more difficult – and more costly.

3. A full site assessment will allow our biologists and experts to understand how and why birds are utilizing your property so that we can develop and customize an integrated management plan for your situation. This can take time but is the best way to ensure the right solution within your budget. If you wait until the problem is critical, your options get narrower and more expensive.

4. Most nuisance birds are protected and managing them on your property may require permits which can take time to acquire. Some species require permits from multiple organizations and others require specialized solutions not covered by permits.

5. Once eggs are laid, the situation can change rapidly. Sometimes one egg in the nest is all it takes for a bird to become hyper-aggressive. This increases your liability and the risk that someone will be injured. Also, if it’s a species not covered by permits, your control options can shrink significantly. It’s much more efficient to take steps to prevent nesting in the first place.

6. Spring is our peak season and manpower is limited. While we work hard to address our clients’ needs as soon as possible, there are many days where “normal” spring activity requires all hands on deck. Emergency nest removal is far more expensive than having your egg depredation contract in place right away, especially for species that require special permits.

7. Late is sometimes too late. We cannot touch or remove healthy chicks of protected native species, even nuisance species creating a problem. If you have a colony of gulls hatching on your roof with aggressive parents or swallows feeding babies in your loading dock, there is little we will be able to do to help you. We may be able to devise a way to limit the hazard and mess, but that would be an expensive and temporary solution at best.

8. Bird deterrents or other products may need to be ordered and shipped or installed under certain conditions. With ongoing supply-chain disruptions to shipping, the sooner we can prepare for your needs, the better.

The moral of this late winter story is that a plan is better than a reaction when it comes to bird management. You’ll save money, get better results and make our jobs easier too. Contact us today to discuss creating an integrated wildlife management plan customized to your property and situation.

How to Keep Rodents from Getting Cozy in Your Home or Office

Rusty Fields on December 5, 2022

With temperatures dropping fast, it’s inevitable that mice and rats will seek shelter in your home, office, or warehouse, so it’s important to do what you can to make your structure as unwelcoming to these rodents as possible.

Three of the most important things you can do to make your structure less hospitable to rodents are to remove all food sources and close off potential entry points, which can be hard to spot as mice need only a ¼ inch space to enter.

You See a Few Crumbs, Rodents See a Buffet

Winter is a good time to ramp up your housekeeping and food storage practices. It takes very little in the way of leftovers, crumbs or easily accessed food packaging to make a rodent feel like sticking around and starting a family.

Potential food sources include:

Pet food- don’t leave it out when your pets aren’t eating
Crumbs under the oven – it’s important sweep these out thoroughly
Snacks left behind in your desk, bedroom, etc.
Improperly stored food in pantries/food storage areas: store in airtight food containers
Bird feeders

Mice can survive on as little as a single gram of food per day, but they’ll carry away more to store for days in which food is unavailable. That’s why it’s important to follow these tips all the time, whether or not you see evidence of mice.

Minimize Places Where Mice & Rats Love to Hang Out

Cluttered spots in your home or building are not just messy; they’re invitations to rodents. Eliminating sources of clutter makes it harder for mice and rats to find dark areas to hide and reproduce in.

Get Professional Help for Your Rodent Problems

When you’ve done all you can and the rodents are still winning, don’t despair. The professionals at Rusty’s Animal Control can help. We have the expertise and the solutions you need to send your rodent guests packing and prevent their return.

It starts with a thorough property inspection to identify all of the places where rodents could be coming in and out, beyond the obvious. We look for entry and exit points and determine the extent of the problem before creating a customized strategy and an estimate.

With reliable follow-up and follow-through, our professional pest management services for commercial, industrial and residential properties are a go-to resource for Indianapolis-area property managers and building owners facing wildlife conflicts of every variety.

Don’t delay: speak to one of our pest control experts for help keeping your property rodent-free this winter.

Goose Roundup Season Has Arrived: Here’s How to Plan Ahead

Rusty Fields on May 24, 2022

Goose roundup season requires careful planning; here’s what to know for this coming season.

Canada Geese often create health and safety concerns for property owners and managers. From aggression to unsanitary and unsightly droppings, the presence of these large birds around your building can mean trouble.

A goose roundup is a very effective method of removing geese from your property. This simply requires a good game plan that RAC can help you build. Here’s what you need to know.

Don’t Miss the Window of Opportunity for Goose Roundups

Rounding up geese can only occur during their flightless period (approximately June 3 through July 10). During this time, geese molt which simply means they shed and regrow their flight feathers.

During a goose roundup, the birds are corralled, loaded onto a trailer, and safely relocated to an approved fish and wildlife area or taken to a euthanasia site. This decision is made on an individual basis by the property owner or manager.

Prior to relocation or euthanasia, the birds are inspected for metal bands used for research purposes to identify the gender, age, and migration patterns of individual birds. Information on banded geese is sent to Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) to better understand the species’ habits, as well as population growth and migration.

How to Schedule a Goose Roundup

While the window of opportunity is short, the good news is that scheduling a goose roundup is easy.

At Rusty’s Animal Control (RAC), we help you through the application paperwork that is necessary to acquire a permit for the removal of geese. These permits are managed through the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. To be eligible for a permit, geese-caused damage or expenses of at least $500 must be documented in the permit request. The costs can include clean-up and costs associated with eliminating potential legal risks. There is no charge for the permit.

Once the permit application is approved, we work with you to determine the best date for geese removal based on your schedule and molting season for the birds. All clients can choose between relocation and euthanasia of the birds. Watch below for a video of a goose roundup and relocation:

Get Professional Help with Aggressive, Nesting Geese

Rusty Fields on April 29, 2022

Nesting Canada geese are fearless in defending their homesteads, even when their homesteads are adjacent to well-traveled public entryways. They will aggressively pursue anyone who gets too close.

There are well-documented incidents of falls and injuries that occur when unwary pedestrians find themselves racing to escape the wing-flapping onslaught of a goose in attack mode.

No less disturbing – as well as an additional source of falls – are the prodigious and unhealthy splats of waste they deposit in startlingly large amounts. These droppings can threaten health as they enter the water supply. And this year, some Canada Geese have tested positive for the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) which can infect humans as well as domestic birds like chicken and turkeys.

Meanwhile, an array of federal, state and sometimes local regulations protect these birds and restrict the measures that can be used to discourage them from taking up residence on your turf.

That can leave you vulnerable to health, safety and property damage risks as well as the risk of claims and lawsuits filed by people who suffer injury on your property.

They’ll Be Back: Nesting Geese Return Year after Year

And geese are everywhere in the Midwest, with the ability to spread disease and ruin crops as well as the shoes of unwary pedestrians. Attracted to parks, golf courses, farms, residential neighborhoods and industrial parks, these oversized birds find human-occupied areas an attractive haven from predators and hunters. As a bonus, there are many people who feed them.

Once they’re settled in, or have eggs in the nest, the laws governing their management get stricter. Even after they’ve moved on, they’re likely to return to the same spot next season – and the season after that. Geese have a life expectancy of 10 to 25 years, with some living as long as 30 years. Resident geese begin nesting at a younger age and produce larger clutches than migratory geese.

The good news is that these pushy birds are well known to Midwest area animal control experts, and there are humane, effective and legally approved strategies for getting them to move on – and stay away.

Under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, a permit is required to manage nuisance geese. It also helps to have professional experience in dealing with these strong and aggressive birds.

Proven Solutions from the Experts

The professionals at Rusty’s Animal Control (RAC) are licensed and certified and have decades of experience in the safe and humane management, prevention and mitigation of wildlife conflicts for commercial, industrial and residential properties.

Egg addling and aggressive goose removal are a few of the solutions we can provide to eliminate conflicts with Canada geese on your property. We can legally remove nesting pairs if they become aggressive and start attacking people or pets.

Contact us today for expert, humane and cost-effective help with managing your goose conflicts. Our services comply with both the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Indiana state regulations.

Mating Season For Raccoons Is Upon Us

Rusty Fields on March 8, 2022

January marked the beginning of mating season for raccoons and now through April, after completing their 63 day gestation period, they will be giving birth. On average, a raccoon litter will have three to six “kits”. It is very common for raccoons to give birth in homes whether it be the attic, crawlspace, or even in between your walls as they look for a safe place for their young.

Seemingly minor offenses like having an unsecured trash can or leaving out pet food and bird feeders can result in your property becoming the perfect place for raccoons to raise a litter.

Signs Of A Raccoon Problem On Your Property

Damage to your home can signal a raccoon problem. Raccoons can be exceptionally destructive creatures when trying to enter your home, only needing a 4-inch hole to enter a space. They will often pull apart vents, soffits, chimney caps or even parts of your roof to find a safe place for their young to be born. Once a raccoon is in your home, it can damage insulation, wiring and contaminate the space it chooses to occupy with urine and feces.

While strewn trash in the yard, toppled garbage cans or feces on your roof can be a sign of raccoons, your own animals may often try to inform you as well. Your pets may act strange when there is a raccoon in your home by constantly looking at the wall or ceiling as they may hear them before you do.

Health Risks Of Nesting Raccoons

Raccoon feces could potentially expose you to microscopic raccoon roundworm eggs. Raccoon roundworm is a parasitic worm that can cause blindness, brain damage and even death. Due to these health risks, it is important to hire a professional service like Rusty’s Animal Control for the removal of the raccoons, cleanup and repairs.

Did You Know Your Raccoon Damage Could Potentially Be Covered By Insurance?

When raccoons cause damage to your home, it is important to have your property inspected. After an inspection and determining the damage has been done by raccoons, we typically recommend reaching out to your homeowner’s insurance to see if your policy covers the roof, attic, and other damaged areas of your home. However, insurance companies often do not cover the damage done to your personal property within the home.

Damage done by a raccoon who entered an attic & the repairs done by RAC after trapping

Expert Help For Raccoon Problems This Mating Season

When removing a raccoon during mating season, it is especially important to make sure their young are removed from the area as well. After trapping a raccoon, we determine if it is male or female. If the raccoon is female, we ensure that she does not have any kits left in the space and then we help you make informed decisions on what to do next.

If you suspect that raccoons or other forms of wildlife have taken up residence at your home, office or commercial space, don’t wait—contact the experts at Rusty’s Animal Control (RAC). We can help solve your wildlife problems with exclusion, trapping, cleanup and prevention.

We are a licensed and certified wildlife control company with decades of experience in providing safe, effective and humane solutions to your wildlife conflicts. Contact us for help solving your raccoon and other animal control problems today.

Learn more about our raccoon control services

How Not to Become an Accidental Landlord to Families of Squirrels

Rusty Fields on February 15, 2022

It’s mating season for squirrels and unfortunately, it’s easy to unintentionally invite them to make your home or property theirs.

Bird feeders, garden waste, water, and other food sources all serve as a welcome mat for squirrels looking for an easy meal and a place to nest in the winter months.

These aggressive, bushy-tailed rodents will go to great lengths for a source of food and a cozy place to nest, even if they have to chew their way in.

In addition to building damage, squirrels can also be fearsome in defense of their nest or food and squirrel bites are not uncommon.

In one reported incident, a squirrel attacked and injured 18 people after finding a bounty of food at a property that was home to a bird feeder, fresh produce, and worse: a friendly resident who was providing hand-fed nuts.

In January, a New Hampshire House committee approved a plan to call for year-round open hunting season on gray squirrels after hearing of the costly and damaging effects caused by squirrels at local homes and farms. One representative who owns a maple syrup business, reported that the pests had cost his business as much as $20,000 a year in damage caused by chewing into buildings and other equipment.

Squirrel Mating Season Requires Vigilance

Squirrels carry their babies for about six weeks. In the Midwest, they typically give birth two times a year, between February and March and between May and June.

In the process of searching for a safe place to nest, they may be scouting your property for a prime spot like your attic, typically entering through a small hole or a vent along the roof line and using insulation and other materials found to line their nests.

Empty bird feeders are often a sign of squirrels nearby. While there are devices that can be used to deter them, squirrels are persistent and frequently find a way around any obstacles standing between them and a tempting source of food.

Experts Help For Squirrel Problems

If you suspect that squirrels or other forms of wildlife have taken up residence at your home, office or commercial space, don’t wait – contact the experts at Rusty’s Animal Control (RAC). We can help with exclusion trapping, clean-up and prevention.

We are a licensed and certified wildlife control company with decades of experience in providing safe, effective and humane solutions to your wildlife conflicts.

Let RAC solve your squirrel and other animal control problems today.