Squirrels in Richmond Attics: Get Rid of Squirrels in Homes: Squirrel Trapping & Removal: Trapping Squirrels in Richmond, VA Attics

Squirrels In Attics – Richmond and Charlottesville, Virginia, VA – (434) 270-0488 or toll-free at (888) 893-1975

There are squirrels in my attic. Yikes! It is actually extremely common for squirrels in Richmond or Charlottesville Virginia to enter houses, primarily in attics. Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services has the professional solutions necessary to get squirrels out of attics and keep them from re-entering the attics of your home. Squirrels in attics can cause damage if the problem remains unaddressed.

Why Do Squirrels Go in Attics?

squirrels in atticsSquirrels in Richmond and Charlottesville Virginia currently have litters of newborns two times a year, once in the springtime and once in the fall season, they are continuously hunting for protected areas to make their nests. Squirrels get in the attic simply by chewing holes from the outside, typically above gutters, or at building gaps where dormers meet the roofline. They may also attain entry to attics by simply chewing corners of trim or almost any other weak area that enables them entry into the attic space. Contact us to humanely trap, remove , capture and control squirrels that have entered your Richmond or Charlottesville, Virginia home or business.

Contact us today at (434) 270-0488 or toll-free at (888) 893-1975 to safely & humane trap, remove, capture and control squirrels in attic. We can also repair the squirrel damage to keep them out! Visit us on the web at Virginia Wildlife Removal & Animal Control.

What To Look For In A Virginia Nuisance Animal Wildlife Removal And Control Company

Wildlife removal is our specialty. If you are in need of a company in the Richmond or Charlottesville Virginia areas to provide nuisance animal wildlife removal services there are certain things to consider. First, there are two types of companies out there, pest control operators (PCOs) and wildlife control operators (WCOs). Pest control operators (PCOs) are your typical companies that handle bugs, mice and rats. On the other hand, most wildlife control operators (WCOs) do not handle insects, mice and rats–they only handle wildlife. With us, your in luck. We are a dual licensed company capable of providing wildlife removal and pest control services.

Because of the current economy, some pest control companies are attempting to offer wildlife removal services. Unfortunately, most neither have the necessary training, experience and proper state licensing. You would not hire a plumber to repair the wiring in your home or an electrician to do your plumbing. Likewise, you should not hire a bug control company to solve your nuisance wildlife problem. When searching for a company to solve your nuisance animal wildlife problems in the Richmond and Charlottesville Virginia areas or elsewhere, the company you hire should have at a minimum three things:

1. A local business license,
2. Commercial liability insurance, and
3. A Commercial Nuisance Animal Permit – Issued By The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries.

A company CANNOT get one permit to cover all employees. Each employee is required to have their own permit.

Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for references. Just because a company has the three items listed above is no guarantee that they have the knowledge, skills and abilities to solve your Richmond and Charlottesville Virginia nuisance animal wildlife problem. Wildlife control operators do not necessarily consider themselves as trappers. While trapping animals is part of the job, we are problem solvers. No two nuisance animal wildlife problems are the same, and some animal species are extremely unique and are difficult for even the most experienced wildlife control operator (WCO). We tell our customers that the only certainty with nuisance animal wildlife is their uncertainty and unpredictability.

If you live in the Richmond or Charlottesville Virginia area and need a company with the knowledge, skills, abilities, and professionalism to handle your nuisance animal wildlife problem contact Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services, LLC at (434) 270-0488 or toll-free at (888) 893-1975. We offer the humane and efficient removal of ALL types of animal wildlife. Some of the animals we handle include, but are not limited to: bats, birds, beavers, squirrels, raccoons, snakes, skunks, opossums, groundhogs, moles, voles, foxes, coyotes, muskrats and turtles. Feel free to call us with any of your Richmond or Charlottesville VA animal wildlife problems. If you don’t own a home or business in our service area, we have a network of other wildlife control operators across Virginia that we know and trust that can help you.

We provide residential, commercial and industrial animal trapping, wildlife removal, animal control and wildlife exclusion services 24/7 in the Richmond VA and Charlottesville VA areas and our work is guaranteed!

Life Cycle of Skunks in Richmond and Charlottesville, Virginia

Skunks in Richmond and Charlottesville Virginia are most famous for their foul smelling musk which they use in defense against predators and this adaptation alone has caused the skunk to become somewhat famous along with Pepe Le Pew and other fictional characters based on the skunk. Even though, many people know about the skunk in Richmond and Charlottesville, VA (more particularly its skunk spray), few people know about the skunks lifecycle.

Skunks in Richmond and Charlottesville are born in a den with about three to six other baby skunks (called kits). Their mother will watch over them in the den she dug out (usually burrowed out in soft areas of soil, trash piles, or under porches). Eventually the mother skunk will begin leaving the den with her kits to retrieve food at night (since skunks are nocturnal). After about twelve to fourteen weeks, the skunks will leave the den with their mother. The skunks will stay with their mother until they are fully developed or ready to mate (which can be up to a year after they are born).

The skunks in Richmond and Charlottesville, Virginia will begin looking for a mate in late winter to early spring. When the skunks mate, the male skunks will generally mate with more than one female skunk. On average it will take the female skunk anywhere from sixty to seventy days to give birth to her baby skunks (kits), which makes late spring to early summer the most common time for skunks to give birth. The female skunk will raise her kits by herself, the male skunk who mated with the female plays no role in raising the kits and may kill the kits if he gets the opportunity.

Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services, LLC provides skunk removal, skunk trapping, skunk control, skunk exclusion and skunk odor control in the Richmond and Charlottesville areas. We also handle all other types of animal wildlife removal problems. Contact us at (434) 270-0488 or toll-free at (888) 893-1975.

Skunk Removal Advice For Richmond & Charlottesville, Virginia

Have skunks invaded your Charlottesville or Richmond, Virginia home or business? Here are some tips that may help you deal with these smelly critters.

Skunk Removal By Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services, LLC

Skunks are nocturnal due to this you must avoid keeping pet food outside, at night-time. For the same reason, garbage should not be kept outside. If that is not possible, then secure it by covering it with a tight lid or by fencing it, as skunks cannot climb tall fences.

You need to clean your vegetable garden and lawn regularly to remove rotting vegetables, fruits, nuts, berries and leaves, which can attract rodents, insects and larvae too. The skunks can feast on the rotting waste as well as the rodents and insects. You should minimize the usage of easily accessible water sources and bird feeder spills.

Your habitat may have many places which can work as homes for skunks. You can handle it by enclosing open areas with three-foot high wire mesh. The fence should be one foot deep to prevent them from burrowing. Fence the areas which may interest skunks like the garden, compost pit, poultry farm, etc. Fill in the holes and ditches around your home and seal the ones underneath the house, sheds, decks, and other above-ground structures. Avoid keeping lumber and junk materials, as it may provide shelter for the skunks.

Finally, if you need help with removing skunks from your Charlottesville or Richmond home or business, contact Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services, LLC at (434) 270-0488 or toll-free at (888) 893-1975. We provide residential and commercial services 24/7. We utilize the most humane methods to trap, control and remove skunks and other wildlife.

Who Do I Call If I Have A Nuisance Wildlife Pest Problem In Charlottesville Or Richmond, Virginia?

If you own a home or business in Charlottesville or Richmond, Virginia, you know that dealing with strange animals is never any fun. And if you don’t have experience in the matter, you need to seek out an expert for help—a company like Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services, LLC.

If you’re having trouble with critters showing up on your Charlottesville or Richmond property, contact Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services fast. We know what to do to rid your home or business of its animal troubles.

As a wildlife control company, we are going to make a point to figure what type of animal we’re dealing with before proceeding with any course of action. For instance, you may have trash scattered around your yard every night, but cannot figure out what’s causing the mess. It could be something as simple as a cat, or, on the other hand, it could be a raccoon. It’s hard to figure out what it is if you aren’t an expert. A professional company like ours will know what to do to determine the type of animal that’s at the root of the problem.

Once our wildlife control experts discover what animal is causing all the issues, then it’s a matter of finding out how the animal is getting onto the property. Many times, animals can dig under fences or get in through the smallest cracks or crevices. Our professionals will know how to narrow down the possibilities as far as entry onto the property. As a result, we will keep this in mind when going through the process of how best to keep animals out.

The hardest part of wildlife control is catching the animal. Some animals are easier to catch than others. There are various methods involved in catching wild animals. The thing that our professionals know is that different animals call for different methods of capture. For instance, if the issue involves a snake, our experts are not going to use the same tactics that we would use to catch a possum; and vice versa. The bottom line is that hiring an experienced company like ours will save you time, money and offer peace of mind.

After the animal is caught, it’s essential that our wildlife control specialists properly seal off the opening where the animal is getting in. This way, you can rest assured that the animal doesn’t get in from that location again. Also, our specialists can help in identifying and preventing animals from entering from new locations.

When dealing with critters, you want to make sure whoever handles the problem offers a guarantee. Nothing’s worse than thinking you have all those pests squared away, only to wake up one morning and see one of those same critters staring you in the face. If you’re dealing with a professional company like Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services, we will offer a guarantee that the nuisance will be gone or we’ll come out again to remedy the problem.

When you know you have a critter roaming through your Charlottesville or Richmond property, you won’t rest until it’s gone. That’s why you want a wildlife control service company like Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services. We use the most humanely efficient methods to rid your home or business of animal pest problems.

Some of the services we offer Charlottesville and Richmond, Virginia homes and businesses include bat removal, bat control, beaver removal, beaver trapping, bird removal, bird control, squirrel removal, squirrel trapping, raccoon removal, raccoon trapping, skunk removal, skunk trapping, snake removal, snake trapping, opossum removal, opossum trapping, groundhog removal, groundhog trapping, mole removal, mole control, fox trapping, fox removal, coyote trapping, coyote removal, chipmunk trapping, chipmunk removal, and turtle trapping and turtle removal. Virginia Professional Wildlife Removal Services, LLC is licensed and insured and provides 24/7 service to home owners and businesses. Call (434) 270-0488 or toll-free at (888) 893-1975 to have us solve your wildlife problem.

The Scent of Skunk

http://naturesblog.blogspot.com/
December 17, 2010

In winter, cold, dry air and frozen ground suppress most of nature’s fragrance. One potent exception is the scent of skunk musk, which wafts through the air and is detectable by our relatively poor olfactory system for up to a mile from its source.

Skunks, members of the Mephitidae Family, are represented by at least ten species across the globe, most of which are native to the Americas. Omniverous and crepuscular, skunks roam about to feast on a wide variety of plants, small animals, eggs, garbage and carrion; guided by an excellent sense of smell but hampered by poor eyesight, they represent a large portion of our roadkill. Of course, it is their volatile and irritating musk that wards off many natural predators (great horned owls excluded); produced in perianal glands and found to contain a mix of sulfur-containing thiols, this noxious musk can be accurately ejected for up to 15 feet. Mustelids (weasels, otters, martens, badgers and wolverines) have similar musk glands but, in comparison with skunks, their glands are less developed and their musk is less potent.

Hikers and homeowners have little to fear from these docile creatures; their poor eyesight does not permit planned attacks and they use their musk only in defense. Most often encountered during their mating season in late winter or early spring, skunks spend much of the winter in communal dens, venturing out during periods of relatively mild weather. After mating, females dig their own burrows and give birth to 4-6 kits by May; they will stay with her through the summer, learning to find food and striking fear in potential predators that associate their distinctive coats with foul, irritating showers of musk.

CHARLOTTESVILLE AND RICHMOND, VIRGINIA SKUNK REMOVAL, SKUNK MANAGEMENT AND SKUNK CONTROL – VIRGINIA PROFESSIONAL WILDLIFE REMOVAL SERVICES – (434) 270-0488 or toll-free at (888) 893-1975

www.VirginiaProfessionalWildlifeRemovalServices.com

Skunks Digging Under Homes To Keep Warm During Cold Temperatures

Fair Oaks (CBS13) – Homeowners beware: skunks are on the prowl looking for a place to stay warm as the weather gets colder. And one Fair Oaks couple found out just how far those stinky little creatures will go to get out of the cold.

Jean Barry and her husband Bill have been trying to get rid of a skunk that has been stuck in their home’s heating duct for three weeks.

“And he’d left his calling card and I thought, ‘Oh my God, do we have a problem’”, said homeowner Jean Barry. “Saturday night I was up all night.  I could hear him scratching and trying to get out.”

The Barry’s have tried covering vents and cutting up duct work which has left them without heat.

That’s when they called [a nuisance wildlife control and removal company].

Skunks are known for their trademark smell, but they are also very clever. They burrow underneath houses to stay warm and once they’re in, they’re hard to get out.

[A nuisance wildlife control and removal company employee] crawled under the house and pulled out dozens of feet of duct work, but in the end, came up empty handed. The theory is the skunk snuck out the same way he snuck in.

Trappers say you should make sure your vents are secure and your duct work is sealed tight. Otherwise you could end up in a stinky situation just like the Barrys.

Call us at (434) 270-0488 or toll-free at (888) 893-1975 for expert Skunk Removal, Skunk Trapping and Skunk Control in Central Virginia including the Richmond VA and Charlottesville VA areas.

Don’t Fear Bats: They are a vital link in our ecology

By Nancy O’Donnell
Albany Times Union
 

Halloween weekend is a good time to discuss the truth about the little, flying mammals of the night sky.

So what do you know about bats? Did you even know that they’re mammals? They are the only true flying mammal; sorry, but flying squirrels actually glide.

Bats are warm-blooded and have either fur or hair. They birth their young live — no egg-laying for them — and the moms nurse their babies.

Baby bats are referred to as “pups” and are born bald, usually in early summer. Mating occurs in the fall, but here’s a cool fact: The female safely stores the sperm in her body until spring, when fertilization actually takes place.

Bats don’t build nests. Instead, they create roosts: places where they hang upside- down and sleep. Depending on the species, roosts can be found in caves, under bridges, in the crevices of trees, in buildings, and, of course, in attics.

Pregnant females often roost together in what has been dubbed a nursery roost; hundreds can roost at one time. Almost immediately after birth, these mini mammals have the ability to hang upside-down. Within a month’s time, they are flying and hunting on their own, and no longer relying on mom.

Bats are an integral part of our ecological system. The diet of many bat species is strictly insects, and lots of them. A single bat can consume nearly its body weight in insects a night; that’s thousands of insects in an evening’s flight.

These are insects that would otherwise be biting us, spreading diseases or wreaking havoc on food crops. Some bats dine on pollen, fruit, small amphibians and an occasional slurp of blood.

Vampire (blood-drinking) bats live in Latin America. They don’t suck the blood; they prick their sleeping victim (usually animals) and allow the blood to pool, and then they drink it.

When its victim wakes up, the small puncture wounds have scabbed over, and the animal can go about its day.

As for rabies, Bat Conservation International says that over the last 50 years, only 48 people in the United States have contracted rabies because of a bat bite, putting your chance right up there with winning the lottery.

Bats are not blind, as many folks believe. Rather than use their eyes at night, they have a built-in sonar system called echolocation. They send out a high-frequency screech that our ears can’t detect. The sound waves bounce off objects in front of the bat. When the waves return, and the bat is able to create a “picture” of objects, insects and predators from the echoes.

When insect populations dwindle in late fall, bats go into hibernation until spring. Bats that lived to a ripe old age of 30 or more years were not uncommon until now.

While they hibernate during the winter, a fungal infection called white nose syndrome is rapidly overtaking the little brown bat found in New York. As a result, the species could be extinct in as little as 25 years.

In 2009, Scientific American reported the first discovery of the disease here in the United States in Howe Caverns in Upstate New York. Cavers who took photos of hibernating bats there found something white and fuzzy covering their muzzles and wings. Numerous dead bats also were found on the cave’s floor. The New York Department of Conservation has since recorded 1 million bat cases in New York alone.

The disease disorients the bat. It wakes up from its slumber while it’s still winter and burns through its stored fat reserves. That leaves the bat with a low body-fat concentration for the remainder of the cold months, resulting in starvation or death by freezing. The disease is highly infectious, has caused the death of entire colonies of bats within one winter, and is moving throughout the southern states and north into Canada.

The bacterium that causes white nose fungus is believed to be spread by bat droppings that get picked up unknowingly by other bats or on the clothing or boots of spelunkers.

A cure has not been found. But without help, the little brown bat and eight other species of North American bats face extinction, and the result of their demise on the environment will be staggering.

Sadly, it is the little bat that should fear us and not the other way around.

CHARLOTTESVILLE AND RICHMOND VIRGINIA BAT REMOVAL AND BAT CONTROL – VIRGINIA PROFESSIONAL WILDLIFE REMOVAL SERVICES – (434) 270-0488 or toll-free at (888) 893-1975
www.VirginiaProfessionalWildlifeRemovalServices.com

Dog Meets Skunk – Now What?

By Dr. Ellen Friedman For the Times Herald-Record Published: 2:00 AM – 10/13/10

They’re cute, they’re bright, they’re fashionably black and white. And … they smell like skunks. And now, so does your dog. What to do? Skunks are shy creatures who are crepuscular … they circulate at dawn and dusk. If you put your pooch out early, chances are that someday she will be bitterly disappointed by her efforts to make a new friend. And so will you. How to avoid a close encounter When skunks are faced with danger, they can emit a particularly foul-smelling and long-lasting chemical from special glandular areas. The effects of a direct hit in the face can be a moderate conjunctivitis and a very malodorous dog. The best treatment is, as usual, preventive. Skunks are drawn to food sources; feeding cats indoors and keeping trash cans secure (in the garage!) can help keep these little wildlife friends away. Some skunks like holing up under a porch or back door. Closing off these refuges can be helpful as well. If your dog should get sprayed, keep him outdoors until you have a plan. Skunk oils on furniture are difficult to remove. Hosing with plain water isn’t very helpful — the residue is oily and won’t be budged. Tomato juice, an old remedy, is only poorly effective in removing odors. Best way to deodorize? The best treatments are enzymatic cleaners with a surfactant (which allows the oils to be breached and the smelly molecules to be broken down by the enzymes). These are sold in many vet offices, pet shops and online. It’s a good idea to have one handy if you live in the country. On a medical note, skunks in Orange and Ulster counties are high on the list of rabies vectors. They can carry the rabies virus and occasionally bite dogs when the spray technique is ineffective. So make sure your dog’s and cat’s rabies vaccines are up-to-date. Remember, these vaccines protect you and your family, not just your pet. And, of course, don’t approach a skunk that you see outdoors. The skunk odor is, unfortunately, resistant and long-lasting. A small note of good news is that if your dog is sprayed, eventually a lot of a human’s nasal capacity gets overwhelmed by the odor, and you end up not registering the smell after a while. But visiting friends will.

Call us at (434) 270-0488 or toll-free at (888) 893-1975 for skunk removal, skunk trapping and skunk control in the Central Virginia areas of VA.

An Unprecedented Bat Die-Off Could Devastate U.S. Agriculture

By BRUCE KENNEDY Posted 9:45 AM 10/12/10

Most people don’t love bats, but like good health, you’ll realize that you miss them after they’re gone. Experts believe many species of bats may vanish pretty soon, and their disappearance could bring profound and long-term changes not only to the environment but also to agriculture, landscaping and gardening across North America.

For several years now, scientists have been sounding alarms about a devastating fungus, White-Nose Syndrome (WNS), that has literally decimated bat populations in the Northeastern U.S. The fungus leaves a white substance on the bat’s nose, wings and body, and disrupts the bat’s hibernation patterns, forcing it to burn through its fat reserves, which quickly leads to starvation. Earlier this year, a survey of the bat population in New Jersey estimated that 90% of that state’s bats had been killed off.

“This is on a level unprecedented, certainly in mammals,” says Rick Adams, a biology professor at the University of Northern Colorado and a renowned bat expert. “A mass extinction event, a thousand times higher than anything we’ve seen. It’s going through [bat colonies] like wildfire, with 80% to 100% mortality.”

“The disease is absolutely devastating, it’s unprecedented,” says Mylea Bayless, a biologist with Austin, Texas-based Bat Conservation International. “It’s causing population declines in wildlife that we haven’t seen since the passenger pigeon.”

Bayless notes that bats have slow reproductive rates, usually giving birth to just one pup a year. So bat populations, she says, are going to be very slow to recover, “if they ever do recover.” The disease, adds Bayless, “is moving at a pace that’s astonishing, about 450 miles per year. In four short years, it’s now closer to the Pacific Ocean than it is to its point of origination in Albany, N.Y.”

Your Billion-Dollar Bug Eaters

You might be saying good riddance, but think again. Bats are the primary predator of night-flying insects. That not only includes pests like mosquitoes but also insects like corn earworm moths and cotton bollworms. In their caterpillar forms, those insects can destroy crops. A 2006 study of several counties in South-Central Texas concluded that the local bat population had an annual value of over $740,000 a year as a pest control — or up to 29% of the value of the local cotton crop.

A bat eats 60% to 100% of its body-weight in insects every day. Adams says one colony of Mexican free-tailed bats in Colorado’s San Luis Valley, an important agricultural region, “pulls about 100 metric tons of insects out of the air in a year.” And having bats in agricultural areas, he says, tends to move insects out of those areas, creating less need for dangerous and expensive pesticides.

And like honey bee colonies — which have also been facing massive die-offs in recent years — some bats are important pollinators and seed-distributors. Adams says bats are crucial to the reproduction of tropical fruits like mangos, papayas, figs and wild bananas. And in Arizona, bats are the primary pollinators for three large cactus species that support much of the region’s ecosystem.

Government and Researchers Fight Back

The fungus associated with WNS is widespread in Europe, but it doesn’t affect bats there. No one is sure yet how it became so lethal to North America’s bat population — but there’s a possible human element. Scientists says WNS spores have been found on the clothing and gear of people exploring caves containing bat colonies. The pattern of its spread is also inconsistent with bat migration. “It went from Tennessee to Missouri and then to Western Oklahoma,” says Adams, “and it doesn’t seem like it would be moving like that if it was just bats.”

In the meantime, humans are fighting back. Adams is hosting a conference on the crisis later this month in Denver. The event is expected to draw hundreds of bat experts from around the world. The Forest Service is banning visitors to the thousands of caves and abandoned mines that dot the landscape in at least five Rocky Mountain and Great Plains states. And the Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded $1.6 million in grants for WNS research and control.

“But we all know that’s a drop in the bucket for a disease that’s sweeping the country and killing 95% of an entire group of animals,” says Bayless. “For some people, that may seem like money. . .not well-spent, but [what are] the economic and ecological consequences of losing an entire species? A little bit of money spent now will save us in the long term.”

Call us at (434) 270-0488 or toll-free at (888) 893-1975 for safe and humane bat removal in Central Virginia.