Author: erick.merced

You won’t find opossums in your home very often around Dallas, but when you do they can be a real problem. No matter what type of critter you have invading your personal space, it’s important that you have it taken care of to minimize damage to your home and health risks to yourself. Here are some opossum basics.

Signs

There are a number of warning signs that you might have an opossum in your home. For starters, you might notice damage to the exterior of your home where the opossums are trying to get in. You might even hear the scratching that causes this damage from time to time. However, some of the most common opossum warning signs are pet food disappearing, lots of animal noises and unpleasant smells. If you notice any of these signs, you should call somebody right away.

Problems

Opossums aren’t the most aggressive animal, but they still pose risks when they enter your home. If you scare an opossum and get too close to it, there is a chance that you’ll be attacked. However, most of the risks that come with having an opossum in your home aren’t that direct. What’s much more likely is an opossum attacking your pets. The one piece of good news is that opossums almost never have rabies, so you probably don’t have to worry about diseases if an opossum bites you or one of your animals.

Aside from this, opossums will cause damage to your home from trying to get in and out, using your home as a bathroom and more. This is why it’s important to have opossum problems taken care of as soon as you’re aware of them.

Make the Call

If you have a critter in your Dallas home, the best thing you can do is get rid of it as soon as possible. Critter Control® of Dallas has been dealing with animals in homes for years, so we have what it takes to take care of your opossum problem. If you need help ridding your home of critters, give us a call at 817-222-1101.

We all appreciate the tranquility of wildlife – until some critter threatens our gardens.  It’s difficult to sustain that peaceful feeling when the adorable bunny or graceful doe chomps down on your newly planted veggies. So how do you keep these unwelcome guests out of the garden in a natural, humane, and eco-safe way?

Don’t Invite Them

Like your pesky neighbor, Bob – the one who desperately wants to come over for game night – avoid inviting these guests into your yard and garden. Cover compost piles, seal garbage can lids, and don’t leave uneaten pet food outdoors. These delicacies draw animals into the yard and closer to the goodies in the garden. Alternatively, you may choose to allow bushes and plants around the exterior of your yard to grow wild or plant tasty alternatives away from your fruits and vegetables. Rabbits, for example, would probably rather munch on clover and dandelions in the shelter of an overgrown brush than eat the veggies in the middle of an exposed garden.

Withdraw Your Welcome

Like with your grown son who refuses to move out on his own, start making things more unpleasant for the creatures that venture near the garden. Most animals have a keen sense of smell, so try natural scent repellents like coffee grounds, vinegar, ammonia, hot pepper flakes, garlic, or even human hair. Harassment techniques, such as noise-makers, motion-activated lights and sprinklers, leashed dogs, and visual scare devices like scarecrows and metallic streamers can be successful, but wild creatures often find a way around these deterrents, so plan to vary them periodically.

Fences Make Good Neighbors

The most obvious prevention for unwanted guests (both human and wild creature) on your property is a fence. Although fencing your garden can be expensive, you can save money by using inexpensive materials like chicken wire or hardware cloth. The height of the fence can range from a few feet (for rabbits) to 8 feet high for really determined deer. If you have burrowing visitors, bury the fence at least 10” deep in the ground.

Call for Help

Finally, if you have wild critters who have overstayed their welcome, like your mother-in-law who came for a visit and never left, help is available. Engage a respected authority in wildlife control, like Critter Control® of Dallas. Critter Control company has created the standards for animal control and wildlife management nationally. We use a variety of humane methods to remove live animals from your property and discourage them from returning.

For service call: 817-222-1101 or email us at [email protected].

Although common garden snakes in Texas are non-venomous and help to keep rodents and other invasive pests away from your home, the sight of a snake on your property can be terrifying. With more than 50 different native species of snake in the state, it can be hard to identify whether it’s friend or foe as it quickly slithers across your yard. If you’re worried that you may have a venomous snake on your property, Critter Control® of Dallas can help.

Identifying Dangerous Snakes

Thick humidity and a high heat index make the Lone Star State an ideal home for cold-blooded, carnivorous reptiles. Out of the many snakes that call Texas home, there are four types and six species of venomous snakes in the state.

• Cottonmouth-Also known as a water moccasin, cottonmouths are aggressive snakes usually found in swampy areas.
• Rattlesnakes- Species include diamondback, timber, and pygmy rattlesnakes — which cause the most venomous bites in Texas because their small size attracts children to pick them up.
• Southern copperhead- found in the wooded areas and pastures around Texas, Southern copperheads are limited to the eastern-third of the state

Rely on Expert Removal

Because snakes are aggressive and often rest in hard to reach places, their removal requires proper equipment and expertise. Never attempt to capture a snake on your own. Venomous or non-venomous, a snake will strike and sink its sharp fangs into whomever it deems a threat. Keep your distance and contact professional pest removal services to handle your snake problem.

The technicians at Critter Control® of Dallas are fully licensed animal control professionals with years of experience in snake removal. If you have an unwanted snake on your property or in your house, contact the experts at Critter Control® of Dallas. Call 817-222-1101 today to schedule a free consultation.

Though raccoons are cute looking and often appear docile, they are actually very dangerous to humans, and often aggressive if they feel cornered or threatened. If one of these creatures makes their way onto your property or into your home, they have the potential to create a whole range of issues that nobody wants to deal with. The key to effective raccoon removal is early detection. Be sure to know the signs of raccoon activity.

Continue reading “Raccoon Removal”

The sounds of a squirrel in your attic or home can be worrisome. Not only is there a wild critter in the house, but it could chew on electrical wires or through structural supports, putting your home at risk. Calling a professional such as Critter Control of Dallas s the best way to get rid of these animals without risk to you or to your family.

How Do You Get Rid of Squirrels in the Home?

The first step in getting rid of squirrels in the home, aside from calling the professionals at Critter Control®, is to close off all exit routes. These animals get in through small holes and openings in your attic walls or roof. Then, you’ll need to set a trap for them. Once a baited trap catches the animals, you can safely remove them from the home. However, it’s essential to find and seal off all entrance and exits from your home or they will be back.

Another treatment option is to set up one-way doors. These allow the animal to get out but not allow them to get back in. For those looking for the most humane option, this can work well.

Why Call a Professional for Squirrel Removal?

When you call Critter Control of Dallas for squirrel removal, you can be assured that the animals will be out of your home safely and that your space can be secured again. Our team offers licensed and experienced professionals to help you with this process. And, you can be sure that your family remains safe from being exposed to the diseases that squirrels can carry. Call our team today at 817-222-1101 to discuss the specific solutions available to your home, or to schedule your free home consultation.

Rodents are scavengers always looking for the next opportune source of food, water, and shelter – often by invading your home or tearing up your property. While there are DIY and store-bought options available to try and combat rodent problems, working with the professionals at Critter Control® is by far the most effective way to resolve an issue.

Though there are many species and sub-species of rodents, the most common are:

• Mice
• Rats
• Squirrels

Continue reading “Rodents”

When rodents invade your home, we understand how tempting it can be to try and trap these critters yourself with the numerous bait and store-bought trap options available. Below are just a few of the reasons why we think you should leave the job to the rodent trapping experts at Critter Control® of Dallas.

Rodents Often Die in Hard to Reach Places

If you put out store-bought rat poison to try and fight an infestation, you may have some success in killing the critters, but generally the bait is taken back to their nests in your attic or walls.

Though the rats do die, they quickly begin to release an awful odor into your home which requires professional help to remove. Additionally, rodents don’t often venture into the living areas of a home, meaning that any traps you set out are generally wasted unless you manage to crawl into your attic or walls to set and retrieve them.

You Need the Thoroughness and Expertise of a Professional

Though you may have limited success in eliminating some of the rodents that are damaging your home and property, a professional eye can determine whether or not you have more critters hiding out of sight. Rodent trapping technicians can scour your home for signs of rodent activity, and seal your home off to prevent future problems.

Why Call Critter Control?

Our team of veteran animal removal experts have the knowledge and tools necessary to effectively trap the rodents that have invaded your home. We know the signs of activity, and guarantee a thorough extermination job.

If you hear scurrying and scratching coming from your walls, call Critter Control® of Dallas to speak with a rodent trapper that can eliminate your problem for good.

Though there are a variety of different squirrel species, the common tree squirrel is one of the most common nuisances faced by homeowners because of their ability to infiltrate homes and wreak havoc. Often times, squirrels are discovered because of the noise they make, but only after significant damage has been done.

Squirrel populations are on the rise because they have few predators and are so quick at reproducing. Additionally, as construction continues to intrude into their natural habitats, they have begun to seek shelter within our homes. While we strongly recommend against trapping squirrels on your own because of the risk they pose, there are things you can do to help deter them from invading.

• Remove food sources from outside of your home. Things like bird feeders are prime targets for squirrel activity.
• Use gutter guards or cover down spouts to reduce access to your roof and fascia boards – two common entry points for squirrels.
• Trim back tree branches that overhang your roof
• If you have firewood stacked up against your home, consider moving it elsewhere as it gives squirrels a place to hide and to make their way onto your home.
• Seal any cracks in your foundation or entry points like holes in your soffits or screen enclosures

When dealing with squirrel infestations, we always recommend calling the experts here at Critter Control® of Dallas. Squirrels may be small and cute, but their bites and scratches are anything but.