Wildlife Removal & Animal Control
Wildlife Removal vs. Pest Control
Wildlife removal covers a variety of animals in Oklahoma. Typically, animal removal used by pest control companies involves humane baits and traps. Governments control wildlife at the national, state, and local levels. Locally, some cities have animal control and removal programs for skunks, squirrels, opossums, raccoons, and birds that have become a pest problem. Pest control companies have been utilized more and more due to restrictions on local agencies to assist the homeowner.
Wildlife Removal
Generally speaking, Bobbi Ray’s Termite & Pest control role in wildlife removal includes raccoons, skunks, and opossums, which have become a nuisance. For the typical calls we receive, we provide humane traps, which we place in attics, garages, and outbuildings. As mentioned above, some cities offer animal control but often do not deal with wildlife. Believe it or not, we have removed several raccoons and the occasional opossum from attics or crawl spaces in houses and businesses.
Skunks
Skunks already have a bad reputation due to their ability to spray anything threatening them. Dogs quickly discover that skunks aren’t to be trifled with.
Generally not aggressive by nature, they will defend themselves. However, skunks are dangerous due to carrying diseases and parasites, including rabies. This threatens your safety more so than the odor.
Raccoons
Although some families have raccoons as pets, wild raccoons pose a safety issue for homeowners. Typically, you will hear raccoons in the middle of the night going through your trash. However, damaging roof shingles and chewing on wires in the attic are also behaviors.
Rabies, the primary disease raccoons are known to carry, is dangerous to humans. Raccoons are very intelligent and sometimes hard to trap as quickly as you would like.
Opossums
Considered a nuisance to gardeners, opossum feed on tree fruits and nuts, including berries and grapes. They won’t back down from a fight with dogs and generally leave your dog severely injured.
Opossums carry diseases like every other wild animal. They are known to carry spotted fever, tuberculosis, relapsing fever, and more. They are also great fleas, ticks, mites, and lice hosts. Opossums carry dog and cat fleas, also known as disease carriers.
Squirrels
Although squirrels are considered essential to the forest, they are more of a nuisance unless you live outside the city. There are a lot of reasons to love squirrels but a lot of reasons not to love them.
Squirrels can chew through soffit material and gain access to your attic. Small cracks or holes are also access points for them to gain entry. Chewing electrical wires in your attic is not a problem you want to have.
Wiring is not the only victim; utility lines, wood, insulation, and other building materials. Looking for materials for building nests and strengthening their teeth makes squirrels a formidable pest.
Gophers
Gophers and moles are treated differently than the wildlife listed above. Baits are placed into underground openings, which are toxic to them.
Gophers carry a number of diseases that can be passed to humans and animals, including rabies. Furthermore, a single gopher can burrow 200 yards of tunnels up to 2,000 square feet. Burrowing 6 inches deep to 6 feet deep under houses can weaken the integrity of the building.
They feed on roots, vegetables, stems, tree roots, and just about anything else in their path. The presence of a gopher encourages other wild animals, like skunks and snakes, to visit your yard looking for a meal.
How to Keep Animals and Wildlife Out of Your Yard
First, there are repellants you can purchase to help ward off animals. Cleaning brush or wood piles eliminate their hiding places, including overgrown shrubs. Take away their food source by keeping lids fastened tightly on trash cans and picking up any pet food left outside. Squirrels love bird feeders and can find ways to get to them when attached to the house. Any source of water is essential to remove access as well. For more DIY information, the internet is filled with hundreds of ideas to try on your own.
Did You Know Wildlife Removal Is A Pest Control Service?
Not all Oklahoma City pest control companies offer wildlife removal. However, it is a service that many do offer and although few, we do receive these calls. Most of the best pest control OKC companies offer this service. However, a lot of our clients don’t realize this until they ask us the question while we are there performing other services. We only use the safest methods to capture those raccoons or other critters that have found their way into your yard or home. For more detailed information about wildlife control in OKC feel free to call, text, or email us.
Additional Wildlife Removal Resources
Nuisance Wildlife Tips National Programs Prevention of Wildlife Damage