Critter Control of Buffalo

Raccoons adapt well to living in urban environments. They are nocturnal; while most people sleep, these animals search the area for food. As omnivores, they eat almost anything, including nuts, fruits, vegetables, insects, rodents, fish, pet feed, mushrooms, frogs, and human table scraps. In warmer months, raccoons eat to put on weight for winter months. Raccoons do not hibernate but reduce their activity when winter weather prevents them from leaving their nests.

Their cute black eye masks add to their reputation of being mischievous thieves. Their human-like hands allow them to open trash cans, untie knots, turn doorknobs, grab fish out of ponds, climb trees and chimneys, and break into your attic or basement. They reach into chicken coops to steal chickens and eggs. They grab vegetables from the garden and open pet doors to enter your home.

The damage raccoons cause is extensive. In an attic, they shred insulation and drywall, build nests using sentimental items, and leave piles of feces and urine. Outside, they destroy bird feeders, dig holes in lawns, strip bark from trees, break shingles, and leave grease marks on anything their fur touches. Raccoons are excellent swimmers that will dip in any accessible pool or pond. They often leave feces behind in the water.

Removing a raccoon from your property is dangerous, and you must follow specific laws since they are fur-bearing game animals in New York. To hunt and trap them, you must get a license and use only traps and methods allowed by the state.

Trying to remove a raccoon can put you at risk for diseases if it becomes aggressive and bites or scratches you. While raccoons can carry rabies, more common diseases include roundworm, giardiasis, and salmonellosis.

The Erie County Department of Health created laws that homeowners must follow to help control the area's rat and mouse problems. Erie County Sanitary Code, Article IX, Section 1.15(a) states that you must take action to keep from attracting rodents, such as removing clutter, properly storing trash, and not allowing any food sources to be accessible to rats or mice. These rules exist because Buffalo has a big rat problem. Some reports say the city has one of the highest rodent populations, primarily with the house mouse and Norway rat.

Rats and mice can easily enter a home through vents, pipes, ducts, small holes, and cracks. Rats only need a hole the size of a quarter, while mice can enter holes the size of a dime. Both of these critters can also chew their way into your home. Their strong teeth can chew through thin metals, plastic, vinyl, shingles, drywall, and wood. If inside your home, rodents chew through electrical wires, gnaw structural beams, and leave feces and urine trails between their nests and food sources. You will likely find them in attics, ceilings, and walls.

Signs of rodent activity inside include contaminated food in your pantries, greasy smudge marks on floors and walls, tracks, and trails of droppings. You may also see gnaw marks on the carpet, baseboards, doors, furniture, and wires. Inside your walls, you may notice urine stains soaking through the drywall. You may also hear the rodents chirping, squeaking, squealing, and scurrying in the evenings.

In addition to these nuisance behaviors, rats like burrow under homes, driveways, and other structures outside your home. They chew holes through siding and shingles and plug gutters and vents with nesting materials.

Getting rid of rats and mice is much trickier than you may think. One reason is that rodents reproduce up to seven times a year. With each litter, an average of six pups are born. Within three months after their birth, females can begin reproducing. This means one or two rats can quickly become an infestation.

Rats and mice carry diseases, but their feces and urine pose more risk to humans. Hantavirus, leptospirosis, listeriosis, and salmonellosis can be contracted via contact with rodent waste. You may get rat-bite fever if one bites or scratches you. Rat and mice species require different trap sizes and different baits. Using the wrong one can lead to bigger problems.

Squirrels are a much cuter rodent but still very destructive. Gray, fox, red, and flying squirrels live in New York. The gray squirrel is a tree squirrel that can be found living well among humans. Squirrel populations are increasing, causing competition for food and shelter, which is one reason you may find a squirrel living in your attic, chimney, gutters, or eaves.

Squirrels may look like they are playing all day, but they are actually collecting and storing food and nesting materials for the winter months. As omnivores, they collect nuts, buds, flowers, grains, fruits, vegetables, bird eggs, insects, mushrooms, smaller rodents, and bark. Burying their collections involves digging holes in your yard, some being decoy holes to trick other squirrels.

Squirrels' teeth grow up to five inches yearly if not kept filed. Squirrels chew on hard materials to prevent their teeth from growing too big and becoming painful. These critters can chew through plastic, vinyl, wood, and metal. They can chew their way from outside your home to inside. Usually, they find existing cracks and holes to gain access to your attic or walls.

Once inside your home, squirrels behave similarly to rats, mice, and raccoons. They build nests inside insulation, pipes, and ducts. They destroy drywall and structural beams. Their behaviors cause structural, fire, water, or health hazards. You may hear them chirping, grunting, running, howling, and playing. You may also smell the foul odor of their feces or notice urine stains on your ceiling or walls.

Squirrels cause outdoor damage by stripping bark from trees, raiding gardens, stealing birdseed, digging holes in the lawn, and scratching and breaking siding and shingles. They even gnaw on power lines, causing outages.

Removing a nuisance squirrel should be done by a professional who understands the New York fur-bearing laws for hunting and trapping and how to obtain the correct permits. Squirrels carry diseases and parasites that can be harmful to humans.

The big and little brown bats are two of nine bat species in New York. You may find these animals roosting in colonies or individually in your attic, eave, chimney, rafters, or other structures on your property. Bats are not harmful when left alone. The only reason they become a nuisance is the large amounts of guano or feces they expel. It contains corrosive acids that damage wood and metal. It also leaves permanent stains on walls and floors, saturating them so much that the waste seeps into your living space. The piles can get so large that the weight causes structural instability. Also, mold spores grow on bat guano. If you must clean it out, you risk inhaling the spores that lead to respiratory infections.

Bats are underrated and have a bad reputation due to TV and film. Bats are one of the most amazing and necessary parts of our ecosystem. They consume thousands of insects nightly, saving billions in insecticides to prevent crop damage. They also aid in pollination and seed dispersal. Without bats, bananas, avocados, and mangoes would disappear, and at least 80 medicines made from plants would not exist.

Do not try to remove a bat from your home. In Erie County, bats have tested positive for rabies. Trying to capture a bat may cause it to act aggressively and bite you. Also, parasites live on bats that carry bacteria harmful to humans.

Many bat species are protected at the state and federal levels as endangered or threatened. One reason is the white-nose syndrome, a fatal disease for some species. Other reasons bats are endangered include wind turbines and climate change.

Protected bats, by law, cannot be removed during their maternity season, from late Spring to Fall. Their pups must be able to fly out independently. Wildlife experts are trained to remove bats and put exclusions to prevent these animals from returning. Exclusions include sealing all holes or cracks ¼" or larger, installing one-way bat valves, and removing food and water resources, including outdoor night lights, stagnant water, manure piles, and open trash cans.

Experts safely remove bat guano and urine and apply sanitization to the area for your protection.

Aside from bats, Erie County has skunks among its wildlife, which also may test positive for rabies. Usually, skunks leave an area after a couple of weeks unless they are preparing to give birth. Skunks are similar to raccoons, except you may find them in crawlspaces and basements versus attics.

The striped skunks you see in Buffalo are omnivores who take every opportunity to eat whatever they can find. Skunks are well known for the foul-smelling liquid they spray when they feel threatened. The spray is waterproof and can't be washed off right away. The smell can linger for days and weeks. If a skunk sprays while under your home or porch, the odor can linger in your home. They may also spray your pets.

In addition, skunks carry ticks, fleas, and lice that can attach to humans, putting you at risk for more diseases. For these reasons, hiring an expert to remove a skunk from your property instead of trying to do so yourself is a good idea.