The Connecticut River Valley has biologically diverse habitats that support a variety of native plants and animals. Animals like bats, porcupines, bears, white-tail deer, and beavers thrive in
habitats like spruce-fir forest and floodplain forests.
Winters are cold, and summers can be hot and humid. In this climate, houses tend to expand and contrast with the change of temperature. This can lead to cracks and gaps for animals to sneak into your home.
Hartford is full of history and culture at the fraction of a cost of other New England towns. Technically the fourth largest city in Connecticut, the area is a network of vibrant neighborhoods and diverse communities.
Critter Control Wildlife Removal Process
Critter Control is here for you every step of the way in the wildlife removal process. From inspection to removal—and even exclusion and repair—we have the services you need to get rid of raccoons, rodents, and other nuisances fast. First, we identify the animal on the property, then use humane methods to remove the animal and secure weak points where more could enter. If damage has been done, we can make those repairs for a complete restoration. Contact a Critter Control office near you today.
Wildlife Inspection
During the inspection we try to ascertain how many animals there are, where they are located, and how they got in.
Based on what you have seen, heard and smelled, we start the inspection where you have noticed signs of animal activity. Evidence of animals inside your home include nests, dens, feces, and animal tracks. We investigate the exterior of your home looking for possible entry points, any evidence of animal damage, tracks, fur, animal waste, or rub marks.
Removal
We use several methods to humanely remove the animal from your home. Depending on the species, the number of animals, and the condition of your property, we develop a custom wildlife removal plan. Humane wildlife removal strategies include animal traps, one-way doors, and repellents.
Once we guarantee all animals are gone, we implement exclusion techniques. Exclusion techniques provide a safe, long-term solution to nuisance wildlife in your home. We create barriers to prevent animals from getting to resources. We only apply exclusions once we are sure all animals are gone from your home.
Exclusion and Repair
Wildlife will damage your home. Exclusion techniques repair any damage the animal causes getting into your home. Inside your home, animals build nests and dens out of readily available material. They will create runs through the insulation. Rodents will gnaw on anything including electrical wires and pipes.
Animals can also spread diseases. We apply sanitation agents to clean up feces and urine. Mammals can host pests like fleas, ticks, and mites. Ectoparasite treatments exterminate those pests so you don’t become their next host.
The little brown bat and big brown bat are the two most
common nuisance bat in Connecticut. Little brown bats do not winter in buildings. Big brown bats occasionally will spend the winter in your attic.
Smaller colonies can go unnoticed. When colonies grow, you can hear the bat noises or smell the accumulation of guano.
Inspection
We perform a full interior and exterior inspection and search for signs such as rub marks, guano, a strong scent of ammonia, and small openings. The most common sign is the accumulation of guano (feces).
Bat Removal
The most effective and humane way to remove bats is by utilizing a bat valve in conjunction with a full home exclusion. A bat valve allows for bats to exit your home but not re-enter. We follow all local ordinances for humane bat removal. We will never abandon flightless pups in your attic.
Repairs
After removing the bat valves, we seal the entrance hole(s) so bats can no longer enter your home. If there is substantial guano in your attic, you should consider taking advantage of our attic remediation services to remove the soiled insulation and replace it.
Gray squirrels and flying squirrels are prevalent in Connecticut. The most noticeable difference between the two species is when they are active. Flying squirrels are nocturnal. Gray squirrels are active during the early mornings.
Squirrels readily take up residence in sheltered areas like eaves a
nd attics. Nest and young may be totally concealed within eaves and wall spaces. The trapping of squirrels can temporarily solve a persistent problem but will not help in the long run. Other squirrels will soon come into an area to replace the removed animals.
Inspection
Wildlife specialists look for signs such as chewing on, in, or around your home, small openings leading to the attic or the crawl space, droppings, and debris like nuts or nesting material. Beams, wires, pipes, and insulation may all show signs of damage from squirrels.
Squirrel Trapping
Live trapping or one-way doors are the most effective and humane ways to get rid of squirrels. One-way doors should never be used during birthing seasons (Spring & Fall), so our specialists will decide which is the best tool for the job. If we have to trap, we place traps strategically to safely catch the squirrels and check those according to state laws.
Repairs
We can restore your home or office by squirrel proofing all entry points after we have removed the offenders. We can also clean-up the nesting sites and remove any debris, food, feces and soiled insulation.
Raccoons are active at night. While you sleep, they are out scavenging for food. There are plenty of sources in Hartford and all of Connecticut. Raccoons eat just about anything, from restaurant scraps and pet food to garden crops and chickens. Their hands resemble human hands and allow them to turn doorknobs, open storage bins, and climb trees, chimneys, and poles.
Raccoons have a permanent mask and banded tail. They would be cute if they weren’t so destructive. They will do what they can to get into parts of your house they see fit to sleep and give birth to pups. If they must rip, tear, or break something to get to that spot, they will. Raccoons make lots of noises, like whimpers, growls, and screams. They leave feces and urine nearby their shelter.
Before trying to remove a raccoon from your home by yourself, remember they can carry diseases, and if threatened, they may bite. Calling nuisance wildlife animal control experts is recommended. Critter Control's three-step process works well for raccoon removal.
Inspection
During the inspection, we determine the severity of the raccoon infestation. We look for physical evidence like footprints in or around the home, stains from raccoon feces and urine. On the exterior of the house, we look for damage like scratches on boards, broken vents and screens, ripped apart shingles, destroyed soffits, and every possible entry point.
Raccoon Trapping
Live trapping is one of the most efficient ways to get rid of a raccoon. Depending on the situation, a one-way door or excluder valve can be installed. An excluder valve works by allowing the raccoon to leave but blocks its reentry. The choice of device is largely dependent on the season and location of the raccoons on your property. Direct capture is not commonly used because raccoons are a rabies vector species. If we must trap, we place traps strategically to safely catch the raccoons and we check traps frequently, based on state laws.
Repairs
We provide a wide range of repair and restoration services. We can repair raccoon damage like broken screens on vents and chimneys and broken boards on decks and porches. It is essential to apply cleaning agents and ectoparasite treatments on areas inhabited by raccoons.
One of the most common nuisance wildlife in Connecticut, skunks dig up yards and gardens in search for insects and grubs.
Skunks can undermine structures by burrowing under them. Not only that, a startled skunk will spray (a skunk can accurately spray over 10 feet!).
Skunks mate in late February to early March. Born between April and early June, a litter can have up to six blind pups.
Inspection
In addition to noting any pungent odors that signal the presence of a skunk, we will inspect the condition of your landscaping, as skunks are known for tearing-up lawns and shredding grass while hunting for grubs and insects. We will also inspect the perimeter of your building's foundations and under decks, to locate burrows.
Trapping and Removal
Never try to remove a skunk from your property yourself. Getting sprayed is a very unpleasant experience. Furthermore, these animals may carry diseases that can spread to humans and pets, such as rabies. Our specialists will use live traps to capture and remove skunks for you, or they'll use a one-way exclusion device to evict skunks from their harborage areas. The most effective ways to control a skunk problem is exclusion and habitat modification.
Skunk Control
The most effective ways to control a skunk problem is exclusion and habitat modification. Methods like sealing foundation gaps, replacing and screening broken foundation vents and installing hardware cloth (rat walls) around unprotected sheds and decks are the most effective and permanent ways to keep skunks out.
We recommend keeping pet food inside and securing any trash bins.
Opossums are nondestructive and nonaggressive. In fact, opossums can be a net positive on your property. As opportunistic scavengers, an opossum diet includes insects, rodents, carrion, frogs, and birds. They become a nuisance when they raid garbage cans or pet food. Opossums can also spread Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis.
Problem opossums can be harvested by local licenses trapper during regulated trapping season
Jan. 1 - March 15 and Nov. 7 - Dec. 31. Opossums are easily lured into traps. Live trapping is the most humane removal method to get rid of opossums. Opossums can be kept from getting under sheds and decks by installing fencing around the bottom edges and burying the fence underground
Inspection
Opossums can be found inside attics and basements or outside under decks and sheds. Common signs include unique paw prints and feces. Opossums are docile and usually easy to spot.
Trapping & Removal
Opossums can be lured into cages for live capture. If it is maternity season, we follow all guidelines for removing mother and newborn opossums. We will seal entryways into the building to prevent opossums from reentering in the future. Opossums can be kept from getting under sheds and decks by installing fencing around the bottom edges and burying the fence underground.
Repairs
Broken screens on chimney and roof vents are replaced with sturdier materials, and we properly seal all entry points, including crawlspaces. We clean and deodorize areas of opossum activity. Exclusion may include eliminating sources that attract bugs, like nighttime lighting, stagnant water, and livestock poop.
There are
5,000-8,000 beavers throughout Connecticut. There are more beavers present in the state then any other time in the last three hundred years.
Beavers are active year-round and very territorial. A beaver habitat has adequate food supply and water depth to survive under the ice during winter. Encroaching development on rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, and marshes destroys their habitat and leads to more conflicts. Beaver-human conflicts include flooding, tree cutting, structure damage, and water and public health issues.
Repellents do not work. It is not possible to seal an entire lake from a beaver.
Effective beaver control requires unique tactics like dam breaching, dam removal, exclusion fencing around culverts and drains, or live trapping. Exclusions do not control the beaver population. Trapping is regulated to winter and requires a permit.
Woodchucks are the largest member of the squirrel family in Connecticut. Groundhogs create extensive burrows with multiple chambers and entrances. Breeding season starts in early March after hibernation. You’re most likely to experience woodchuck problems in late spring and early summer.Woodchucks cause problems when they damage gardens and crops, destroy landscapes with their burrows.
Bird Control
Homeowners usually experience with
nuisance birds are usually geese, woodpeckers, or pigeons. Because of bird behavior and regulations, each bird requires different strategies.
The most common nuisance birds in Hartford are Canadian geese, pigeons, and woodpeckers
Largest native water fowl in Connecticut, their habitat is near water bodies and also open grassy areas like lawns, golf courses, fields, airports, or farms. Effective
geese control requires the implementation of several strategies for long term solutions.
Noise and visual deterrents provide a short term benefit to scare away the geese. Barriers and habitat modification like planting shrubs along the water’s edge can keep geese off your property. There are chemical repellents topical treatments to grasses that make the turf unpalatable.
Pigeons are one of the few birds
not protected by the Migratory Bird Act. Their acidic feces corrode gutters, erode stone buildings, and burn lawns. The droppings also harbor diseases.
Pigeon Control: Repellents provide a short term solution because the birds usually get used to it.
Pigeon-proofing is the most effective and permanent method- physically exclude bird from roosting or make it difficult for bird to rest comfortably. Exclusions include bird netting, wire screening, sheet metal, and bird barriers.
There are seven species of woodpeckers in Connecticut. The pockets of spruce-fir forests, orchards, and city parks provide plenty of trees for woodpeckers to drum. Woodpeckers are attracted to natural, dark-stained, unpainted cedar and redwood siding but may also damage pine, fir, and stucco-sided homes.
Other Common Wildlife Issues
The Critter Control Difference
Trained Specialists
Animal removal is a highly sophisticated job. As such, we vet and train our team members to ensure they have the knowledge and skill to remove any pest from your building. Our wildlife experts utilize advanced removal and exclusion techniques and damage repair.
Guaranteed Work
Your satisfaction is always guaranteed. Critter Control® takes great pride in providing quality workmanship resulting in customer satisfaction.
Residential and Commerical
Invading nuisance wildlife can wreak havoc on property. If left unattended wildlife and pests can cause costly property damage. Whether a residential property, apartment buildings, retail stores, office buildings, industrial plants, medical facilities, or warehouses, our trained professionals can handle any wildlife removal problem.