What are the Major Wildlife Removal Concerns in Lynchburg, Virginia?
Lynchburg is located in central Virginia in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and bordering the James River. A growing city that has been attracting new business activity since the early 2000s, housing has seen the same boost. While this growth is good for its human citizens, it’s less advantageous for its wildlife which has experienced a decline in natural habitat.
The usual
critters can be found in Lynchburg and include squirrels, rodents, raccoons, and groundhogs. While the mice and rats are active all year long, raccoons, grey squirrels, and flying squirrels like the colder months.
Raccoons are a common nuisance pest around Lynchburg as they like the ease in which food from humans is readily available. In their natural habitat, they like to live high up in trees as protection from predators. When they are forced to live in a more urban setting, attics and chimneys become a natural and good choice for them.
Rat and Mice Pest Control
Rats and mice are found throughout the United States and are adept and comfortable living in most areas where humans live. They can gain entry into a home through a gap the size of a dime. Once in, they hide and nest in attics and basements where they reproduce rapidly. They also create trails to travel where the food is - in the kitchen pantry.
They are responsible for the spread of many diseases either by direct transmission or by contaminating food with their urine and feces. Moving around mostly at night, when one is visible during the day, it is because there is a large infestation.
While
squirrels scamper around outside all around us, we hardly think of them as the rodents that they are. Their preferred living quarters are in trees, but when availability is easy, they will use overhanging branches and electrical wires as paths to our rooftops and build nests in attics, wall voids, and chimneys.
Carolina northern flying squirrels and the Delmarva Peninsula fox squirrels are endangered and can not be killed.
There are four species of bats living in the Lynchburg area that could take up
residence in your home - the Big brown bat, Evening bat, Little brown bat, and the Brazilian free-tailed bat. Beneficial to the environment, bats eat insects such as mosquitoes and beetles, pollinate plants, and disperse seeds.
Throughout Virginia, it is illegal to transport, release, or relocate a bat anywhere other than the property on which it was caught.
The striped skunk is found throughout Virginia. A member of the weasel family, they are attracted to food, water, and shelter. When their natural habitats are waning because of urban development, they turn to more populated areas where food is more available. In Virginia, it is
illegal to relocate a skunk.
Skunks prefer to make burrows in dark, warm places and will make their nests in crawl spaces, sheds, and underneath decks and porches. Skunks do not hibernate in winter. January and February are their mating season, and to stay warm, they sometimes will shelter in communal burrows. Active at night, they pose a danger in that they can carry rabies as well as
diseases such as tularemia, leptospirosis, and canine distemper.