Critter Control of Scranton Wilkes-Barre

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Serving the greater Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Area

(570) 862-1972

Pennsylvania has 484 species of wildlife, with 414 of those being birds and 66 being mammals. Wildlife such as rabbits, deer, squirrels, raccoons, bats, rodents, birds, foxes, and beavers are examples of animals that are becoming more prevalent in Scranton-Wilkes Barre neighborhoods.

Watching wildlife forage for food in your backyard is captivating. You may even provide food for some wildlife, like squirrels and birds. If so, you are also attracting raccoons, bears, skunks, opossums, rats, mice, etc. They will adapt to your environment and ultimately become a nuisance.

Pennsylvania defines nuisance wildlife as any animal that poses a threat to you, farm animals, or pets. Also, nuisance wildlife cause damage to your home or property. Unless the wildlife is classified as migratory birds, big game, or threatened and endangered species, the property owner can get rid of it.

The best way to get rid of the nuisance wildlife is by using a wildlife control operator. They understand Pennsylvania laws regarding bait, traps, release, relocation, and exclusion. Below are examples of how Critter Control operators handle common wildlife problems.

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.
STEP 1

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.
STEP 2

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.
STEP 3

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.

Raccoon Removal

Pennsylvania raccoons adapt well to most environments, including cities like Scranton-Wilkes Barre. Raccoons are about the size of a large cat. They have gray fur with black stripes on their tail and a black mask across their eyes.

If a raccoon is on your property, it is searching for food. Around your home, they may enjoy food scraps from your trash can, crops in your garden, bugs under your lawn, mice, pet feed, and bird seed in feeders.

Raccoons have acute senses of smell, sight, hearing, and touch. Their hands are human-like, allowing them to open doors, dig, and climb trees and buildings. If they can enter your home through a pet door or opening to the attic, they will. The damage they can produce is costly. Raccoons scratch walls, shred insulation, break screens, and leave feces and urine wherever they go.

The Critter Control team gets rid of raccoons by

Inspection

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

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

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.

Squirrel Removal in Scranton

Scranton-Wilkes Barre residents encounter squirrels almost daily. The gray, fox, red, and flying squirrels will scurry across your roof, nest in your chimney, and chew through your siding, vents, and screens. Squirrels hunt for nuts, seeds, grains, bird eggs, fruits, vegetables, and occasionally, bark.

Squirrels raid bird feeders, gardens, pet feed, and ornamental plants and bushes. They only see in black and white but have excellent eyesight, hearing, and smell. If you hear chirping or barking, it is likely a squirrel, which will happily build a nest in your attic, walls, and ceiling.

Because squirrels are considered a small game, a trapping permit is required during some seasons. If you have squirrels on your property, call us now to avoid having squirrels in your house. If you already have a squirrel living inside, we can get rid of them safely and humanely.

Inspection

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

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

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. 

Bat Removal

Pennsylvania bats, including the little brown, big brown, and Northern long-eared bats, are members of the Vespertilionidae family. They have small eyes but can see fine. They have large ears, and while flying, they make sounds that echo off objects and bounce back to their ears. This helps them avoid flying into trees, branches, fences, and other things.

Bats consume thousands of insects each night, scooping some off lights and leaves and some in mid-air. When winter arrives, some bat species migrate south. Some bats stay in Pennsylvania and hibernate. Mating and maternity seasons can begin in late fall, and pups are delivered in late spring or early summer. You cannot legally harass or remove bats from their roosting spot during this time.

If bats are roosting in your attic, you have a good source of insects nearby. You will likely know bats are roosting by stains from their guano that often runs down walls, staining them. Because bats are protected at the state and federal levels, call a professional to remove bats from your property.

Inspection

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

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

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.

Rodent Removal

 

The most common rats and mice in Scranton-Wilkes Barre you will see on your property include the house mouse and Norway rat. Mice and rats may not have the best eyesight, but all their other senses are extraordinary. They eat insects, leaves, nuts, garden crops, garbage, pet feed, and any crumbs they can find on your countertops, floors, and pantries. They have also been known to eat paper, soap, and glue.

Rats and mice chew and gnaw on everything, including wires, baseboards, carpets, insulation, and furniture. You may also find holes in food boxes in your pantry, scattered crumbs, and trails of droppings.

If you think you have a rat or mouse problem, call for help immediately. Rats and mice reproduce often and may have between six and eight litters a year. Each litter can have six or more babies. In less than one year, you will have a significant infestation. Here’s how we can help:

Inspection

Inspection

During a rodent inspection, we thoroughly inspect your attic and provide a complete exterior home inspection. The most common signs of rodent activity are gnaw marks, feces, rub marks, nesting material, runs in insulation material, and small entry points.

Rodent Trapping

Rodent Trapping

A Critter Control wildlife specialist will create a strategic trapping plan to remove the rodents found in your home. Critter Control specialists may use snap traps and live traps to capture and remove mice and rats. Rodent trapping can usually takes between five to fourteen days. 
Repairs

Repairs

The best way to reduce the possibility of letting unwanted rodents into homes is to seal possible entrances. Exclusion methods include caulking cracks in foundations, capping chimneys, and installing mesh covers over vents and crawl space entrances. We also strongly recommend a maintenance service. Rodents have front teeth that continuously grow, which means they can gnaw a new way back into your home.

Skunk Control

Striped skunks in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre are in the same family as badgers. Thankfully, they're nowhere near as aggressive, but they are armed with a potent defensive weapon: a pair of large scent glands found beneath the skin on either side of the rectum. These glands have nozzle-like ducts, which protrude through the anus. Skunks discharge their scent, or musk, through these nozzles, powering the stream with a strong hip muscle contraction. Musk is an oily liquid, creamy or yellowish in color. Its active ingredient is a sulphide called mercaptan. Field guides refer to the musk as “highly repellent to all mammals.” In short, it stinks.

If threatened, a skunk drums its forefeet on the ground, snarls, arches its back and raises its tail. It can spray in any direction by twisting its rump toward the target. And, contrary to popular opinion, it can discharge when hoisted by the tail.

These animals are known for foraging for food in trash bins and pet food bowls. They're also profound and efficient diggers, and can mutilate an entire yard in a single night searching for grubs. They're distinctive black and white fur, and their pungent odor that can linger for days, are unmistakeable. If you happen to cross paths with a skunk, do not try to scare it away. Please also remember that skunks can carry rabies; therefore, it’s best to let a professional handle removal for you.
Inspection

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

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

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.

Q&A With Local Critter Control Franchisee Steven Austin

What are some of the most common wildlife issues that homeowners face in Scranton-Wilkes Barre?

We have the most problems with birds, bats, raccoons, opossums, skunks, squirrels, snakes, mice, rats and deer.

How do the seasons affect wildlife activity in Wyoming Valley?

Homeowners are most likely to have an issue during spring and summer. Wildlife is most active then. As the weather gets colder, animal activity declines. During the winter, rodents like rats and mice are most likely to be an issue. 
 

What are some common signs of nuisance wildlife activity?

Droppings found around the home and noises in attic or walls.

Any prevention or exclusion tips for residents in your area?

Keep animal feeders away from your home. Keep foliage and fallen leaves at least 2 feet away from your home. Don’t let material build-up against the house.  Keep exterior vents and chimneys covered, to prevent animals from getting in.

When should homeowners call you?

At the first sign of any nuisance wildlife activity.
Get them out.
Keep them out.®
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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.
Financing Available Critter Control offers in-house financing. Both standard and 90-day same as cash financing options have 12-,18-,24-, or 36-month options. Some projects might qualify for a budgeted plan up to 60 months.
Critter Control Guarantee Your satisfaction is always guaranteed. We provide reliable prevention from future intrusions. Resolving a nuisance wildlife issue calls for more than trapping and removing the critter. Our exclusion services offer immediate and long-term wildlife solutions.
This franchise is independently licensed and operated by SLA Rodent Control, LLC, dba Critter Control of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA.
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