When a nuisance animal makes its way into your home, it’s not the only pest that’s invading. In many ways, the other things accompanying the animal are more dangerous to humans.

Animals often have fleas, lice, and ticks buried in their fur. When the animals make their way into a home, these pests come too. They lay eggs in your insulation, which begins to create a serious problem. In addition, raccoons frequently carry roundworm, which can survive in their droppings for more than two years.

For this reason, our work doesn’t stop when we remove an animal. We’ll also safely clean up their droppings and dispose of any contaminated insulation. Our goal is to keep you safe, so contact us if a nuisance animal gets into your home.

When homeowners suspect they have animal pests in their homes, they often resort to poisons. We believe in humanely trapping and relocating nuisance animals, because both they and the homeowners can live happily as long as it’s not under the same roof. But there’s another, more practical reason why poison is not a good idea.

A recent client illustrated why poison causes more problems than it solves when it comes to animal pests. The client used poison to get rid of raccoon living in the attic. The poison succeeded in killing the raccoon, but failed to get rid of it. The dead animal fell behind a downstairs bathroom wall where it began to decompose. It took us two hours and six holes in the wall before we could find the carcass and remove it.

In the end, it would have been better just to contact us from the beginning. Poison might be cheaper than our fee, but dealing with its aftereffects just isn’t worth it.

Following up on our last post, another reason animal pests enter homes is just by accident. Squirrels in particular have been known to fall down uncapped chimneys. Once they’re in the home, they’re eager to get out, and that’s when trouble starts.

We responded to one such call over Christmas. The trapped squirrel chewed and clawed at 14 windows on all three levels of the house. Eight of these windows will need replacing. The squirrel also damaged some china and antique plates and flower vase. This is in addition to leaving its droppings everywhere.

Normally, the lesson at the end of these posts is to contact us immediately when there’s an animal in the home. In this case, there’s an additional point. Installing a $55 cap on a chimney can prevent these accidental intruders and is well worth the investment.

Many people who call us why animal pests enter their homes in the first place. The easiest though not complete answer is, “because they can.” Most of the time there’s an open space in a home, and any open space is bound to attract an animal sooner or later.

However, there are also animals that proactively try to enter homes by chewing through walls and such. These animals are typically seeking warmth and shelter during cold weather months. In warmer seasons, they may be detecting a source of food, or it may be a mother looking for shelter to give birth.

The two main points here are that pests are looking to get inside year round, and you never want them in your home. We can safely and effectively remove these animals and restore your peace of mind. Contact us as soon as you suspect you have an unwanted animal pest.

When we covered the diseases that animal pests can bring into your home, we focused on a couple lesser-known ones. Of course, the well-known disease that animals, especially raccoons and bats carry, is rabies. TheCenters for Disease Control have devoted an entire site to the disease. Here are the main points to remember.

• Receiving a bite from a rabid animal is the main method for rabies transmission. Unlike the other diseases we talked about, rabies is not transmitted through droppings or urine.
• As with any animal bite, a bite wound from a rabid animal should be immediately washed with soap and water, and a visit to the doctor should quickly follow.
• Flu-like symptoms are the first symptoms of rabies to appear, but the onset of symptoms usually means it’s too late to successfully treat the disease. That’s why getting medical attention as soon as possible after a bite is so important.

It all gets back to the point of getting animal pests out of the home as soon as you realize they’re there. If you suspect an animal in your home, you need to contact us to get it back outside where it belongs.

Recently we looked at the damage that animals can cause in the home arising from leaks through the holes they create. We’ve also discussed the health problems they can cause by contaminating food, drink, and other materials in the home. However, there are even more types of damage these pests can cause.

As you can see on this page, animals, such as squirrels, rats, and mice, have teeth that grow like nails and hair. They will chew on electric wires to trim down and sharpen their teeth. If they chew through a wire, they can cause a power failure to part of your home. This can be a nuisance especially if repairing such a break involves ripping into a wall. The animal could also electrocute itself by chewing on the wires. At best, this results in a bad odor as the animal decomposes. At worst, it can start a fire.

All the more reason, you should contact us as soon as you suspect a pest in your home. It’s better to deal with it soon while it’s still a small problem than wait for it to become a bigger problem.

• Most homeowners realize there are animals in the house when they hear the sound of feet running across their ceiling at night.
• The presence of droppings and items from outside or other parts of the house (such as leaves, twigs, birdseed, and nuts) in your attic is a sure sign of a pest.
• Nesting material such as straw, leaves, and pieces of insulation mixed with fur is another telltale sign.
• Holes from the outside don’t necessarily mean animals are present, but if they’re not already, they soon will be. Turning the lights out in the attic can help identify whether there are holes.

We’ve pointed to the structural damage that squirrels and pests can cause when they invade your house, but there are health issues as well. These animals often carry with them Salmonella and Leptospira organisms that can cause sickness and disease in humans. The Centers for Disease Controloffer more information about these organisms and the diseases they cause.

Salmonella
Most animals and their feces carry salmonella bacteria, which can spread to humans through skin contact. Salmonella causes diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps that last four to seven days. Although it does not often cause death, it can do so in children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems.

Leptospira
These organisms can spread to humans through infected water and food as well as through skin contact. Humans that develop leptospirosis often exhibit flu-like symptoms although some show no symptoms at all. When left untreated, the disease can cause kidney damage, meningitis, liver failure, and respiratory distress.

Obviously, neither of these are pleasant ordeals to go through. That’s why it’s all the more important to contact us if you see or hear evidence of animals in your home.

Here’s another quick illustration of how much squirrels can cost you when they nest in your home and how quickly they can do it. This client waited a week before calling for pest control or animal control.

The hole the squirrels made in the roof led to a leak and water damage. He spent $1,275 to replace his bedroom ceiling and carpet. Roof damage cost him another $1,150. That’s $2,425 just to repair the damage.

Our fee for removing the squirrels and patching the hole they made in this instance was $425, which pales in comparison to his repair bills. So, first time you hear scurrying in your attic, it’s important contact us for quality pest control.

Some homeowners don’t think it’s a big deal when animals enter the home or believe there’s nothing they can do about it. That was certainly the case for one client who heard squirrels in his attic but thought them harmless.

He thought differently after his three-year-old son started getting itchy, painful, red welts on his arms and legs that the doctor attributed to a severe mite infection. While cleaning his son’s room, the client noticed mites and fleas crawling out of a brown wet spot of wall behind the bed. He removed the drywall and found a squirrel’s nest. We were called in and removed three dead squirrels, two live ones, and a 30-gallon trashcan’s worth of nesting material covered with feces, urine, fleas, and mites.

When all was said and done, the client had paid $2,500 to replace the furnishings in his son’s room, $975 to repair the insulation and drywall, $425 to remove the squirrels and patch the spot where they got in, and $250 to treat his son’s infection. He could have saved most of this money had he called us upon first hearing the squirrels. Clearly, squirrels are not harmless and are very costly, so if you suspect you have squirrels or any other pests in your home, contact us right away.