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Critter Control of Southern Delaware

Wildlife Control Services

Free Inspections in Southern Delaware

(302) 497-4632
(No Cats & Dogs)

Call for Immediate Help

(302) 497-4632

Hours of Operation

Monday-Friday 7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Saturday 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Sunday Closed

Serving the following locations:

By County: New Castle, Sussex, Kent

  • Wilmington
  • Dover
  • Newark, Middleton
  • Bear
  • Glasgow
  • Hockessin
  • Brookside
  • New Castle
  • Lewe

Best Wildlife Control in Southern Delaware

Beaches are just the beginning in Southern Delaware, but there is plenty of water with twenty six miles of Atlantic Coast, the Delaware Bay, inland bays, and lakes and rivers. Sussex County is less urbanized than the rest of the East Coast. Small, charming towns dot the area.

Most forests are fragmented and cleared for agriculture. Animals like bat, beaver, chipmunk, mole, opossum, river otter, beaver, snake, squirrels, skunks, Canadian Geese, raccoons, woodchuck, and woodpeckers have adapted to live among people.

Sussex County, Delaware, has specific codes (Penalty Section 7 Del.C. §103(d) regarding nuisance wildlife removal. Wildlife is a nuisance when they are annoying you and your family, making it difficult to enjoy your property. They may also cause damage to your property or pose a threat to the public.

The Delaware Division of Fish and Wildlife recommends hiring a wildlife control operator to handle nuisance wildlife for the safety of both you and the animal. In addition, because there are so many laws and protections, you want to make sure to complete the job the right way.

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.

Wildlife
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.

Wildlife Removal
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.

Prevention and Repair

Raccoon Removal

Raccoons are active at night. While you sleep, they are out scavenging for food. There are plenty of sources in Southern Delaware. 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

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.

Trapping and Removal

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.

Rat and Mice Pest Control

The Delaware house mouse is not a resident you want living in your home. They are curious and will chew through wires and walls to get to a food source. If you have mice in your home, you have the food, water, and shelter they are seeking. Mice live in walls, attics, basements, and any other place in your home that is dark and hidden from view.

Rats and mice will raid pet feed, pantry items, and anything left on counters or floors. They usually don’t travel more than 30 feet from their nest. They carry fleas, ticks, and other parasites. Their droppings and urine form trails. These tiny creatures can fit through small holes the size of a quarter. They can also contaminate ten times more food than they contaminate.

Our process for getting rid of mice and rats:

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.

Trapping and Removal

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.

Squirrel Removal

Tree squirrels are in abundance in Sussex County, from the gray, red, fox, and flying species. They are fun to watch, too, as they collect various items to store for the colder months. Squirrels search for nuts, grains, bird eggs, flowers, garden crops, and birdseed. Some squirrels will strip bark from trees and use it for nesting or meals.

Squirrels are always on the move. They have teeth that never stop growing and must chew and gnaw on hard surfaces to keep them filed and pain-free. That means your siding, shingles, wires, wood, gutters, soffits, wire screens, and mesh may be destroyed. Squirrels also build nests in chimneys, vents, attics, and pipes, creating hazardous and costly outcomes such as fires and clogs.

Squirrels typically give birth twice a year. It’s essential to call a professional to get rid of a squirrel in your home. There are varying permitting rules: no permit may be needed for the gray squirrel, but all others must be approved. Critter Control complies with all permitting laws.

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.

Trapping and Removal

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

Delaware is home to nine species of bats. Some of Delaware’s tree bats migrate long distances from summer roosts to their wintering grounds.Bats are insectivores and can consume more than one-half their body weight in insects each night.
The bats causing problems on your property are likely the big brown, little brown, and Northern long-eared bats. If you have a bat in your attic, barn, or other structure, you will hear them at night when they are loud and keep you awake. You may also smell their foul guano, which amasses under their roosting spots.

Bat guano contains uric acid and can corrode woods and metals. While not all bats carry rabies, they can harbor parasites. Histoplasmosis, for example, is a respiratory condition in humans that occurs after inhaling mole spores that grow on bat guano.

Never try to get rid of a bat yourself. All bats are on a federal or state protection list due to the risk of extinction by a threat of some kind, like the white-nosed syndrome sweeping through some bat colonies. Also, bats are a valuable part of the ecosystem, eating their body weight in bugs every night. After eating, bats roost and clean themselves. They also continue excreting guano, which runs down their fur to the floor. This is another reason never to touch a bat.

Calling an expert for bat removal is crucial to protect you and the bat.

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).

Trapping and 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.

Skunk Control

Skunks 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.

Repairs

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.

Snake Control

Ninety percent of all snakes in urban and residential areas in Delaware are non-venomous. If you are like most people, you aren’t confident you can tell the difference and, therefore, consider all snakes dangerous. We get it.

Snakes are searching for food, water, and shelter, just like other wildlife. They prefer piles of wood, stones, or brush. They are looking for insects and small rodents, so if you have those in your basement or shed, you may also find a snake nearby. We can help get rid of snakes.

Other Common Wildlife Issues

Animal Damage

Animal Sounds in Attic

Why are animals in my house?

1.800.274.8837
(No Cats & Dogs)

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.