Critter Control of Terre Haute

Raccoons are a common problem for Lafayette property owners, as these critters have become used to living amongst people and raiding the trash cans of residents and businesses. Once they find a secure source of food and water, it’s only a matter of time before they pick out a nearby attic or chimney to make a den and have their kits. Unfortunately, they cause a lot of damage to homes and are also host to diseases and parasites.

Raccoons can tear a large hole in a roof to gain entry and create a lot of noise thumping around. Critter Control can quickly recognize the unique footprints and feces of raccoons, and we can help you with raccoon removal before too much damage has been done.

Rats and mice are two of the most abundant mammals on Earth. Thoroughly used to living amongst people, they’ve also become some of the most dreaded pests to have in one’s home or office.

The most common of these rodents to make your home theirs are the house mouse, the Norway rat and the roof rat. Once inside your house, these creatures will contaminate the food in your pantry, leave their feces and urine along their travel paths and on countertops, and create oily smudges along walls.

These creatures will also gnaw through walls and wires, creating a fire hazard. Just a few of them will quickly turn into an infestation due to their prolific reproduction. They can breed up to 12 times per year, having around five to six babies at a time. To be certain you’ve rid your home or office of all of them, it’s best to call Critter Control.

There is no shortage of squirrels in Lafayette. Purdue University loves its squirrels so much that they’ve made a Facebook page and Twitter account for them. However, the more squirrels and humans interact, the more likely it is that they will move in with us.

When the weather turns cold, these rodents look for shelter in homes and businesses. While they seem cute scampering about the park, they turn less so when tearing up insulation and chewing through wires in your attic.

Unlike their nocturnal rodent cousins, squirrels are diurnal, meaning they are active during the day. If you hear scampering about above your head in the morning, it’s most likely a squirrel.

The thirteen bat species that live in Indiana are all insect-eating mammals and are the only mammals capable of sustained flight. Bats in Terre Haute are attracted to attics and chimneys because they have all the elements of a proper roosting place: darkness, security and quiet.

Bats should not be handled by people. They can carry rabies and parasites, and their guano carries other diseases that can be transmitted to people and pets. Human contact can also harm the bats, which are important to the region’s ecosystem, especially during mosquito season.

Bats are federally protected and should not be harmed. Bats give birth each spring to a single pup that remains helpless through the spring and summer, then is weaned by fall. It is during this time that bats can be eliminated from an attic without harming the young. A wildlife specialist will know how to humanely rid a home or business of a roost of bats, making sure to wait until their pups are old enough to fly and hunt for insects on their own.

Opossums are fascinating animals, but not when they’re living on your property. As North America’s only marsupial, they carry their young in a belly pouch and then on the mother’s back until they can fend for themselves.

They are insect eaters, which should be good for humans, but they will also opportunistically rummage through your trash, compost or outdoor pet food. Opossums are good climbers that will sometimes enter an attic, but they mostly prefer a burrow underneath a porch or shed, or inside crawlspaces.

When an opossum is living nearby, you will notice a foul smell and hear hissing and scratching sounds. Critter Control recommends getting rid of an opossum quickly, as it can transmit disease and parasites to both humans and pets.