Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday Closed
Emergency Service Available: 24/7/365
By County: Hillsborough, Strafford, Rockingham, Belknap, Merrimack and Cheshire Counties
With many types of terrain and four distinct seasons, New Hampshire fosters a thriving ecosystem of plants, animals, and people. Whether you live in Manchester, Portsmouth, Nashua, or Rochester, you may find rats, squirrels, snakes, armadillos, and other wildlife populations seeking shelter in the quiet areas of your home, presenting a big problem with the potential for extensive property damage. In need of pest control in New Hampshire? The Critter Control team is here to help.
Unfortunately, both warm, humid summers and snowy winters throughout the state can lead to conflicts between people and nusiance wildlife.
Female and male raccoons will get into homes for different reasons, including searching for shelter and food sources and when they are pregnant. Because of their human-like hands, raccoons are able to grab objects and even have been known to open doors. Property owners should employ simple methods of control, like securing trash bins with fitted lids and attaching latches that lock the lids in place.
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.
The most prevalent squirrel species in New Hampshire are the red and gray squirrels and the flying squirrels. Squirrels can enter your house intentionally or inadvertently. They do not need a large entry point, for example:
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.
Humans and bats typically coexist together very uneventfully, but when they begin to roost inside chimneys, walls, or attics of your home, they become an issue. Bat colonies will result in a large amounts of droppings (guano) that will cause health problems, unfortunate odors and difficult stains.
Bat droppings can be dangerous when allowed to accumulate in the home because the nutrient-rich droppings cultivate the growth of histoplasmosis fungus, which causes severe respiratory problems in humans.
Bats inside your living space should be handled only by professionals because bats can carry rabies and will bite or scratch when they’re handled. Our team is experienced and trained to meet NWCOAand Bat Conservation International (BCI) standards when it comes to appropriate techniques and materials to humanely remove bats from properties, homes and other structures.
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).
Skunks can be a unique challenge because of their strong and unpleasant defense mechanism. Skunks are known for causing headaches to homeowners when they dig up landscapes and damage crops. The most common complaint is certainly the smell, though.
Skunk problems are typically at their peak during three times of the year :
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.
The most effective skunk control near you 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.
The wildlife issues we face here change with the seasons. In winter we see squirrels, mice and raccoons. In the spring we’ll see the same, but we’ll also see ground animals like moles, voles, woodchucks and skunks. Birds also become problems in vents, as they look for places to build their nests. Late spring brings bats in attics, looking for that heat to birth and raise their pups.
Unusual noises in the walls or ceilings. Droppings in attics from bats, mice, squirrels, raccoons or opossums. Insulation out on the roof coming from soffit vents are indicators of attic activity (coming and going).
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Keep trash cans secured to prevent racoons, skunks and opossums from honing in on your property. Have your entire home inspected for potential entry points and reinforce them before animals can exploit them.
Ideally, prevention is always cheaper. But pest/wildlife control is a reactive type service, so as soon as clients start hearing, or seeing signs of animals is the best time to call to prevent further damage (structurally or to lawn).
This franchise is independently licensed and operated by Bluebird Enterprises, LLC, dba Critter Control of New Hampshire.
