The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources lists everything from bats to woodpeckers on its nuisance wildlife list. Green Bay has plenty of wildlife ranging in size and the ability to damage your home and property. Just recently, the Senate passed a bill that makes it easier to get rid of beavers and muskrats doing damage to our roadways.
While the wildlife is cute, their destruction of property is costly and can be dangerous. It’s much nicer to visit wildlife in local places like the state park, the wetlands, or the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary than to see them on your property.
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.
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.
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.
Prevention 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.
A common nocturnal nuisance is the raccoon, and we have an abundance in Green Bay. They come out after dark to start scavenging for food and water. Whether it’s the parking lot after a Packers game or your garage, if they have access to food and water, they will establish a home nearby, like in your attic.
Any hole leading into your home makes a raccoon feel welcomed. If the hole is small, they will make it bigger. If the hole is covered by a screen or wire, it will break it to get inside. Raccoons have amazing hands and fingers that can open trash cans, cabinets, and other storage places. They can turn doorknobs, rip wire, and climb anything, including ductwork and chimneys. They even use their hands to wash foods in water before they eat them.
Everywhere they go, they leave behind a greasy smudge. Damages to your home can include broken roof shingles, dented or scratched spouting and siding, gnawed wires, and broken vents. Because they are known to carry diseases, you do not want to handle a raccoon on your own. Instead, call us. Here’s how our raccoon removal process works.
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
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
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.
We have 10 species of squirrels in Green Bay, with the gray squirrel being the most common. You can see them in trees, on the ground, sneaking seeds out of birdfeeders, running across electrical wires, and on the roof of your home or office.
Squirrels search for nuts, seeds, grains, apples, berries, fungus, and even sap. If you have any of these on your property, you’ve likely got a squirrel problem. They typically build dens or nests nearby. If they can get into your attic, they’re happy. If not your attic, check your chimney and vents. You will know they are present by their chirping, scratching, and scurrying that keeps you awake at night.
Squirrels love collecting goodies and then hoarding them away in their dens, a.k.a. your attic. If they begin storing their treasures in ductwork, your attic becomes a fire hazard. Squirrels leave behind feces and urine that smells bad and carries toxins you do not want to inhale. They can also scratch and dent pipes, spouting, shingles, window seals, and more. Here’s how we can help.
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
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
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.
The white-nosed syndrome has put bats in danger of extinction, including Wisconsin’s brown bats, long-eared bats, and pipistrelle bats. Our environment depends on bats for many things, like eating thousands of insects a day, including ones that carry viruses.
While we need bats to survive, we don’t need them to roost in our attics or eaves. We don’t need them in our barns and outdoor structures. The main reason is that bats leave a lot of guano in areas where they roost. Depending on the number of bats on your property, bat guano can become so heavy it can threaten to collapse boards. Also, guano contains uric acid, which can erode wood and metal, making the structure of your home unstable.
We can help you eliminate your bat problem.
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
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
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.
Rat and Mice Pest Control
We have our share of rodents in Green Bay. House mice, Norway rats, deer mice, white-footed mice, and woodland jumping mice are enjoying the urban lifestyle. It’s important to get rid of rodents in your home because they multiply quickly and give birth to large litters. The rodent population is becoming a big problem. Like all other nuisance wildlife, rats and mice are searching for food and water for survival. When they find a good source, they build a nest nearby where they can have babies. Many times, this location is your attic, walls, vehicles, and many other places around your property.
Mice can fit through a hole the size of a quarter, making access to your home or office easy. Think about those small cracks and broken screens or boards around your home. Those could be entry points.
Once inside, rodents chew wires, cords and wood, and break into your cabinets to eat your groceries. We can put an end to your rodent problem.
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
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
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.
You can trap skunks year round on your own property without a license. Skunks typically invade Green Bay yards in search for food and a safe place to burrow. Removing food supplies is one of the most effective ways to prevent a skunk from entering your property.
Bird food, pet food, and low hanging fruit will attract skunks. Additionally heavy rains make grubs more accesible for skunks to eat (skunks are excellent at controlling pests). Sheds, porches, and foundations make ideal burrowing locations which can lead to structural damage.
Most skunk repellents do not provide a permanent solution. The most effective method of skunk control is exclusion. If a skunk is living in your home or property, rely on professional handling and skunk trapping to avoid a skunk’s spray.
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
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
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.
During the spring, summer, and early fall when groundhogs are active, they tend to stay within 150 feet of their burrows. Their limited range and herbivorous diet leaves woodchucks with no reason to enter human homes. However, their feeding habits do lead them into yards and crop fields in search of grasses, vegetables, and other tasty plants. Burrowing activities wreak havoc on building foundations, roads, driveways, lawns, and embankments. Farm equipment and livestock can also become damaged or injured by obscured burrow holes.
Wire mesh fences can be used to effectively keep groundhogs away from gardens and lawns. Fences should be buried at least a foot underground and have outward-facing overhangs at the top to prevent the animals from burrowing underneath or climbing over. In some cases, it may become necessary to run electrified wire around the perimeter of fences. Since groundhog burrows have multiple entrances and exits, traps should only be set by trained professionals.
Groundhog Inspection
Groundhog nesting isn’t hard to spot. Being the largest member of the squirrel family, they have a rather large entrance hole to their nesting spots and they leave a great amount of dirt at their front door.
Groundhog Removal
Once we’ve identified all burrow entrances, the next step is deciding what will work best for the situation at hand. Woodchucks may be excluded from denning under structures with one-way doors, if the structure they’re living under can be sealed with a rat wall. If the area can’t be sealed, then trapping and removing the animal is the best option.
Groundhog Repairs
We can install rat walls to keep groundhogs out of crawl spaces and from entering under decks, sheds, patios and many other locations. Please call us to discuss how this process is completed.
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The Critter Control Difference
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.
Other Common Wildlife Issues
Q&A with local franchisee Evan Windholz
At Critter Control of Green Bay, WI, we’re skilled at dealing with many of Wisconsin’s most bothersome pest animals. Whether you need to remove Bats, Raccoons, Squirrels, or Mice from your attic or get rid of Bats, Raccoons, Squirrels, or Mice that are damaging your property, you can trust Critter Control to get the job done safely, effectively, and humanely.
What are some of the most common wildlife issues that homeowners face in Green Bay? Green Bay residents and businesses are confronted with bats, raccoons, squirrels and mice getting into attics & crawl spaces.
How do the seasons affect wildlife activity in the Greater Fox Valley area? Spring is the time of the year when most nuisance animals are looking for places to have their babies. Summer and fall stay consistently busy. During the winter cold weather can drive some animals into your home for shelter.
Any prevention tips for residents near Green Bay? Don’t encourage the local wildlife by feeding birds near your home. Keep pet food inside or in air tight containers. Keep an eye on vent covers, foundation vents, etc. for signs of entry.
When should homeowners call Critter Control? As soon as they discover a problem. The longer you wait, the more damage the animals do.
This franchise is independently licensed and operated by WAKKE, LLC, dba Critter Control of Green Bay, WI.
