Cowleys Pest Services Before & After Photos

Recently, homeowners in Hazlet Township, NJ, contacted Cowleys after finding mouse droppings in their oven. Mice usually enter a home through gaps, cracks, or openings around the foundation and enter the basement or crawl space. From there, they travel through wall voids throughout the home, eventually making their way to the kitchen to forage for food. Even the cleanest kitchens can have hidden food debris under and behind kitchen appliances. Mice are attracted to not only food, but also heat sources like ovens, dryers, and motors underneath refrigerators. 

Upon arrival, I started my inspection with the oven since that’s where the droppings were found. Mice are nocturnal and do a good job staying out of sight. Homeowners will usually see signs of a mouse infestation, such as droppings, nesting materials, and hordes of relocated food, well before spotting a live mouse scurrying about. Here, I removed the storage drawer on the bottom of the oven and found even more distinctive mouse pellets. After cleaning around of the base of the oven, I found a good sized hole behind the oven where the electrical wires came up from the crawl space. No doubt, this is how the mice were gaining access to the kitchen. With mice, a good inspection strategy is following pipes and wires. often, there are gaps around them allowing the mice to gain entry into the home and then move about inside the home undetected. I sealed the hole with a chew-proof copper mesh and also placed a RTU (“ready-to-use”) bait station in the area. I also inspected the crawl space and placed other bait stations in strategic locations where there was mouse activity.

After we finished installing chimney caps on this homeowner's property, we couldn't help but notice that the chimney was in bad shape. The cracked bricks on the chimney can let moisture in, which will lead to mold problems and even a pest infestation.

After bringing this to the owner's attention, we used a crown seal on the chimney to prevent these issues. Crown seal is a proprietary elastomeric coating that is specifically formulated to repair and protect chimney crowns from water intrusion. Now the chimney is protected from any type of moisture or pest issue. 

Homeowners in Lakewood, NJ had turkey vultures roosting on the edge of their flat roof. Vultures in Jersey? Actually, we are home to two vultures species, turkey vultures and black vultures. Turkey vultures bear no relation to our "gobble gobble" turkeys, so please, don't stuff and cook one for Thanksgiving! The only reason we call them turkey vultures is their appearance. Their bald red head and dark plumage resembles wild turkeys. The turkeys are historic residents of the state while black vultures are a more recent arrival to the state.

Although vultures, as any bird, can become a nuisance bird once they start roosting on a home or other structure and depositing their droppings all over, they are very important birds in our ecosystem. Vultures are nature’s clean-up crew. By feeding on dead, decomposing animal carcasses (carrion), tase birds reduce the risk of disease and contamination from rotting animals. So, if our road maintenance crews don’t get around to removing unsightly roadkill, these birds are happy to jump in.

Vultures are a protected migratory bird species, as are most birds. With bird control, we never "get rid" of birds. Rather, it is all about making your property inhospitable to birds. We install various types of deterrents, the choice of which depends on type of bird infestation and the specifics of the property. We change their behavior so they relocate elsewhere to a place that is more welcoming. Also, bird control is customized. There is never a one-size-fits-all single solution.

Here, the homeowners were pretty distressed with the activity of these birds. Their highly acidity droppings had caused some terrible staining on their home, and they were concerned that the droppings could damage their shingles, and rightly so. Birds excrete their liquid and solid waste together in one sticky "bomb." Their droppings contain uric acid, which is corrosive enough to dissolve paint, concrete, and metal.

Why did the birds choose this house? The likely reason is that this this house has the tallest roof in the general vicinity. Also, since the roof was flat, it made for easy landing.

Because of the roof structure, we decided that the best solution would be to take away their roosting areas by installing shock track on outside edges of the roof. Shock tracks send a clear message to the birds that they are no longer welcome by emitting a low-voltage shock when a bird attempts to land. the shock does not harm them in any way, but it isn't pleasant either. Even for a bird, which aren’t the brightest (being labelled a "bird brain" isn't exactly a compliment), it does not take too many negative reinforcements to change their behavior. All we want them to do is relocate to a new location (anywhere but this house) that doesn't deliver shocks every time they land.

Previously, our Little Rascals Nuisance Wildlife Removal team and safely and successfully removed a large number of bats that had been living in this homeowners' attic. The only downside was that the bats left behind a toxic mess of bat guano (bat feces). 

First, we carefully disinfected the entire attic and removed all the contaminated insulation. Afterward, we added approximately 10 inches of TruSoft blown-in cellulose insulation! TruSoft blown-in cellulose insulation has a higher R-value than standard fiberglass insulation, has the highest Class-1 fire safety rating, is resistant to mold and pests, and is eco-friendly! Blown-in cellulose insulation maximizes home comfort and optimizes energy usage for year-round peace and savings.

I was sent to Holmdel, NJ to help homeowners who were dealing with a mouse infestation in the void above their basement ceiling. After finishing up exercising on their basement treadmill,  the homeowners heard some strange noises above their heads — the scratching and scurrying noises of mice above their heads. Mice prefer to stay away from well-lit areas and stay in out-of-the way places like wall voids and above ceilings where they can come and go and move around the house as they please. When things are quiet, these sounds tend to amplify, and often, homeowners think that they are dealing with a much larger problem like squirrels or even raccoons. Of course, no homeowner should ever think that it’s “just mice.” Mice and their urine and droppings can contaminate food and counter tops. Like any wildlife, they are a health risk to a home’s occupants.

Needless to say, the homeowners were right. Mice had entered their living space from outside. Mice usually enter homes around gaps and cracks in the foundation, and I began my inspection in the basement, first popping out some tiles near where they had heard the unwanted visitors so I could get a better look. There were some mice droppings on to of the ceiling tile. I immediately saw how the rodents were gaining access. There was some daylight coming from a small opening on the outside wall. There was a hole drilled through the foundation, possibly for a exterior water spigot. However, nothing was ever installed and the hole was never sealed. Mice exploited the opening and came into the home.  Mice only need a hole about the size of a dime to squeeze through. These rodents are even smaller than they look because of all their fur. They have no collarbone, so if they can stick their head through an opening, the body will follow.

I always carry disinfectant and a hepa vacuum with me. I first sprayed the the droppings before cleaning them up. It is dangerous to disturb dry droppings because microscopic particles containing dangerous pathogens like potentially fatal hantavirus are released into the air.   

Preventing entry is key to rodent control. I stuffed the entry points with copper mesh that rodents are unable to chew through. Finally, I secured a rodent bait box on the home’s exterior near the hole. The combination of these strategies will soon put an end to the mouse problem for these homeowners.