Raccoons Break Into Home Through the Gable Vent in Barnegat Light, NJ

Before	After

An raccoon decided that the attic of this home Barnegat Light, NJ was a great spot to reside in, so it ripped apart the gable vent and made it's way inside! The homeowner wasn't exactly to fond of this idea and called Little Rascals for help. Nuisance wildlife infesting a home via the gable vents is very common. Over time, the gable vents get weathered and raccoons, squirrels, birds, and bats have no problem ripping away these vents to find shelter inside a home.

To safely remove the raccoon, we installed a one-way over the gable vent, temporarily enclosed the area with hardware cloth, and set-up several baited devices nearby. A one-way is a device that allows raccoons to safely leave an area, but prevent them from getting back in. A short while later, we successfully retrieved the raccoon and relocated the it to a new, humane location. Afterward, we disinfected the attic area, removed the broken gable vent and replaced it with a louvered vent guard. This material is made out of heavy-duty Galvannealed steel (which means it won't rust) and is customized to accommodate vents of all shapes and sizes. Now the home is properly protected from not just raccoons, but all nuisance wildlife and pests!

Huge hornets nest in Barnegat Light, NJ

Before	After

I was sent out by Cowleys to an apartment complex in Barnegat Light to remove an active hornets nest. The insects built their nest in a tree that was close to one of the buildings in the complex. Normally, a hornets nest does not pose a threat to people as long as the nest is not disturbed or approached. Unfortunately, every so often, these pests decide to build their nest in locations where people may inadvertently come too close to the nest. If they feel that their nest and territory is being threatened, a multiple stinging insect attack can easily result. This particular nest was built in a sensitive location. It was about five feet from the sidewalk entering the building and about seven feet off the ground. It was clearly a threat to any of the tenants forced to walk by the nest in order to enter and exit the building. It was an unacceptable situation, and I arrived to correct it.

To deal with this hornet problem, I first incapacitated the hornets that were inside the nest by treating it with a quick knock-down product. Once most of the hornets inside the nest were either dead or dying, I carefully cut the branch holding the nest out of the tree. Whenever you are doing a nest extraction, it is important to be mindful of any foraging hornets returning to the nest. They don’t take too kindly to seeing their nest being removed!

Once the nest and the supporting branch were separated from the tree, I
cut off excessive foliage to remove the treated nest, which I then bagged so that I could remove it from the property. The returning foraging hornets will swarm around the nest site for awhile, but they’ll soon move on when they realize that their nest is no more and there is not even any residue of the old nest to build on. 

Territorial stinging insects like wasps and hornets mean trouble when they decide to build a nest too close to a home or commercial structure. In these cases, the nest needs to be removed by a pest control professional, preferably before there is a serious wasp attack on an innocent person who happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.