Manahawkin, NJ Pest Control & Exterminator

A Manahawkin homeowner was hearing wildlife noises in his attic at daybreak every morning like clockwork. He realized that the problem would not self-resolve and contacted Cowleys to inspect the attic and resolve his wildlife problem. I suspected that squirrels were the likely culprits. There was heavy squirrel activity in this neighborhood and, because they are agile climbers, attics are a favorite spot for them. Also, the timing and nature of  the noises coming from the attic dictated that we were dealing with squirrels. First, squirrels are diurnal animals, active during the day and asleep at night. Raccoons, on the other hand, are primarily nocturnal, although they may venture out during the day (especially females foraging for her litter). With squirrel infestations, many homeowners report hearing wildlife sounds like scampering and scratching early in the morning and at dusk. The scampering sounds of squirrels will be older than those of mice or rats because they are larger rodents. Squirrels also make some surprisingly weird vocal alarm signals.  

I inspected the attic to determine the location of any access points. Often, I’ll find holes in a home’s siding or under the soffits, especially when there is wood rot. With this home, however, the squirrels did not have to do any work at all to gain access to the attic. Form the attic, I could easily see that the dryer vent connection had disconnected, allowing easy access to the attic. 

Ii was time to take care of the infestation. I set live traps along the path that the squirrels were taking, and over the course of a few days, I safely and humanely trapped, removed, and relocated three squirrels from the home. Once I determined that there was no more squirrel activity inside the attic and around the dryer vent, I installed a dryer vent cover to block this potential access point for good.