Wildlife Removal Before & After Photos

After homeowners in Belmar, NJ, found themselves with squirrels in their attic, they contacted Cowleys to deal with this wildlife infestation. Squirrels managed to gain attic entry by tearing off a loose piece of soffit in the corner of the roofline.  Builders often call these particular roof returns as “pork chop.” Apparently, they use this peculiar label because this common, generic roof return is quick and easy to build relative to other designs. The trade-off is that they aren’t a particularly elegant design. For homeowners that don’t care about their home being featured in Architectural Digest, this roof design is perfectly fine. With these returns, the raking fascia is built flush with a triangular piece that covers up the end of the rafters and merges with the soffit below. Sometimes, however, these roof corners are used by some wildlife like squirrels and raccoons to gain entry into the attic by attempting to tear off or bend this metal triangular piece enough for them to squeeze into the attic. Sometimes, like with this squirrel infestation, they are successful!  

Upon arrival, after inspecting the roof area, I saw what I needed to do to catch these wily critters. First, I placed a “one-way” door over the opening used by the squirrels. These “one-ways” do precisely what their name says — they allow wildlife to exit, but they soon find out that it’s a one-way trip. These doors only open in one direction, so they are blocked from returning. To monitor wildlife activity, I like to place a piece of tape on the door so that i know whether any wildlife has left 

I also placed two baited traps to lure the unwanted guests out of the attic. Often, when there are now objects placed where the animals are coming g and going, they are timid about exploring them and they need to get acclimated to the objects so they don’t perceive them as a threat. To catch wildlife, you need a bit of patience. Also, it doesn’t hurt to use the right bait that’s too tempting to resist! 

After it is clear that there is no more wildlife activity or the animals have been trapped, I’ll patch the area with aluminum flashing and ensure that the roofline is secure and the homeowners won’t be visited by any more squirrels. Often, especially with wildlife infestations that have gone on for some time, the attic has been contaminated from droppings, and the area must be deodorized and sanitized. Cowleys has experienced crews that specialize in wildlife clean-up and the removal and replacement of contaminated insulation.

With the attic now sealed, this homeowner should not be visited by any more raccoons.

I was sent to a home in Belmar, NJ to help a homeowner dealing with a bird infestation. Some birds had decided to use her chimney to nest. Chimneys can be quite popular nesting spots for birds since they resemble high perches in nature. Nuisance birds can cause significant property damage with their acidic droppings. As pretty as birds are from a distance, they happen to be dirty wildlife and are dangerous to have around homes and other structures. Their droppings are toxic and contact with them or even just  breathing in their airborne particles can cause serious respiratory diseases. 

First, to deal with this bird infestation, I carefully removed any nesting material and debris left behind from the birds in the chimney. I then installed a chimney cap and placed Bird Barrier Optical gel in plastic pucks on top of the chimney, gluing them in place with a silicone adhesive.  

Bird control is all about behavior modification. The objective is to create a inhospitable environment, so they move elsewhere. This bird gel is one of my favorite bird deterrents. To us, this product looks like a bland, boring white gel. However, birds look at it much differently. They have far better color vision that us and see a much broader spectrum of colors. To birds, this gel looks like a giant fireball. Birds aren’t the brightest of creatures, but no bird has any interest heading into a raging fire! This big bird illusion is highly effective in keeping them away.

This Belmar homeowner was quite relieved that I had taken care of her bird problem so quickly. Once birds find a good nesting spot, they don’t usually leave on their own. As a bird control specialist, my job is to determine the best “incentives” for that property to get the birds to vacate on their own. Now, with the chimney cap and optical gel, these birds will be relocating to a friendlier location.

This customer in Sea Girt, NJ, had a fox nesting underneath her front porch, so she called Little Rascals for help and we were sent out. After setting up our retrieval devices, we safely obtained the fox and relocated it to a new, safer location. All that's left is to exclude the porch to prevent any future fox intrusions.

First, we dug a 12 inch deep trench around the entire porch and installed hardware cloth. The hardware cloth is installed 12 inches deep and 12 inches out from the bottom of the home. This creates a sturdy "L shaped" perimeter that will prevent foxes and other nuisance wildlife from digging and nesting underneath the home. Afterward, we removed the broken lattice around the entire porch, installed new lattice around the area, and placed more hardware cloth over it. Now the area is properly excluded from all future fox, and other nuisance wildlife, intrusions.

Recently, we went out on a service call for a resident in Spring Lake, NJ who was having a problem with a raccoon in his attic. How'd he know it was a raccoon? As his son was cleaning the attic one evening he spotted the little fella running around!

As we inspected the rooftop we spotted raccoon hair and paw prints near an attic vent cover. This was how the raccoons were able to enter the attic.

We placed several baited traps near the main access point, installed an attic vent cover, and then attached a one-way to the attic vent cover. The vent cover prevents raccoon and other pesky, nuisance wildlife from entering your home through the roof vents. They are constructed out of heavy-duty 18 Gauge galvanized metal mesh that the wildlife are unable to chew through. 

The one-way is a device that allows the raccoons to safely leave the attic and prevents them from getting back in. By installing a vent cover over every single attic and static vent on the roof and placing a one-way over the main access point we are forcing the raccoon to exit through the one-way and into the baited traps. Once the raccoon is safely captured, we'll relocate it to a new, humane location and then sanitize the attic area.

After our Wildlife Division had safely removed and humanely relocated a family of raccoons in this homeowner's attic in Spring Lake, NJ, we were sent out to remove all the contaminated insulation and reinsulate the attic.

Unfortunately, the family of raccoons had been present in the attic for quite some time and the insulation was badly damaged and soiled with urine and raccoon feces. When it comes to wildlife in the attic, removal, and exclusion only fix half the problem. Damaged insulation can lead to health concerns, wasted money in higher heating/cooling costs, and hazardous conditions such as damaged ductwork and potential fire hazards.

After equipping our personal protective equipment we carefully removed all the contaminated insulation. Next, we disinfected the entire attic and added approximately 12 inches of blown-in TruSoft cellulose insulation. TruSoft cellulose insulation not only creates a thermal barrier and helps keep the home more comfortable and energy-efficient, but has a higher R-value than standard fiberglass batts and is treated with non-toxic borate, giving it the highest Class-1 fire safety rating and creating an incredible resistance to mold and pests.