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Trapping squirrels in Monroe Township, NJ

Recently, I was sent to a home in Monroe Township, NJ, to resolve a squirrel infestation, and made a video to show how a wildlife technician approaches a situation where animals take up residence inside the structure of a home where they can cause all sorts of damage and mischief. This was one of the more challenging access points to locate. The squirrel nesting area was well hidden, but there is usually some subtle clue that gives away their location. Here, I observed some nesting materials sticking out of the vent holes in the soffit. Oftentimes, squirrels won’t make their nesting area right next to the access because they want some distance between themselves and potential predators. However, in this case the access point is extremely close to where the animals were nesting. Here, there was a torn off loose piece of soffit in the corner of a common, generic roof return that builders often refer to as a “pork chop.” These roofline corners are relatively easy to build compared to other roof designs, but aren’t particularly elegant, hence the name. Sometimes, like we see here these roof corners are used by squirrels and other wildlife to gain entry by ripping right through the plastic. Squirrels are rodents with exceptionally strong teeth and claws and are able to make their way through vinyl or plastic building materials with relative ease. This particular hole was well hidden. I can’t get into the mind of a squirrel, but it often seems that they make hidden access points to help avoid detection. Here, the hole goes right into the soffit where the squirrels built a private nesting area. I’ll need to build a one-way around the hole that will allow the animals to exit but prevent their return and get dome traps on the roof.  We then set up traps for blocking access into the residence and, hopefully, trapping them for relocation to a more suitable habitat. Here, I managed to get the one-way set up as best as I could by wrapping some hardware cloth around the opening. Once the squirrels real that they are locked out of their home, they will often try to tear out a new hole nearby. It is important to discourage them from doing so. You can also see the traps that are properly secured to the roof. The most important thing is that everything is functional and properly secured. It doesn’t have to be pretty; it just has to work until the squirrels are removed since these structures are all temporary. With the set-up in place, these squirrels will be denied from returning to the nest after they come out to forage, and hopefully, they will step into the baited traps so I can safely and humanely relocate them.

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The black rat snake is NJ’s largest snake. Here in New Jersey, if you have black snakes around your house, they are most likely either black rat snakes or black racers. The black rat snakes are the bulkier of the two, and they are fairly slow moving and often freeze when confronted. Both are non-venomous with white or grayish bellies that eat mostly rodents and other small mammals. These snakes are not out to hurt you. They’re only around because there’s food nearby, and that food isn’t you! Whenever i get a panicked call for snakes, I’m always asked if the snake is venomous. With almost 100% certainty, any snake that a homeowner in NJ find of their property is non-venomous. In New Jersey, there are 22 species of snakes, and only two of them are venomous: the timber rattlesnake and the northern copperhead. It’s very rare to come across either of these venomous snakes because of their elusive nature and their preference for interior forest habitat. All snakes are protected species under NJ law and must be captured and relocated. Snakes cannot be killed and many snake species are endangered. Non-venomous snakes are often misidentified and needlessly killed. Fir example, black rat snakes, especially since they rattle their tail as a warning, are often misidentified as timber rattlesnakes. Of course, non-venomous snakes can and do bite. No snake should be handled or cornered unless you are experienced dealing with them.  This particular homeowner in Bayville, NJ observed a large black snake basking in her patio area. Upon arrival, I inspected the property to determine what was attracting the snake. Her backyard bordered a marshy area that was chock full of snake food sources — frogs, nesting birds, and rodents. After capturing the snake for relocation, I walked around the property with the homeowner to look for ways to reduce snake attractants. The major concern was the rodent issue. White-footed mice scampering around your property does not just attract snakes. These rodents are major carriers of ticks (and tick-borne Lyme disease) as well — one of the major insect problems that will be faced by NJ homeowners this spring and summer.   The homeowner felt that a home protection plan (HPP) would be in her best interest to stay one step ahead of any insect and rodent problems. With a HPP, we come out periodically for preventative perimeter treatments and inspect the property for signs of infestations often missed by homeowners. Also, if there is an infestation, most are covered at no additional cost. By keeping mice off the property and alleviating the influx of insects, this will go a long way reducing the food attractants of the snakes — frogs, rodents, and birds.  Many wildlife infestations, including snakes, can be reduced or prevented outright, by removing whatever attractants enticed them to enter the property in the first place.
Black snake alerts Bayville, NJ family to mice problem.
Recently, I was sent to a home in Manchester Township, NJ, to deal with a squirrel that had taken up residence inside a chimney. I made a short video demonstrating a chimney squirrel exclusion.  Wildlife will often exploit weaknesses in a home’s structure in order to find ways to enter the home. For arboreal animals like squirrels, once on a roof, they look for ways to gain access inside the home. Squirrels, like many animals, gain access inside homes to escape the harsh elements, avoid predators, and have a private place to nest and care for their young. Common access points include attic fans, weakened roofing, fascia, or soffits, and sometimes, like here, chimneys.   As long as a chimney has a chimney cap that covers the entire opening, chimney access is usually not a problem. The Jersey Shore has a high raccoon and squirrel population, so properly fitting chimney caps are essential to keep out wildlife. It’s also the humane thing to do. These animals often get trapped and die in chimneys, leaving homeowners with a rotting, smelly carcass to deal with. Chimney caps also keep out birds (especially chimney swifts!), which are attracted to chimneys as nesting locations because of their warmth. Chimney caps also keep out rain as well as high winds that can create downdrafts in an open chimney. Downdrafts not only allow cold air to enter the home, they can also cause the home to fill up with smoke.   As shown in the video, this particular chimney did not have a full cap installed over the entire opening. For reasons unknown, someone installed only a half-cap with an insert. The rest of the chimney was wide open. Also, there was no flue (duct or piping to convey the exhaust gases from a fireplace, furnace, water heating, or any appliance with combustion products. Looking down, you could see all the way to the furnace. Also, there were leaves packed at the top of the chimney indicating a nesting area for a squirrel. For these small animals, a chimney looks like a hollow tree to set up shop. Also, leaves in a chimney can obstruct airflow and are a potential fire hazard.  To deal with this squirrel infestation, I installed a piece of hardware cloth with a hole cut out of it for the one-way. The one-way allows any animals to leave, but it’s a one-way trip — they are unable to regain access. I used concrete screws (also known as Tapcon anchors) to secure the cloth to the top of the chimney. The only way out is through the one-way. I placed a tape over the one-way to help me monitor squirrel activity. Should a squirrel exit, the tape will dislodge and some fur will be stuck onto the tape. All that’s lift is to install some traps nearby the opening. Hopefully, I will be able to trap and safely relocate the squirrel.
Squirrel exclusion and chimney cap install in Manchester Township
Nuisance wildlife has an amazing ability to locate and exploit weaknesses in order to gain access into homes and other structures. Weakened, water-saturated or otherwise damaged wood, shingles, fascia, and soffits and gaps, cracks, and openings around the foundation are all used by wildlife to gain entry. For homeowners, preventative maintenance will go a long way to keep wildlife out of your home.  These particular homeowner in Holmdel, NJ had an issue with squirrels continuing to access their attic space. They already had wildlife technicians come over for two squirrel trapping jobs followed by a seal-up of access points. Needless to say, these homeowners were tired of dealing with ongoing squirrel infection problems, and they asked if I could inspect their home and determine if there was anything that Cowleys could do to help prevent ongoing attic wildlife problems. I inspected their home, and presented the homeowners with an inventory of potential problem points, and explained what preventative maintenance could be done to shore up their home and discourage wildlife from gaining entry.  One major concern that I identified was the attic fan cover. When it comes to keeping out wildlife, standard attic fan covers just don’t cut it. The manufacturer’s standard is a light, flimsy mesh wrap to stop the occasional bird from going inside to nest. This covering is not built to stop animals with razor-sharp teeth and claws. Agile animals that can make their way to your roof like raccoons, squirrels, and flying squirrels can get through these attic fan covers with ease. And once this mesh is compromised, it opens up the possibility for almost any type of wildlife to gain access into your attic through the roof. We replaced this cover with a tough galvanized steel mesh cover that fits over the entire outside of the fan. This cover will stop wildlife from even thinking about using the attic fan area to access the attic. I also observed another potential wildlife roof vulnerability: the ridge vent. Attic ventilation is a necessity to remove excess heat, prevent roof rot, limit mold growth in your attic, and avoid a host of other problems. Ridge venting is vent opening that’s installed at the roof peak, which works in conjunction with soffit vents. The ridge vent is not only a weak point for wildlife, but also is vulnerable to weather as well. The ridge vent is often the first place where shingles start peeling off when hit with high winds. We installed a Ridge-Guard system to the ridge vent to shore up this wildlife-prone area of the roof. Ridge-Guard keeps out not only larger wildlife like raccoons and squirrels, but also ensures that animals capable of exploiting much smaller entry points will not find their way inside. Animals like bats, flying squirrels and mice can squeeze in through much smaller openings.  These improvements will go a long way in preventing any further re-infestation of squirrels in this attic. They will also extend the useful life of these important roof structures.
Squirrels find easy access to Holmdel, NJ home
Furbearers — animals like opossums, raccoons, and skunks — are exceptionally intelligent creatures. If any of these critters have had a close call with a trap, they become trap-shy. You’ll sometimes hear this behavior called trap-savvy, trap-wise, or trap-wary, but it all means the same thing — the traumatic experience leaves an indelible mark (think of PTSD with people). More importantly, they actually learn from the experience. These animals will stay away from future traps, And it doesn’t matter how enticing the bait. You can put in the sweetest most peanut butteriest concoction you can imagine inside the trap, and it just doesn’t matter. The animals won’t fall for it a second time. It’s the old saying — fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.  This home in Holmdel, NJ had a raccoon infestation in their crawl space. As you can see in the video, the crawl space access was wide open. The raccoons didn’t even have to look for a weak spot to gain entry. I set up traps around the opening and they stayed empty. It was clear to me that these raccoons knew the drill and weren’t going to fall for it a second time. When I’m dealing with trap-shy raccoon infestations, the key is exclusion. If you can’t trap them, at least you must get them out of the house and prevent them from regaining access. Raccoons come and go from their nesting area inside homes (usually crawl spaces or attics) because they need to forage for food. You want them to go and not come back. For this raccoon job, I needed to make sure that any raccoons were out of the crawl space and that they could not return. I customized a one-way device for this particular opening. A one-way does exactly what it is named. Operating just like a one-way valve,  this device allows the raccoons to leave but blocks any attempted returns. I measured the opening and cut out a piece of hardware cloth to fit just right. Then, I made a smaller opening in the cloth and smaller and secured a one-way to it with cable ties. I always put a piece of tape at the end of the one-way so that I know whether any animals have left. If they have, the tape will be dislodged and have fur stuck to it. I’ll be back shortly to confirm that any trespassing raccoons have been evicted from the crawl space. I’ll leave out the traps and have the homeowner call me if, by chance, any raccoons are captured. But I’m not optimistic. In a case like this with trap-shy raccoons, I ‘m happy to get them out of the house, so they look for accommodations elsewhere.
We need to catch these trap shy raccoons in Holmdel, NJ
Homeowners in Holmdel, NJ, contacted Cowleys after their home’s attic was infested by squirrels. Most wildlife infestations, especially if you include mice, occur around the home’s foundation where entry is made into the basement or crawl space. However, others are “aerial” infestations where the animal gains access to the attic through the roof or its surrounding structures along the eave area — the fascia boards and exterior soffits. The most common wildlife infestations involving attics are tree squirrels (here in New Jersey, the eastern gray squirrel is most prevalent) and raccoons. Less frequently, homeowners may find themselves with a bat infestation in their attic. Squirrels and raccoons, since they can’t fly, need some bridge, either natural or artificial, to gain access to the roof. With this house, squirrels took advantage of an overhanging tree branch. Sometimes, these amazingly agile animals will use a utility line like a circus tightrope walker to reach the roof. Squirrels are in the rodent family, and like their mouse and rat cousins, are incessant gnawers. With this home, some determined squirrels chewed their way through metal gutter guards. Our objective here, as with all wildlife infestations, is to trap and remove the critters with a minimal amount of disruption to the home itself. I was not about to start removing and reinstalling the gutters to determine where the squirrels were entering the attic through the fascia boards.  A good wildlife technician looks for the simplest, most elegant solution to the problem. As shown in the video, some squirrels managed to do a major number on the gutter guard, chewing through it like it was a stick of butter. They were able to make an opening that was more than enough for them to eventually gain access to the attic. How they managed to gain access to the attic through the fascia could not be determined from the outside of the home because any visibility was blocked by the gutter structure.  However, at the end of the day, the fact that the gutter structure blocked the opening into the attic didn’t matter in order for me to successfully resolve the infestation. What was important was that I found the squirrels’ initial entry point into the home. No matter what, these squirrels needed to come and go from the attic in order to forage for food outside, and they had to go through that opening in the gutter guard. I set up a one-way exclusion device directly over the opening. This device allows the squirrels to exit, but it’s a one-way trip. The squirrels are prevented from returning inside. I also set up some traps nearby the opening to possibly trap them once they leave. Once trapped, I will safely and humanely relocate them. With this set-up on the roof, it won’t take long for this attic to be squirrel-free. Wildlife taking up residence in a home is a potentially dangerous situation for homeowners and must be removed immediately. Even if you never come into direct contact with the animals, they can transmit diseases through their urine and droppings, and cause other property damage, including ruined insulation.             
Squirrels chew through gutter guards in Holmdel, NJ home
A piece of flashing on the roof of a home in Spring Lake, NJ was unsecured with nothing holding it down. This poor craftsmanship offered a raccoon easy access through the roof into the attic. All the animal had to do was all to lift the loose flashing with its dexterous paw to gain access inside the home. the house. There was no need to carve out a hole using his claws or teeth. With this home, the unsecured flashing was the equivalent of an unlocked door for the raccoon to use to enter and exit the attic. Raccoons and other wildlife are intelligent, resourceful creatures that will find and exploit weaknesses in a home’s structure to gain entry. Often, we find wildlife infestations that have taken hold because of poor maintenance. For example, weakened and water-damaged fascia, soffits, or shingles provides access for raccoons or squirrels to chew and claw their way into the attic. In other cases, such as with this home, poor craftsmanship — roof flashing not properly secured to the home — was the culprit. Certainly, wildlife infestations occur in homes that are well-built and well-maintained, but they occur with far less frequency.  To trap the raccoon, I set up a “one-way” device that I wrapped with hardware cloth to make sure the animal could not get out any other way. With a one-way device, the raccoon is able to exit the attic, but once the door shuts, he can’t return. We set up these exclusion devices so that the animal has no other routes he can use to leave the structure. The finished set-up was two baited traps next to the one-way. When the raccoon leaves the one-way and is wandering around, I expect that, between the two baited traps, the raccoon will find the food too tempting and will get caught. Once trapped, we will safely and humanely relocate the animal away from the premises.
Raccoons find easy access to Spring Lake, NJ home
I was dispatched to a home in Colts Neck, NJ to deal with a wildlife infestation, specifically, raccoons were gaining entry inside the homeowner’s attic. With a raccoon infestation or any other wildlife infestation, the first step is the inspection. It is critical to determine how the animals are gaining entry. With this infestation, I needed to figure out how the animals were gaining access inside the attic, and how they are getting up the roof in the first place. Raccoons, like squirrels, are excellent climbers.  Raccoons are the largest nuisance pests that we routinely deal with at Cowleys. Because of their size, their entry point into a home is usually found quickly. Raccoons often exploit weaknesses in a home, such as weakened or water-damaged fascia, soffits, or shingles to gain entry. During my inspection of this particular home, I saw that, behind the downspout, the soffit had an opening being used by the raccoons. Also, the raccoons had tracked dirt to the roof area — another common indicator of a wildlife infestation. One complication of this job was that there was recent snowfall, and there was snow on the roof near the entry point preventing me from gaining access to that part of the roof. So, for now, I needed other options to trap the animals.  As part of my inspection, I need to determine how the raccoons are climbing up onto the roof in the first place in order to reach the entry point. The snow that had accumulated on the roof made that part of my inspection much easier. There were beautiful raccoon prints in the snow, making their pathway easy to follow. The snow tracks led me right to a tree growing nearby the home. Their route to the roof was confirmed by scratch marks left by the raccoons in the tree bark. For now, I set two traps on the part of the roof nearby the tree since that area of the roof was free from snow. Once the snow melts near the entry point, I’ll return to set a one-way device. These devices allow the animals to leave the structure, but prevent their return.  With wildlife infestations, every job comes with its own set of obstacles and challenges. It is the job of the wildlife technician to work around those obstacles and devise a workable solution to safely trap and relocate the animals.
Amazing wildlife inspection in Colts Neck, NJ
While recently servicing a Cowleys commercial account in Colts Neck, NJ, I needed to throw something away in the dumpster. Often, for pest and wildlife technicians, there is often an unexpected “surprise” waiting for you around the corner. And this day was no exception. While at the dumpster, I observed a full-grown raccoon fast asleep on top of the trash. The fact that the raccoon was asleep did not surprise me.  Since raccoons are nocturnal, they are most active at night. However, what was quite surprising to me was the raccoon’s choosing a dumpster to get some shut-eye. Normally, for protection and privacy reasons, raccoons will nest up in trees at higher elevations. This is why raccoons that have invaded human habitats often choose to stay in private, warm, cozy attics. This particular raccoon, however, seemed perfectly content to rest inside a dumpster despite all of the surrounding activity.  Even though this raccoon appears quite docile, and perhaps even cute, in the video, don’t be fooled! Raccoons are dangerous, wild animals. When cornered or threatened, they can become quite vicious, and cause extensive injuries to their razor-like claws and teeth. Also, raccoons can carry several bacterial diseases that they can pass on to humans and pets, not only through their bites but also through their urine and droppings. In New Jersey, raccoons are the primary vector of rabies.  Not all raccoons carry rabies, but you should be suspicious of any animal acting outside of its normal activity period. A raccoon that is sick with rabies will likely look it. They’ll often tremble, wander in circles, walk or climb in a clumsy manner, or remain motionless for hours in an exposed location. Also, fur may be missing or matted and pus may form a crust around the eyelids. In short, animals with rabies often look like they belong on “The Walking Dead” as victims of a zombie apocalypse! Still, no matter what the animals' appearance, the safest course of action, is to keep yourself safe and just stay clear — that advice goes doubly true if the animal is exhibiting unusual or aggressive behavior. If you find yourself with a raccoon or other wildlife infestation, keep yourself safe and leave it to the professionals. Cowleys has an entire division of professional nuisance wildlife technicians who are trained in safely and humanely removing wildlife, including raccoons, from homes and other buildings. 
Raccoon surprise found in Colts Neck dumpster.
These homeowners in Long Branch, NJ, had a bat infestation in their attic. After the wildlife technician did their exclusion, a home improvement crew was brought in to deal with the aftermath. Unfortunately, as often happens, whenever wildlife, especially bats, raccoons, or squirrels, take up residence in the attic they cause a lot of destruction from their chewing and all of their urine and droppings. After the wildlife is gone, what’s left poses a genuine health hazard for the home’s occupants.  For this home, we performed a complete attic makeover. We removed the soiled insulation, sanitized and deodorized the space, and installed 10” of our blown-in cellulose TAP insulation. This insulation has not only outstanding thermal and acoustical properties but also, unlike most insulation on the market, has a pest control component. A specialized form of borate material is added to the paper fibers. If an insect comes into contact with the borate particles, it will ingest it as part of its grooming and will kill the insect. Borates, a natural mineral found in many everyday products as well as in many of our foods, are completely safe and non-toxic for humans and any other mammals.  Borates are only deadly to insects. After we were done with our cleanup, you would have never known that this attic once had a messy bat infestation. This attic, with its fresh new insulation, looked great, smelled great, and with our complete sanitation and deodorization, was now clean and sanitary. 
Bats leave mess in Long Branch attic and we clean up and insulate with TAP
There are quite a few misconceptions about squirrels. One common misconception is that they must hibernate during the winter since we never see them during extreme cold. In fact, they are just remaining near their nest where it is warm (just like we prefer to hunker down inside our homes during the winter). Another misconception is that squirrels store their food, like acorns, right in their nest or dens to snack on all winter. In fact, squirrels bury their nuts in various locations, and they are smart enough to remember where their stored food is buried. Squirrels are smarter than you may think. They live by the motto of not putting all their “nuts” in one basket!  Finally, a big misconception is that a squirrel’s diet is limited to nuts and berries. While they certainly seek out these foods out in the wild, these rodents are more than happy to eat a variety of everyday foods that we as people also enjoy, especially any foods containing peanut oil as well as foods containing grains, like bread and crackers.   I recently caught a squirrel on video red-handed in Brielle, NJ,, going into a garbage can to fish out what appears to be a cracker. If you don’t have a secured lid on your garbage, for most wily nuisance animals, especially squirrels and raccoons, it’s mere child’s play for them to open up the lid and get the bounty of goodies often waiting for them inside.  One last misconception that I may as well clear up. Whenever a homeowner finds acorn shells in their attic, they automatically believe that squirrels must be getting inside. Of course, that is sometimes the case. However, if you look high and low and can’t find an access point large enough for a squirrel to enter the attic, the invading animals may well be much smaller rodents, that is, mice! Squirrels rarely bring their food into the attic, rather, as mentioned before, they bury it in secret states outside to access later. However, mice will simply hoard their food in one spot. Certainly, a squirrel may bring an acorn or two into an attic, but by and large, if you find a decent number of acorns inside your home, the safe bet is that you likely have a mouse infestation.
Squirrel fends for itself in Brielle, NJ
I was recently sent to a senior housing community in Maplewood, NJ, a beautiful suburb in Essex Township just west of Irvington. They were dealing with a wily raccoon that had made its way into a dry storage closet that was being used as a pantry for the facility.  As shown in the video, the raccoon’s harborage area over the walk-in cooler was quite dusty, so it was very easy to identify the raccoon’s distinctive tracks that resemble small human hands. I also found the animals' entry point into the building. The video shows how I strategically set the traps and the thought process that I used to locate them to maximize their effectiveness and trap the animal. Animal trapping is as much of an art as a science and it is important for the trapper to understand the animal’s behavior, including what they avoid and what they are attracted to.
Raccoon trapping story in Maplewood, NJ
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