Your Garbage Can: Wildlife’s Greatest Attractants

Almost every neighborhood has critter problems. There are a lot of reasons why your neighborhood may be one of them, and your house could be one of the houses wild critters never fail to visit. You may not be aware of it but one of the greatest attractants in your yard could be your garbage cans.

Yes, you read that right. Your garbage bins may just be the reason why raccoons, skunks and other nuisance wildlife are always roaming around your property. Trash bins are a great source of food for these wildlife animals, and having yours left unsecured through the night makes it an easy target for them.

Unsecured garbage bins will give you a headache. Most critters move about at night when people are asleep, and they knock down trash bins in search for food. This leaves a massive litter around your house in the mornings and you'll have no choice but to clean the yard again. Aside from that, critters may decide to make a den in your home. This brings a lot of other problems that can pose serious health risks. You don't want your house to be infested since with wildlife infestation comes property damage and exposure to certain diseases.

Now, to prevent all these from happening all you have to do is secure your trash bins. This will not eliminate all possible critter infestations in the future, but it will significantly lower the chances. After all, when wildlife animals find zero opportunities for easy food in your yard, they will move on to another location that offers easier access to their food.  Make sure the lids of your garbage bins are tightly secured-- you can even use locks or a bungee cord to make sure they don't get opened even after being toppled over. Some people place heavy bricks or stones above the lids of their bins,

Securing your trash bins is a small step you can make towards having a critter-free yard and home. If you want to really make sure your house and yard stays wildlife-free, contact Niagara wildlife control services like Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control.

Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control has more than twenty-six years in expertly removing any unwanted guests from your home. They also offer different Niagara wildlife control techniques such as exclusion to ultimately seal your house away from future infestations. Make the wise choice and opt for a safe, critter-free home. Let Skedaddle professionals make it happen. Call them today!

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What is nuisance wildlife?

Nuisance wildlife – we have encountered this term to often lately and this is because of the fact that there is a growing incidence of invasion of wildlife into human homes. Wildlife invasion does not pick any season or time of day. As soon as wildlife animals realize that your home has an abundant supply of food and can provide them with a warm sheltered environment, they will try to gain access and cohabitate with you. 

Creatures that have previously belonged to the wild and have become accustomed to human presence and human environment and start causing damage and harm to human health and properties can be considered nuisance wildlife. Let us give you some examples: 

1. Squirrels. These creatures come as the most common nuisance wildlife that many homeowners do not find amusing. Part of the rodent family, these tiny little creatures reproduce fast and can easily wreak havoc inside your home when they defecate and urinate in your attic, destroy you insulation and chew wires. Squirrels forage for human food as an alternative to their limited natural supply and thus, make their home inside human homes.
2. Raccoons. Known as the masked bandit, raccoons inhabit human homes especially when they are in search of a birthing place for their young – somewhere warm and cozy and away from the harsh elements of nature and other predators.
3. Birds. Birds like pigeons become nuisance wildlife when they start roost around human homes. Bird feces can corrode and stain your house and their droppings contain a lot of bacteria that can infect you and your children.
4. Bats. Like birds, bats may also find your attic conducive as a habitat. Bats may carry rabies and improper handling of these winged animals may result in more harm than good.

There are many ways of removing nuisance animals from your homes and this is where the experience and expertise of Skedaddle Niagara wildlife control come into play. Skedaddle’s Niagara wildlife control technicians are trained to chase or scare adults away so that they evict their dens. In cases where there is a litter, Skedaddle employs hands-on removal of babies and then place these young near the entry point so that the mother can collect and relocate them somewhere away from your home. 

Removing nuisance wildlife from your home is very troublesome especially if you do not have the proper knowledge or possess the right technique on how to get rid of them completely. It is best to contact Niagara wildlife control services like Skedaddle so that you can rest assured that your home is safe from any hazards and health risks that these animals can bring inside your home.

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Habitat Loss: Why Wildlife Raid Your Home

Urbanization has brought men great things – from paved highways that allow us to conveniently travel from one place to another to magnificently structured buildings that serve as commercial and business areas where we spend much of our leisure time.

While we enjoy the benefits of urbanization, there is another part of the ecosystem that has greatly suffered the loss of our natural resources.

To pave way for these structural developments, we have eradicated swamps, marshes, forests and many other valuable natural resources that serve as homes to many wildlife species. While we enjoy modernization, animals have experienced a great deterioration in their natural way of life and have greatly suffered from habitat loss.

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), “around half of the world's original forests have disappeared, and they are still being removed at a rate 10x higher than any possible level of regrowth. As tropical forests contain at least half the Earth's species, the clearance of some 17 million hectares each year is a dramatic loss.”

It is no wonder that we see wildlife creatures beginning to invade our urban life. They simply have no choice – no more trees to build their nests in, no more safe caves to den, no more marshes that could provide them with food supply. Their next best alternative is to raid human homes for food (the ones lying around our porch or left unattended in the grabage bins) and shelter. Animal instincts gear them for survival and this is the reason why mother raccoons would occupy your attic to protect their young or squirrels and rodents would forage your pantry for food.

This is when conflict arises. At times like this, it is best to employ humane methods that would remove these unwanted animals from your home and relocate them back to the wild where they belong. Most DIY methods won’t work as these animals have been exposed to the usual tricks that homeowners employ. It is best to call professional wildlife services like Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control to address any concerns regarding wildlife.

Skedaddle Wildlife Technicians are trained to use effective but humane methods in removing these nuisance wildlife from your home. With more than twenty-six years of experience, Skedaddle has proven methods to completely remove all wildlife nesting in your property. If you encounter conflict with unwanted animals inside your home, call Skedaddle and you can rest assured that your home will be critter-free in no time!

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Balancing nuisance wildlife and biodiversity

Biodiversity. Most people would leave this to the environmentalists and would not spare a second understanding its supposedly complex role in human society but we urge you to pause for a while because we are more affected than you think.

Do you understand why raccoons raid your attic? Or why rodents infest your house? We all know that these occurrences are no laughing matter but we should look back at the root cause of why this is happening and this is where the big term, biodiversity, plays a role.

Over the years, we have encroached wildlife’s natural habitat with the construction of new residential and commercial areas, pavement with new roads, and everything in between. This modernization has caused us great comfort but on the other side of the coin, an ugly reality is happening; it has destroyed animal homes and altered the balance of nature.

This is the reason why we have them now – the animals who wreak havoc on our property. The ones we call nuisance wildlife.

When you encounter these unwanted guests inside your home, it is important to understand why they are there. Do you have unattended food that draws them in? Is your house readily accessible to these creatures for them to conveniently build a den in? Taking proactive steps to make sure that we do not offer these attractants to these wildlife creatures is an important step to avoiding conflict.

But in cases when they are already inside your home, make sure that you employ humane methods in removing them from your property. Most, if not all, provinces in Canada enforce regulations on dealing with wildlife creatures and some of them are protected by law. This means that you cannot exterminate them unnecessarily. Most homeowners would resort to DIY methods and while this may be a more affordable option, it may entail risks and dangers especially when you do not have the expertise to execute these wildlife control methods properly. For example, we have encountered one too many situations where mother raccoons are trapped and relocated while their litter was left behind, stuck in the attic and dying of hunger. This cannot be a pretty sight and we strongly encourage that you study what methods will work best when dealing with wildlife.

It is always better to call Niagara wildlife control services like Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control as they are trained to efficiently remove ALL nuisance wildlife inside your home in the most humane way possible. Skedaddle’s Niagarawildlife control technicians will not only safeguard your home from these nuisance animals, they also preserve biodiversity in our communities.

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Why Raccoons Are Dangerous to your Pets

Raccoons are the cute masked bandits that run about especially at night. They are nocturnal animals that go far foraging for food. Raccoons have adapted easily to urbanization and you may see one roaming around your neighbourhood once in a while.

Raccoons may look harmless, but don't be deceived. These bandits are actually very dangerous, especially to your pets. They carry diseases and viruses that can harm your furry friends and one of the most popular one is infecting your pets with canine distemper.

Canine distemper is caused by a virus that affects certain animal famillies including Procyonidae where raccoons belong. First signs in raccoons are a runny nose and watery eyes that further develops into conjunctivitis. At its later stages, the raccoon can develop pneumonia and some of its symptoms may actually be mistaken for rabies.

While humans are immune to this virus, dogs are not. In fact, they are prone to be affected by the virus, and it can cause serious health problems for your pet.  Dogs with this virus tend to be lethargic while their mental and motor skills deteriorate. They will also suffer from paralysis and seizures and poor eyesight. Canine distemper can be lethal to your pet's life especially since cases of degeneration of the nervous system are also linked with the canine distemper virus.

So, if you have pets at home, you may want to make sure their lives are protected and safe from these dangers. There are a lot of preventive measures you can do yourself. First, there are vaccines for puppies that can counter this virus. Second, never let your dogs out at night, especially when you don't have lights on and the area is dark. Remember, raccoons are nocturnal creatures and they would go around roaming after dusk. Most likely, this is the time when your beloved pet may encounter an infected raccoon.

The best course of action, however, is to eliminate all the possibilities of having raccoons near your pets. First is removing them from your property the soonest time possible and professional Montreal wildlife control like Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control can offer a helping hand. After an efficient and humane method of removing these masked critters from your home, you can talk to your Skedaddle Montreal Wildlife Control Technician about exclusion. Exclusion is the method of securing your home by sealing away all possible entries. Do yourself a favour and don't let the threats of raccoons get inside your household. Let Skedaddle handle them for you. Without much effort and too much risk, you'll get a critter-free house and property that's safe for you and your beloved pet.

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What Does a Raccoon Eat in the Wild?

Raccoons may seem cute, but the way you see them may change once they infest your property. They may spread insects and diseases not only to pets, but also to people. It is important to identify what types of food these animals eat to prevent them from infesting your home.

What do raccoons eat in the wild?

Raccoons have strong and dextrous paws that are powerful enough to tear through rotten wood, open trash bins or windows. While they are in the wild, these creatures use their paws to catch fish, steal eggs or hatchlings from nests. They also pick edible fruits from trees.

These animals with a bandit-like appearance also use their paws to raid fruit and vegetable gardens, chicken coops, pet food bowls and garbage cans before they return to their habitats.

Nuts and berries are also staple food of these animals while they live in the wild. These are easy to get and gather once the colder months approach.

What do racoons eat in the city?

Raccoons that end up wandering in cities have a difficult time looking for their staple food of nuts and fruits. They still find bird eggs, rodents and squirrels but are scarcer compared to living in the wild.

Raccoons in the city will rummage dumpsters, garbage cans and other similar places to get food.

These animals will look for warmth and a place to raise their young once the winter months come along. Your home will be an enticing destination because of these two traits.

Once raccoons infest your home, they will cause a lot of damage and may spread insects and disease. They tear through rotten wood, damaging the exterior and interior of your property. They might damage the electrical wiring with their chewing and tearing. They might also destroy or severely damage insulation as they tear through walls looking for a warm place to turn into a den.

Instead of trapping and killing these animals, you have a humane and effective alternative when you call Montreal wildlife control.

How can you remove raccoons from your property?

Montreal wildlife control professionals provide expert and humane services to make sure that your home is pest-free and will not return. Experts from Montreal wildlife control companies like Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control use safe and effective methods to get raccoons out and keep them out of your property.

They assess your property and pinpoint the exact location of a raccoon’s den. Once they find the den, they lure the mothers out and make sure the animals remain unharmed throughout the process. The removers also seal potential entry points of the animals they remove from your property.

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Understanding raccoon behaviour helps with removal

You wake up one day to find the garbage bins toppled over and there is garbage everywhere. You see droppings on your deck or patio. There is attic insulation in your yard and muddy paw prints on your siding. These are tell tales signs of a raccoon infestation.

Raccoons are one of the most common species of wildlife that people come in conflict with. It is good for you to understand how these masked bandits behave for you to determine the best way to removing them from your homes.

So, why does the raccoon decide to cohabitate with you? There could be a number of reasons and today let us run you through some of them:

1. Abundant food supply that your home offers. Unsecured bins and food alternatives accessed with ease are attractants to all wildlife animals, and raccoons are no exception. In fact, they may be the first to take this opportunity as they are very adaptable to urban life. Unattended pet food lying around your porch and unprotected vegetation can also lure them to your property.
2. Warm shelter for the litter. Raccoons are famous for denning in homes and attics and they are always on the lookout for alternative homes in the areas they occupy. Your attic and your chimney can be perfect areas to raise their babies. A mother and her babies can wreak serious havoc not only to your property but may inflict harm to you as well especially when they are not handled properly.

Once a raccoon inhabits your home, your whole household is in danger. They may be aggressive towards your pets and can cause great harm to your property. With their powerful dexterous paws, they can tear shingles, soffits and even your insulation materials and these can be pretty expensive to repair and restore.

While you may think that you can get rid of these cunning creatures on your own, we urge you to think again. DIY removal is not as easy as you think and can pose serious threat to you and your pets. Without proper understanding of how raccoons behave, catching these masked bandits can mean serious encounters that could lead to diseases and infections as well as needless property damage.

Because raccoons can be unpredictable and cunning, we strongly encourage you to seek professional help from Montreal wildlife control in removing these animals. Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control is trained to remove these critters from your homes in the most effective and most humane way possible. With more than twenty years of Montreal wildlife control experience, you can rest assured that your wildlife situation will be taken care of in no time.

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