Are Rat-Borne Diseases Life Threatening?

Did you see a rat in your house? If so, chances are there are a bunch of them already. Letting them live in your house may cause not only health problems, but also property damage. Rodents are potential carriers of life-threatening diseases and you do not want to be that person who may get an infection. With the help of an animal control expert, you can get rid of rodents successfully and humanely.

Rodent Diseases

Some rat-borne diseases are potentially life threatening, knowing what these are will help you prevent it from spreading.

Hantavirus

The Hantavirus can be spread through other ways, but rodent infestation in the house remains one of the primary risks. A person may get an infection when fresh rodent nesting materials, urine or droppings are stirred up somehow in the home.  When airborne, a person may breathe these in and become infected with the disease. It is also possible to get this disease through a rodent bite.

Symptoms of this disease develop between one and five weeks after exposure to fresh droppings, urine or saliva of an infected rat or any rodent. Hantavirus may progress to Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome which is a severe respiratory illness that is rare but can be deadly.

Plague

This disease is infamous for sweeping across Europe and claiming millions of lives during the Middle Ages. Humans may get this disease when an infected rodent flea bites them or when they handle an infected animal. The symptoms of this illness include:

·      Sudden onset of fever

·      Chills

·      Weakness

·      One or more swollen, painful and tender lymph nodes called buboes

A person may also get this fatal disease from contact with contaminated tissue or fluid. A form of this illness is septicemic plague, potentially fatal septic shock with fever, chills, abdominal pain, shock, extreme weakness and possible bleeding into the organs and skin are some of its symptoms. This may be the first sign of the plague or may develop because a person failed to get treatment immediately.

Another form is pneumonic plague, which may develop after you breathe in droplets that contain bacteria. Patients with this illness develop weakness, fever, headache, chest pain, shortness of breath and cough. The pneumonia that develops may lead to shock and respiratory failure. This type is the most severe form of plague and is the only one that may transmit from person to person.

Plague is a serious disease, but it is treatable with antibiotics. However, failure to get treatment immediately may cause death.

How Can You Remove Rodents?

Rodents are manageable pests that you can easily remove from your property, if you hire a wildlife control expert.

Animal removers have the training and gear to remove all types of rodents in a humane manner. They will look for the den and remove the animals they find; as much as possible they will not harm the animals during the process. Animal control experts will make sure no trace of the rodents is left in your property.

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What You Need to Know about Starling Migration

The prevalence of the European Starling in North America would make one think that they are native birds, but the truth is they are not. These birds were brought into the continent through Pennsylvania in 1850, Ohio in 1872,  Oregon in 1889 and New York in 1890.

The United States is not the only place these birds stay, Southern Ontario, especially in the Toronto area, is a winter destination for European starlings. Since their introduction more than a hundred years ago, their population has grown and their range expanded, making them one of the most successful birds in the continent.

Starlings are a potential pest, if they become one, you will need help from an animal control expert.

Migration Habits

The southern region of Ontario is a starling hub; according to Audobon’s Christmas Bird Count data, more than 255,000 starlings stay in the Golden Horseshoe area during winter. This number is approximately half of Canada’s total wintering number of Starlings. Approximately two-thirds of the region’s starlings migrate to warmer states in the U.S. during the coldest months. With the mass migration of these birds, people find them bothersome because of the noise they make and the droppings they leave on vehicles, buildings and sidewalks. In such cases where they invade homes, people will need wildlife control experts for effective and humane removal.

Size and Shape

These birds are the same size as blackbirds and have a chunky appearance, but with long, slender beaks and short tails. While flying, these birds’ wings are pointed and short, making them seem like four-pointed stars thus their name.

Behaviour

These birds are loud, boisterous and often travel in large groups with grackles and blackbirds. They fly through fields, with their beaks pointed down probing for food. They also sit on trees or wires making rattles, whistles and whirrs.

Habitats

You can find starlings in the countryside near human settlements, suburbs or towns. They feed on the ground in parking lots, lawns, fields and sidewalks. They roost in homes, trees and wires.

Potential Problems

Starlings may bring all sorts of insects, germs and bacteria into your property. Their urine and droppings will not only have a foul smell, but may damage paint and your home’s exterior. Their nesting materials are a potential fire hazard and they are very noisy.

Animal Removal

With help from an animal control expert, have the starlings removed effectively and humanely. Experts have the equipment and proven methods for a quick and successful removal. They use humane methods to keep the animals safe during the entire process.

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Top Reasons to Hire an Animal Remover

Are you having a difficult time removing bats, raccoons, squirrels or other pests from your property? Simply trapping and killing them will not solve your problem. Some of these animals may become aggressive and cause physical injuries when they feel that you are threatening their young. Even when you kill the mother or some of the adult creatures, you may have left behind and orphaned the younger ones.

When animals infest your home, one of your best options for wildlife control is to hire a professional animal remover. If you think hiring one is costly, it will cost more to repair damage done by raccoons, squirrels and bats or clean up after their mess all the time.

There are several reasons to hire a professional for efficient and humane animal control.

Efficient

When you hire an animal remover to get rid of pests, they start working as soon as they get to your home. Their efficiency means that there is no time wasted in catching raccoons, squirrels, rodents and other pests in your house and removing them. They have the equipment and gear to protect themselves from potentially aggressive animals during the process of removal.

Humane

Animal control is not about killing pests you find in your property. Simply killing or trapping them will not solve your infestation problem or may make it worse. With help from an animal remover, you can count on them to not only get rid of raccoons, squirrels or others, but also remove them humanely.

Removers have the training and expertise to get rid of pests humanely. Their humane techniques will use a mother’s young to draw her out of your property. Once out, they will seal possible entry points such as holes, cracks or rotting wood. This prevents animals from re-entering your home once they are out.

Thorough

Animal removers are very thorough in their approach to pest removal. They will determine the location of the den  and look for all the young, even the immobile ones. This makes certain that no raccoons, squirrels or rodents are still on your property and prevent breeding again. They make it a point to clean out and deodorize the den area so it doesn’t attract other pests again.

Preventive Methods

Professional animal removers do not just remove pests from homes, they provide you with information and teach you methods to prevent re-infestation. Their long-term approach reduces your costs and enables you to know what to do when pests try to invade your home in the future.

You will receive good value for money and first-rate service, when you hire an animal remover to get rid of animals such as raccoons, bats, squirrels and others that infest your property.

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Why Is Humane Animal Removal Important?

Nuisance wildlife brooding inside your home can be a big headache for many homeowners. From aesthetic problems to health and safety hazards, sharing your home with furry creatures is just not an option.

Before you do drastic measures in eliminating them from your property, think of the reason why they are there.

Many wildlife animals find comfort in our homes because they have found an alternative space free from the harsh elements of nature where they can raise their babies. Because humans have developed many natural reserves that used to be the habitats of these animals, they now unintentionally invade our space.

This is not to say that you just leave them peacefully inside your home as there are risks that come with living with these wildlife creatures. It is, however, important that we remove them in the safest and most humane method possible.

Here are ten reasons why:

1. Inhumane methods are banned by provincial and municipal laws. The government has taken measures in protecting wildlife rights and urges its constituents to remove nuisance wildlife from your homes through humane methods. Extermination is almost, always never an option.
2. Humane methods allow animals the best chance of survival afterwards.
3. Keep animal families (mothers and babies) together. Most of the time, your attic or your dens serve as an ideal location for mothers to raise their young. Removing them humanely from your property will allow mothers to continue raising their litter in the wild.
4. Humanely removing animals from your home will allow them to relocate themselves to one of their other den sites in the area.
5. Humane methods are customized to the property and species and take into consideration wildlife behaviour and biology.
6. Humanely removing animals would mean no poison, no chemicals, no tools that hurt or injure wildlife.
7. Humane methods allow animals to perform their role in the environment. Animals exist in the environment because of the roles they play and removing them humanely gives them a chance to survive and take their part in preserving the balance of nature.
8. It includes exclusion. The best way of protecting your home from any form of nuisance wildlife is by exclusion. This process prevents re-entry of any wildlife creature by installing physical barriers in your home.
9. Humane methods of removal such as exclusion is more effective because it stays loyal to the old tenet which says, prevention is better than cure.
10. Humane methods of removal are longer-lasting. Removing animals from your home in a humane manner and making sure that they are excluded in the future is more of a long-term solution that will help address any kind of wildlife invasion.

As you can see, there are many benefits to humanely removing wildlife animals from your home. We need to find ways to co-exist in this world we live in.

Should you want to know more about how to employ exclusion on your property, call the Wildlife Technicians of Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control. With more than twenty-seven years in the industry, Skedaddle has proven time and again that they protect the rights of homeowners and the wildlife creatures, both at the same time.

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Safely Remove Raccoons from your Property

Raccoons are little furry masked bandits that run about in the night, foraging. They are nocturnal animals, so they naturally go scavenging for food at night. Raccoons are intelligent creatures and have very manipulative paws, which make them a destructive force when inside your property.

Being infested with raccoons can be quite frustrating. Many homeowners lose their temper when they discover the damage they do everyday and resort to DIY raccoon removal. Before you do that, think twice. You should consider how to remove them without causing them harm, making things worse or violating laws that protect them.

One of the biggest problems of raccoon removal is associated with mother and offspring. This is the trickiest part of removing wild animals from your home, since you don't want to kill any of them in the process, especially their babies.

Raccoons usually give birth in early summer, and the offspring are called kits or cubs. A litter usually contains one to seven kits, and the mother is very protective of her offspring. A mother will to ensure the safety of her babies, and that is why removing raccoons becomes a hard job.

Removing a raccoon from your home is never easy but here are some steps you can do. First, locate the entry points, which are probably found in your roof or walls. You will need a ladder to check thoroughly. Before you seal them off, you will have to find where the raccoons live. If there is indeed a litter, you will have to remove them by hand.

Never remove a raccoon before locating its hideout, as you may unintentionally and inhumanely kill the babies in the litter left behind.  If there are none, seal and repair all entry points after the raccoon goes out to forage at night. Be sure there’s just one! Next, animal proof the roof, using screens or wire meshes, and better if you can cover the holes. Make sure the chimney and vents are covered with caps.

Taking care of a pest infestation is hard work and requires a lot of patience and know-how. If you have never had any experience and don't know what to do, don't risk it! You can always rely on wildlife professionals to do a good, clean and thorough job. Trained experts will surely do all the hard work for you, and you no longer have to worry about dangerous encounters. Humane wildlife control professionals like Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control can remove all raccoon, including babies, seal up your home and repair all damaged materials so you can start anew, pest-free and worry-free.

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How a Pest Infestation Affects Home Value

You may be one of those people who have been haunted by pests living in the comforts of your own home. You have tried so many ways to remove them, but they just keep on coming back! The noise they make at night affect your sleep and just thinking about the many diseases that they can bring to your kids keeps you even more wide awake at night.

This may sound too common but did you know that nuisance wildlife inside your home will not only endanger your health and give you sleepless nights but can also affect your home value?

Picture this - open wires, droppings everywhere, that musky odor you just can't seem to drive off - these and many other ghastly things can drastically affect your home value. This could be a big concern especially when you try to sell your property in the future.

But how do pests inside your house decrease the value of your property?

Pests drop fecal matter anywhere, and damage your furniture, your walls, ceilings and even baseboards. Skunks can even burrow below your foundation, making your house less stable and prone to damage. Raccoons inside your house can tear up your insulation and roofing materials. Birds leave nests that may contain dead offspring that invite mites and other parasites. Mice, rats and squirrels can chew anything, even wiring.

If home inspectors find these nuisance wildlife inside your home, your house value will greatly depreciate. Home inspectors who come to check on your house value, especially before selling it off, will note that there is a problem with your house, no matter how beautiful the aesthetics may be.

Moreover, pests are a big turn off for prospective buyers and a portion of your market will shy away from the deal. Some homes never sell until these problems are resolved.

So before you think of selling your property, you should have all those pests removed no matter what. Forget about all that DIY pest control and invest in the help of Wildlife Professionals like Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control who are experts in animal removal and exclusion before the situation gets worse.

Not only will the pests be removed in an efficient and humane manner, Skedaddle Wildlife Technicians will also seal up all entry points pests can use to avoid future infestations. They also have the equipment and tools to clean or remove contaminated materials in your home to make it clean and clear once again. Now you can breathe easy and relax as your home value depreciators are no more!

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