Category Archives: Animal Control

Diagnosing and Solving Animal in Attic Issues During the Winter Months

animal window entrance to attic of house

Even the biggest animal lovers in New Jersey don’t want stray animals and pests seeking shelter in their homes during the winter months. Not only are animals in attics and basements a nuisance, but they can cause significant home damage and cause disease.

Why Animals Seek Shelter in the Winter

Animals seek shelter wherever they can to stay warm during the cold winter months in New Jersey, and the best places are often right inside your home. Animal intruders commonly move into attics and basements to burrow, nest, hibernate, or simply to escape the harsh elements of nature.

Signs an Animal is Seeking Refuge in Your Home

One of the biggest telltale signs that an animal is taking up residence in your home is scratching and scurrying noises above you, below you, or inside your walls. In the attic, you may see animal droppings, nesting materials, or items that have been chewed through. Other area of a home that may show signs of animals are chimneys, trash cans, roofs, siding, trim boards, and the foundation of your home.

How to Tell What Kind of Animal Is in My Attic?

Feces is one of the best indicators of what type of animal is living in your attic. Every animal’s feces looks a bit different, although you may not have any desire to learn about these differences first-hand! The noises you hear in your home and the damage left behind are also hints at how to tell what kind of animal is in the attic.

These are some of the most common animals that a homeowner is likely to encounter in the home during the winter months:

How Animal Pests Get into Homes

Regardless of how new your home is or how clean you keep it, animals can still find ways to enter your home in the winter. Mice, for example, only need a hole the size of ¼ inch to gain access. Common entry points include roof joints, attic vents, dryer vents, foundation joins, wood trip, and the chimney flue.

Damage Caused by Animals in Attics and Basements

Animal pests in attics and basements can chew through wires, destroy insulation, and leave larger holes in your home that attract even more pests. They also leave droppings around that can harbor diseases, such as salmonella and hantavirus. These droppings can get into food sources in your home and cause health risks for family members and pets.

Animal in Attic Removal Cost and Solutions

The best way to determine an animal in attic removal cost is to contact Precise Termite and Pest Control for a free inspection and estimate. We are a top pest control company in Bergen County and specialize in all of the types of pests that invest homes during New Jersey winters.

Call us at 866-9771-2847 for effective, prompt, and affordable pest control to address the strange animal sounds and sightings you’ve been noticing!

Bergen County Gopher Removal Services

Bergen County Gopher Removal Services

There are many types of pests that cause damage to New Jersey homes and yards, prompting homeowners to call for professional animal control services in Bergen County. For example, gophers can be a nuisance and cause considerable damage to gardens and landscaping. Fortunately, Precise Pest Control knows the best ways of how to remove gophers from yards and provides professional gopher removal services to rid your property of these pests.

Signs of a Gopher Problem

Adult gophers can range in size from about five inches to 14 inches long and weigh about a pound. These rodents are typically brown in color, have pouches in their cheeks to carry food and live underground. This means that gophers burrow under the dirt to build nests in lawns, gardens, and crop fields.

If you have a gopher problem, you may notice the destruction of your lawn and garden from these burrowing and tunneling habits. It is common to see mounds about three inches in diameter in the yard if you have gophers living underground. Gopher mounds are often shaped like horseshoes or crescent moons, which distinguishes them from the more circular mounds of moles. Since gophers like to feed on trees, shrubs, and other plants, you may also notice your plants being eaten and damaged.

Damage Caused by Gophers

Not only are these tunnels unsightly, but they can also cause damage to sprinkler systems and water lines maintained underground. If gophers destroy these water fixtures, irrigation flow is disrupted and soil erosion can occur. Gophers can dig tunnels up to 150 feet per day and pull down root systems from the surface to feed upon. Also, gophers can damage rubber and plastic hoses and piping that are left out in the yard if they aren’t kept under control.

How to Remove Gophers from Yard

Professional pest control specialists use a variety of methods to remove gophers from yards depending on the property, preferences of the property owners, and the severity of the gopher problem. For example, baiting, trapping, and fumigation methods are used to eliminate gophers from a yard and prevent costly and unsightly yard damage. To keep gophers out, professionals can also install underground barriers around food sources, such as gardens.

Professional Gopher Removal in New Jersey

Like all rodent problems, we take gopher removal very seriously and are here to help you maintain the safety and integrity of your yard. We provide safe, effective, and humane gopher removal solutions to keep your yard beautiful and full of healthy plants. If you suspect a gopher problem in your yard, please contact Precise Pest Control at 866-971-2847 or contact us online for a free inspection.  

5 Food Storage Tips for a Pest-Free Pantry

Pests often take up residence around the yard and in the attic in basement, but they can also infiltrate your kitchen and compromise the safety of your food supply. Various types of pests, including ants, moths, rodents, and beetles, love to take up residence in the pantry and feast upon your supply of groceries. To reduce your risk of food contamination and prevent the dreaded task of throwing away everything in your cupboards, here are five food storage tips for a pest-free pantry.

1. Clean Up Spills Right Away

Spills and crumbs are magnets for pests, so make sure to clean up any messes as soon as they happen. A simple wipe with soap and water should do the trick and keep pests away from your shelves.

2. Store Food in Air-Tight Containers  

Proper storage goes a long way in keeping your pantry free of pests. Make sure to use high-quality, airtight containers to seal all types of food in your pantry, such as Tupperware containers or glass Mason jars. Not only are these types of containers great for deterring pests, but they can also help keep your pantry more organized.

3. Inspect Grocery Bags After Shopping

Oftentimes, pests enter pantries from the outside world, and grocery stores are not immune to pest problems. While you’re in the supermarket, check food packaging to ensure that it hasn’t been compromised by pests. Then when you get home, inspect your grocery bags to make sure that pests didn’t hitch a ride back to your house.

4. Check Food Expiration Dates

Pests are likely to be drawn to rotting food that is going bad in your pantry. For your own health and also to deter pests, keep close tabs on the expiration dates of foods in your pantry. Toss any items that have expired or that have developed a bad odor into the trash immediately.

5. Try Bay Leaves in the Pantry

One creative way to help keep pantry pests at bay is to place bay leaves in your pantry. For example, you can tape dried, whole bay leaves to the bottoms and sides of your shelves to deter grain moths. Another suggestion is to add a bay leaf or two into dry goods containers that contain flour, sugar, and rice. This is a tried-and-true DIY method for repelling insects like ants, flies, and cockroaches because they detest the fragrance of this herb.

Precise Pest Control doesn’t just exterminate pests; we help homeowners like you prevent them too. We are experts in the types of pests that invade pantries in Northern New Jersey, and we want to keep your food supply safe and pest-free at all times. Give us a call at 866-971-2847 or fill out our online form for a free inspection and for more helpful tips like these.

Animal Control Bergen County NJ: Things to Consider

animal control bergen county

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the winter months approach, people often find themselves searching for the best animal control in Bergen County to eliminate those wild animals that have taken shelter inside their homes. Everybody needs to live somewhere, and wild animals are no different. As the weather gets colder, it’s a good idea to examine your house carefully and make sure you don’t have any potential trouble spots that are attracting unwanted critters inside. If you find them, fix the problem before the weather turns any colder.

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Top Five Pests That Cause Home Damage

Signs of Vermin

Remove mouse from Bergen County home

Mouse In Home

Professional animal and pest removal services know there are five common pests that damage homes in the New Jersey area. To prevent further damage, homeowners should have an awareness of the signs of vermin in order to contact professional pest control services immediately.

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Opossum Removal Services in New Jersey

People don’t normally think of opossums as pests. The mammal is more known for its propensity for faking death when it feels threatened by predators. However, the opossum can often wind up inside homes near its habitat. When this happens, the opossum might take up residence in someone’s attic in search of a warm, dry home. Opossums, however, make very poor housemates. If an opossum takes up residence in your home, it is important to call a New Jersey animal control professional immediately to relocate the animal safely.

The Problem with Opossums

Opossums can cause a great deal of damage to a home, and are wild animals. With all wild animals, it is always important to contact an animal control specialist and leave relocation and removal to professionals. Opossums can carry a wide variety of pathogens and parasites including the rabies virus. This makes them dangerous for the inexperienced person to attempt to handle on their own.

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Protect Your Home from Skunks

The wildlife that we see around us in New Jersey is enjoyable to watch from a distance. They signal the change of seasons, and the beginning of spring. However, they become a problem when they decide to take up residence with us in our yard, or worse yet, in our home. Removing skunks from your property is something you might consider in order to avoid future problems with this animal.

This is true of the skunk. A normally docile creature, when a skunk perceives danger, it gives off the familiar spray to ward off predators. The spray of a skunk can reach up to 10 feet. The reason it smells so bad is because it is made of sulfur. Anyone who has ever smelled a rotten egg knows the smell of sulfur. Once a human or dwelling has been sprayed by a skunk, the penetrating odor is difficult to remove.

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With Warmer Weather Brings the Risk of Unwanted House Guests

With springtime in the air and warm days on their way, there will be no doubt that pesky rodents and other small animals will come to investigate in or around your home. Many small animals and rodents are not as active in winter, and as the day’s heat up, their metabolisms increase, prompting them to forage and invade property structures, homes and gardens. A number of problems can evolve when unwanted animals invade your premises. Precise Pest Control can help you with any of your wildlife problems and effectively remove them from your home.

The Diggers

Moles, prairie dogs, ground hogs and gophers are burrowing animals. They like nothing better than to create intricate tunnels, with open passages in your yard or under the foundation of the house. Once they establish a breeding population near your home, it’s a certainty that the ground you walk on will be perforated and very dangerous to walk on. Many of the animals eat grass and tree roots, as well as any roots that belong to vegetables from a garden. They destroy plants and trees by eating away at the root systems. They also change the landscape by diverting water run-off, causing water to be trapped in tunnels and large burrowing chambers. This soaks and weakens the ground, making walking over it treacherous. Many sprained ankles have resulted from animal burrows. They can also weaken house foundations, causing walls to lean or sink.

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