The 3 Most Common Yard Mole Species in the United States

Yard moles are one of the most destructive and frustrating nuisance animals in the Tennessee region. Not only are they difficult to keep out, let alone get rid of, but they are also capable of causing a massive amount of damage to your lawn, mulch beds, and gardens.

If you are having an issue with nuisance moles in your yard, it is important to educate yourself on the best practices for critter removal and control. Start by learning about the most common yard mole species in the United States so you know which type of mole you are dealing with.

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The Common Mole (Scalopus aquaticus)

Types of Animal Moles in the United States

The most common species of moles in the United States are the Eastern moles, Star-Nosed moles, and Shrew moles. Although very similar in nature, each species has its own set of unique characteristics and attributes.

The Eastern Mole (Scalopus aquaticus)

The Eastern mole (Scalopus aquaticus), also referred to as the Common mole or North American mole, is the most common species of mole in North America. In fact, they can be found in regions spanning from Canada to Mexico, giving them the widest range of all the mole species. They appear like any standard mole you would imagine, with long snouts, hidden eyes, dark sleek fur, short bodies, and spade-shaped paws. Adults are medium-sized, generally around 6 inches in length not including their tails, and around 2.5 ounces in weight. This same mole is known as the European mole in Europe and Asia.

Star-Nosed Mole (Condylura cristata)

Generally native to the Eastern coastal regions, the Star-Nosed mole (Condylura cristata) is a unique mole species due to its protrusions that extend out of their snouts, making them look like one of those monsters on Stranger Things. These are called their Eimer’s organs, which are touch organs that have over 25,000 miniscule sensory receptors. They use this star-shaped snout to acutely detect insects and similar prey in soil. Scientific theories suggest their sensory receptors can detect seismic wave vibrations! They also have hairy tails, making them even more distinct from the Common mole.

American Shrew Mole (Neurotrichus gibbsii)

The American shrew mole (Neurotrichus gibbsii), also referred to as Gibb’s Shrew Mole and Least Shrew Mole, is special in that it is the smallest species of yard mole in world. Now, shrews and moles are two different types of animals, but this mole gets its name because it looks more like a shrew than it does a mole, namely because of its fur. Their habitat range stays consistent, from Middle California to the southern-most cities in British Columbia. They can also survive at higher elevations, which is why they can be found inhabiting the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mountain ranges.

Are you dealing with nuisance moles? Let’s put a stop to it immediately! Contact us at 615-337-9165 for TWRA licensed and insured Nashville, TN critter control for moles and more. We serve commercial clients, too!  

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How to Prevent Birds From Flying Into Your Windows

Indiana summer is prime bird season, and right now, hundreds of species are in action all around us. If you are an avid bird watcher and admirer but have encountered one too many window collision accidents throughout the years, you will be happy to learn that there are several ways to make your glass windows more bird-friendly, and therefore, bird-safe.

Continue below to get started on some bird control tips that will help your feathery friends differentiate your windows from an open passageway!

Bird Control Indianapolis Indiana 317-875-3099
Bird Control Indianapolis Indiana 317-875-3099

Bird Control Tips for Windows and Glass Doors

Most birds are not very smart, so it is common for them to mistake a glass window or door pane for an alternative flight route. Unfortunately, smacking into glass with such fervency usually ends in serious injury or death. If you have already had one or two bird crashes of this nature, it could be that your home has larger or higher number of transparent windows and doors. It could also have something to do with the lighting around your house at certain times of the day. Regardless of the reason, there are some methods you can implement to help protect the local birds and your windows from harm.

Dry Soap Bar

Let’s start with the cheapest and more than often, most accessible. If you have a dry bar of soap, you have an instant solution to your bird window problem. Simply draw some patterns or pictures on the windowpane to reduce its transparency. Better yet, enlist the kiddos to have some fun with this!

Window Decals

If you are looking for a more sophisticated way to warn approaching birds about your transparent windows and doors, aim for the window decals at your local home store or online retailer. Window decals come in all sorts of different packages and varieties, which allows you to customize your own theme. If you want to be ironic, choose some bird decals! Or go with some white floral decals for a softer, more subtle aesthetic.

Bird Repellent Discs

Reflective bird repellent discs are often mistaken for wind chimes because they look almost the same, and even produce an elegant melody as the breeze blows by. Not only do bird repellent discs give approaching birds a visual boundary of your home by reflecting sunlight as they rotate, but they also look great. You can purchase reflective bird discs at any local home improvement store or online retailer of your choice.

Bird Tape

Bird tape works in the same way as bird repellent discs. Similar in appearance to party streamers, reflective bird tape thwarts birds from coming too close by giving them an obvious and visual boundary. These can be hung around porches, or from awnings, roofs, windows, and doors.

Bird Netting

For particularly problematic windows and doors, you may want to consider bird netting. Just be sure to follow relations so the birds are not susceptible to being caught in the netting. The netting should be installed in a way so that birds bounce off of the boundary before hitting your window or door.

Are you dealing with nuisance productivity around your house and have run out of ways to control them all? Contact Budget Animal Removal at 317-875-3099 for professional bird removal and control in Indianapolis, Indiana and its surrounding counties. We serve residential and commercial clients.

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Why You Need to Squirrel-Proof Your Home Before Late Summer

Squirrels are cute little critters, but they are also mischievous house guests. Right now, early-to-mid summer, is the best time of year to start animal-proofing your house against squirrel intrusions. Squirrels love attics and wall voids, and their excellent climbing abilities allow them to access high locations with ease. If your home is not sealed up, it is not well-protected, and therefore, vulnerable to squirrel infestation and damage.

Continue below to learn how to prevent squirrels in the attic, including why it is a good idea to squirrel-proof before late summer or early fall.

Squirrel Control Removal Nashville Tennessee 317-875-3099
Squirrel Control Removal Nashville Tennessee 317-875-3099

Damages Caused By Squirrels in the Attic

Not only can squirrels cause excessive damage to your roofing system, windows, shudders, gutters, and more, but they are well-known for causing extreme damage once they infest the inside, particularly the attic space. In addition to their gnarly chewing habits, which can destroy electrical wiring, PVC, and anything made of wood, they also saturate their surroundings with urine, droppings, and food debris. This mess is unsanitary and can cause lingering, noxious odors in the home. These damages only worsen if left unchecked, and ultimately add up to costly and invasive renovations. Let’s not forget squirrels are known carriers of several infectious diseases and parasites!

Mid-Summer Squirrel Proofing Tips

Squirrels begin building their winter nests in late summer and early fall. But before they build their nests, they must find a safe and secure place for the project. Your attic is prime real estate for squirrels for all the reasons mentioned earlier: their excellent climbing skills, easy roof access, and vulnerable openings on your house’s exterior like gaps, loose shingles, crumbling mortar, torn screens, damaged attic vents, and wood rot.

In order to make your home stand strong against nuisance squirrel infestations, you must ensure that your property is animal-proofed against small to mid-size critters. While you’re at it, you can keep chipmunks, birds, and more out of your attic! Fortunately, there many effective ways to keep squirrels from becoming an unwanted house guest this year.

Home Exterior Sealing

It is important to hire a licensed and insured critter control professional to inspect your home for target vulnerabilities. They know how to identify susceptible areas that might allow squirrels or other animals to enter. They also retain the proper training, equipment, and resources to seal up openings and exposed spots on your home’s exterior, plus implement additional means of wildlife control.

Environmental Modification

The first step to stopping those furry little critters is modifying your surroundings. This means doing whatever you can to thwart squirrel activity and access. Put away accessible pet food dishes and water bowls, get rid of bird baths and houses, and eliminate low-hanging branches near roofs, patios, gardens, sheds, garages, and more (trim at least 6 feet away). You will also do well to seal up your garbage cans and only take them outside the morning of collection day.

Squirrel Repellent

At your local home and garden store or retailer, you can find non-toxic animal repellents specially-formulated to divert squirrel activity. These products come in granular, spray, and powdered form. The option you choose will depend on a few factors, such as the particular area you wish to treat and your personal preference. Squirrel repellents are inexpensive, but if you want an economical alternative, try making your own homemade animal repellent at home.

Are you searching for licensed wildlife control experts to get rid of nuisance squirrels? Contact Budget Animal Removal at 615-337-9165 for TWRA licensed and insured squirrel removal and control in Nashville, Tennessee. We serve commercial and residential clients.

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Top Nuisance Animals to Watch Out For in the Summer

The Hoosier state is home to all sorts of wildlife. From water dwellers and land critters to flight takers, earthy burrowers, hide and seekers, and much more, Indiana is a place where the wildlife roam freely. Although nature is one of our most valuable and beloved assets, some animals are known to cross the line into nuisance territory. Common nuisance animals include bats, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, chipmunks, opossums, groundhogs, muskrats, coyotes, rabbits, and even birds. But in the summer, three of these known nuisance species are particularly bothersome to residential and commercial properties.

Continue reading to learn the top nuisance animals to watch out for in the summer, plus what you can do to protect your property against nuisance while activity and tampering.

Get Rid of Snakes Indianapolis Indiana 317-875-3099
The Common Gartersnake — Get Rid of Snakes Indianapolis Indiana 317-875-3099

Top 3 Summertime Nuisance Animals in Indiana

Raccoons

This should not surprise you if you know anything about raccoons. Not only are raccoons heavily populated in Indiana, but they are a highly intelligent species. In addition to being incredibly smart and clever, raccoons have human-like paws with long sharp claws capable of gripping, grasping, and manipulating objects around them. As a result, raccoons are very successful burglars.

Not only can they easily access vulnerable properties, commonly, but they can also do a lot of damage. No matter where they go. Raccoons are commonly found in addicts, crawlspaces, and beneath porches and patios. However, they also freely roam the wooded areas near sources of water. If you live near a pond, lake, river, or creek, you likely have a raccoon population close by.

Raccoons are more of a problem in the summer because the high heat waves tend to rot and decay garbage at a faster rate, causing a more intense odor. Not only does the pungency of food and garbage attract raccoons to properties, but the heat also motivates them to find cooler, shadier shelters, like attics and crawl spaces.

Snakes

There are many species of non-venomous snakes in Indiana. Some of the more common species that you might find slithering through your lawn or gardens include Gartersnakes, Corn snakes, Ribbonsnakes, Brownsnakes, Red-Bellied snakes, and Kirtland’s snake. Although nonvenomous, they are known to be quite the nuisance in the summertime. Venomous snake species in Indiana include the Copperheads, Cottonmouths, Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes, and Timber Rattlesnakes.

Snakes are more of a problem in the summertime because they are not fond of the intense summer climate. As cold-blooded animals, snakes look for cool, shady areas to inhabit. If your lawn has tall grass, log piles, compost piles, or even trash, it will attract nuisance snakes in the summer. By mitigating these areas with snake fencing and lid locks, you can avoid a nuisance snake problem on your property.

Groundhogs

Although it might come as a surprise, groundhogs tend to increase their nuisance behavior in the summertime. First, groundhogs hibernate in the winter. So, when summertime comes around, they are ready to get moving and take full advantage of the ambient and fruitful weather conditions. that the season has to offer. One of their biggest priorities in the summertime is to find a mate, and they dig deep burrows to prepare for their lifelong partnership. Yes, groundhogs do mate for life. Their journey may cross paths with your property, especially if you live near a large body of water like a lake, river, pond, or stream.

Have you already experienced nuisance animal activity in your property this summer? Contact Budget Animal Removal at 317-875-3099 for fast and affordable animal removal and control services to get rid of raccoons, groundhogs, snakes, and more We serve all of Indianapolis, Indiana and its surrounding counties. Request a free estimate or advice, today!

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What to Do if You Find a Baby Animal in Your Yard

Indiana is home to hundreds of species of wildlife, including squirrels, chipmunks, ducks, rabbits, birds, skunks, opossums, raccoons, bats, and more. Although many of these species are generally regarded as nuisance wildlife in adulthood, as babies they are irresistibly cute. For this reason, it is typically very hard for someone to resist the urge to help or even adopt an abandoned baby animal.

If you have just discovered an injured or abandoned baby animal in your yard, continue reading to learn exactly what you need to do to keep both you and the animals safe.

Chipmunk Removal Indianapolis Indiana 317-875-3099
Chipmunk Removal Indianapolis Indiana 317-875-3099

Not All Lone Baby Animals are Abandoned

It is common for someone to find a baby animal and assume that it has been abandoned alone baby animal is not abandoned. The mother is simply out foraging for food or shelter. This is common among rabbits, birds, hares, deer, and foxes. If you discover one of these babies in your yard, they are probably not abandoned but rather just waiting for their mother to come back for them.

In this case, you should simply leave the baby animal alone and let nature take its course. However, if the baby is in the way of danger, like if you need to mow the lawn, you can use safe and humane methods to gently move the baby animal to a safer location that is still nearby the spot. It was left. You don’t want the mother to come back and not be able to find the baby.

Squirrels

If you find a baby squirrel in your yard, it has likely fallen out of its nest in the above tree. In this case, it is probably injured and needs medical attention. It is encouraged to contact an exotic wildlife rescue company or the local game warden to notify them of an injured animal on your property. They have the proper resources and permits to safely rehabilitate and re-acclimate the animal back into the wild.

How to Protect a Baby Animal on your Property

If you find any other species of animal on your property, here’s what you need to do:

Observe the baby animal for 24 to 36 hours. In this time, the mother may come back to retrieve its young. Do not touch the animal. As cute as they are, they can carry transmissible diseases and parasites that can be harmful to people and pets.

If the animal is still there, you may choose to move it to a safer location out of the any traffic that takes place on your property.

Put on some protective gloves, and if possible, a face mask or covering, and grab a shoe box.

Slowly approach gently set the shoe box down by its side. Tilt the box so that the opening is facing horizontal to the baby animal. Use the lid of the shoe box to gently scoot or encourage the baby to get inside the shoe box.

Move the baby animal to a safer location on or around your property where it can live out the remainder of its life as it should. You may also choose to contact the local animal rescue in your county to have the baby relocated to a proper habitat.

The Rule on Adopting a Baby Animal

You should never keep a stray or deserted baby animal as a pet. Not only is it inhumane, but wild animals carry dangerous infectious diseases, like Rabies. They also carry lice, mites, ticks, fleas, and several other types of parasites. Furthermore, it could be illegal without a proper permit or qualification in your state or county.

Are you experiencing problems with nuisance wildlife in Indiana? Contact Budget Animal Removal at 317-875-3099 for professional critter control in Indianapolis and its surrounding counties. We serve residential and commercial customers, plus offer insurance claim work for animal damage restoration.

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How to Stop Raccoons From Digging Up Your Potted Plants

Raccoons are hungrier than your typical omnivore. As notorious opportunistic eaters, coons will eat almost anything, and will go to great lengths to get what they want. Dumpsters, garbage cans, pet dishes, gardens, fruit trees, and even garage refrigerators are common meal tickets for raccoons. Being that it is nearly summer, raccoons are relishing in all the new flora available to them. As a result, many homeowners are finding their precious, carefully-curated garden containers and potted plants pillaged night after night. If this is happening to your plants, you can likely blame local raccoons.

Continue reading to learn how to stop raccoons from digging up your potted plants, plus some additional animal-proofing tips that will benefit you year-round.

Get Rid of Raccoons Indianapolis Indiana 317-875-3099
Get Rid of Raccoons Indianapolis Indiana 317-875-3099

Raccoons are an Omnivorous Species

The challenge with nuisance raccoon activity is the fact that it generally takes place at night, so all you see is the mess they leave behind in the morning. Raccoons are omnivorous, meaning they eat both meat and plant matter, including insects, fish, small lizards, small birds, eggs, fruit, vegetables, legumes, seeds, nuts, fungi, and more.

If you are growing something that is deemed tasty to a raccoon, which is basically anything edible aside from hot peppers—even if you have just planted fresh seeds, you can expect hungry raccoons to sniff them out. And they will not hesitate to yank plants and bulbs right out of the pot! You see, raccoons have an advantage with this because they are equipped with human-like paws that are very dexterous. They can dig, grip, maneuver, and pull plants easier than we can!

Inedible Plants are Still Attractive to Raccoons

Even if you are growing something that is not meant to be consumed, or a plant that raccoons hate, like hot peppers, menthol, and eucalyptus, they might still dig for it. This is because the enriched soil your flowers are planted in contains juicy grubs that raccoons eat like popcorn. They can smell these grubs and will track them down by pulling out your flowers and digging through the soil. Fortunately, there are ways to prevent raccoons from destroying all your potted masterpieces.

How to Raccoon-Proof Your Yard

To prevent raccoons from pillaging your potted plants, plus avoid attracting more nuisance wildlife to your property, you need to secure some boundaries. Start by moving all of your potted plants indoors at night, then returning them to their designated space in the morning. Raccoons are intelligent, and they will pick up on the fact that their favorite snacks are no longer available on your property.

You can also think about installing a chicken wire or a temporary fence to keep your pots and plants behind at night. Other ways to prevent raccoons from entering your property is to remove all water and food sources, including bird baths, fountains, pet food, squirrel feeders, and garbage cans. Be sure to also caulk all crevices and gaps in roof shingles, windows, under patios, and decks.

Are you looking for a more professional and advanced approach to long-term raccoon control? Contact Budget Animal Removal at 317-875-3099 to get rid of raccoons in Indianapolis, Indiana at a price you can afford. We serve residential and commercial clients.

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How to Tell a Stray Dog From a Coyote

Coyotes are very common throughout Central Indiana, in both rural and urban areas. Keep this in mind the next time you bend down to pet that wandering canine in your community. In cases like this, always be sure that the canine is not, in fact, a coyote. Although coyotes have a natural fear of humans, they are still primitive and predatory, which means they are capable of attacking you. Not only can a coyote attack serious injure or maim a person or pet, but it can also transmit a plethora of infectious diseases, such as Rabies.

If you live in an area where coyote sightings are common, it is wise to learn exactly what one looks like so that you can always tell the difference. Continue reading to learn a basic physical description of a coyote, and what you can do if they are a nuisance animal around your property.

Coyote Control Indianapolis Indiana 317-875-3099
Coyote Control Indianapolis Indiana 317-875-3099

Facts About Coyotes

As members of the Canidae family, both dogs and coyotes can easily resemble one another. Fortunately, the common coyote spotted here in Indiana have distinct features and behaviors that will allow you to easily tell the difference between them and domesticated dogs.

At first look, coyotes are covered in dense, thick fur, very similar to a dog’s coat, covering the neck and belly in full. The color of the fur coat is usually grayish-brown, but can vary between a light and dark gray, or warmer hues of brown.

In terms of size, coyotes tend to be slender and tall. Their fur makes them look much stockier than they really are. When fully grown, males can reach an average of 18 to 44 pounds, while females can grow to an average of 15 to 40 pounds.

Their faces are predator in style, with ears that point straight up and snouts that are slender and long. When they run or walk briskly, they carry their tails at the same level of their backs or lower. Dogs, and even gray wolves, carry their tails horizontally or vertically when running.

Coyotes are not necessarily nocturnal, but they are most active during sunset and sunrise, when people are usually not around. They are most populated in areas where there is an abundant source of food, water, and safe shelter. In countryside areas, they usually maintain an 8 to 12 square mile range. In urban areas they stay with a 2 to 5 mile range on average.

Breeding season in in late January, making March a time for newborn pups. Females generally give birth to more than one pup, usually between 4 and 7. They all stay in a den together until Fall, when pups emerge and care for themselves.

When coyotes are not scavenging on garbage and compost piles, they keep a carnivorous diet in nature. Their diet commonly consists of mice, voles, shrews, rabbits, hares, and squirrels. It may also include small amphibians, fish, insects, fruits, and seeds.

How to Get Rid of Coyotes in Indiana

If your property has a moderate to high level of coyote activity, it may be in your best interest to implement some safe and humane measures to protect your property and your loved ones, including your pets. Contact a local and trusted Indianapolis critter control company for prompt and professional coyote removal and control.

Do you have coyotes disturbing your property? Are they getting too close for comfort? Contact Budget Animal Removal at 317-875-3099 for professional coyote control in Indianapolis, Indiana. We provide residential and commercial services at the most competitive prices around.

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What You Need to Do to Get Rid of Muskrats on Your Property

You live on a stream, lake, river, pond, or creek; don’t you? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have a nuisance muskrat problem on your hands. Muskrats are semi-aquatic rodents that maintain habitats near bodies of water, posing all sorts of problems for property owners. Muskrats can cause a lot of aesthetic and structural damages to lawns, foundations, hardscapes, landscaping, pools, decking, bodies of water, and more.

If you are currently dealing with nuisance muskrats, continue reading to learn what you need to do to get rid of muskrats on your property. Landscaping,

Muskrat Removal Nashville Tennessee 317-875-3099
Muskrat Removal Nashville Tennessee 317-875-3099

Critter Control Information for Muskrats

Why do you muskrats on your property? It is because your property has something to offer them. All nuisance wild for after two things: food and shelter. If your property is providing one or both of these amenities, then there is your answer. But this is good news! By knowing why muskrats are in your property, you can better divert their activity away from it. Just keep in mind that it is very important to use safe and humane critter control strategies to get rid of muskrats. Under no circumstances should you ever attempt to harm or kill any species of wildlife.

Tips for Getting Rid of Muskrats

Muskrat trapping and environmental modifications are the top two most effective strategies for muskrat removal and control. Although you cannot remove the water source from your property nor the terrestrial crops that grow around it, you can implement certain strategies that will keep muskrats away, nonetheless.

Environmental modification is your go-to method of muskrat critter control. But first, you need to extract the existing muskrats from your property and have them relocated to a faraway habitat that will be safe for them to carry out the remainder of their lives. A licensed and insured wildlife removal and control company is the only source that can provide the service.

Never attempt to trap and relocate a muskrat on your own. There may be laws in your jurisdiction that protect wildlife from public intervention. If you are caught, you could face serious fines in penalties. Now comes changing the property. This is exactly what environmental modification involves. You can set up a barricade for your water source by installing fencing or animal repellent around the perimeter.

Muskrat Animal Repellent Recipe You Can Make Yourself

½ Cup Capsaicin Oil
□ ½ Cup Putrescent Egg
□ 10-20 Drops Menthol Essential Oil
□ 10-20 Drops Castor Oil

▶ Mix into a plastic spray bottle filled with clean water. Spray the repellent around the perimeter of known muskrat territory. Keep pets and children away from treated areas.

Would you be interested in professional assistance with your muskrat problem? Contact Budget Animal Removal at 615-337-9165 for TWRA licensed and insured Nashville, Tennessee animal removal for muskrats and more. We serve commercial clients, too!

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3 Steps to Safe and Humane Groundhog Control

Whether you call them groundhogs or woodchucks, these thrifty critters are commonly a nuisance to landowners. If you are dealing with a nuisance groundhog problem, it is necessary to find a solution that is both effective and non-lethal. Continue below to learn the 3 step process to safe and humane groundhog removal and control.

Groundhog Removal Indianapolis Indiana 317-875-3099
Groundhog Removal Indianapolis Indiana 317-875-3099

Groundhog Removal and Control Tips

The process of removing groundhogs from a property and mitigating any future activity can include a combination of methodologies and techniques. Overall, safe and humane groundhog removal and control can be accomplished in 3 key steps: identification, modification, and exclusion.

Identifying a Groundhog Problem

Your first step to getting rid of a groundhog problem is to identify where their activity is localized. Do some observation over the course of a few days or weeks to pinpoint where they are going, what they are after, and what kinds of damage they are leaving in their wake. By knowing where the groundhogs are hanging out, you can better put an end to their nuisance activity.

Groundhogs are after three things: food, water, and shelter. Gardens and crops are most at risk. If your gardens or crops look pillaged, you can safely assume the groundhogs are to blame. Other signs of groundhog tampering include nibbled grass and clovers, chewed tree bark, chewed up electrical wiring, and lawn burrowing. Groundhogs like to disguise their burrow entrances with leaves and sticks, so piles of such materials are a key indicator of groundhog activity.

Modifying the Environment

Now that you are sure you have a groundhog presence on or around your property, you can move forward by removing all the things that attract them to your yard. As mentioned, groundhogs want food, water, and shelter. They eat grasses and clovers, but especially love peas, melon, beans, and alfalfa sprouts. They may also eat stored pet food and livestock feed. Be sure these items are secured with fencing, barriers, or lids.

Groundhogs also like to chew on trees and woody plants to sharpen their teeth. Consider implementing barrier systems around vulnerable trees to prevent groundhog chewing. When it comes to their burrows, they love to make their homes in areas of the lawn that are covered with camouflage like stick piles, leaf piles, underbrush, and tall grasses. Eliminate these shelter covers to stop groundhogs from burrowing in your lawn.

Excluding Groundhogs

If you have groundhogs present on your property, you may need to have them physically extracted with the help of a licensed and qualified professional. Contact a local Indianapolis critter control company for humane groundhog removal and control service. They use live traps to catch groundhogs, so the methods are non-lethal and safe.

If you have groundhogs around your property, your final step is to choose an effective groundhog control plan to prevent future intrusions and tampering. Animal repellents work well because they provide a barrier around the perimeter of a property that works like an invisible fence. Groundhog repellents come in granular or liquid form, but you can also make your own at home. Use ingredients like spicy peppers, capsaicin, and putrescent egg for the most effective repellent solution.

Are groundhogs disturbing your Indiana property? Contact Budget Animal Removal at 317-875-3099 for fast and affordable animal removal and control services to get rid of groundhogs in Indianapolis, Indiana and its surrounding counties. Request a free estimate or advice, today!

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The Importance of Humane Bat Removal and Control

Bats are truly an incredible species. This fact is the umbrella reason why safe and humane bat removal services are so vital. Here in the United States, more than 40 species of bat exist. Of those 40 species, many are threatened or endangered. If you are dealing with a nuisance bat population or infestation in Indiana, it is critical that you choose the safest and most humane strategies to abate the problem.

Continue below to learn some facts about bats that will explain why they are so important, plus what you can do to remedy your nuisance bat problem without causing them or the environment any harm.

Get Rid of Bats Indianapolis Indiana 317-875-3099
Get Rid of Bats Indianapolis Indiana 317-875-3099

Bats are Beneficial to the Environment and Economy

Bats have a bad reputation, thanks mostly to movies, tall-tales, and television. Sure, they look scary, having a face only a mother (or bat enthusiast!) loves. But the truth is, bats are among the most fascinating and environmentally-impactful species on Earth. Did you know that bats are mammals? That means they carry and birth their young, called pups, and they raise them on mothers’ milk.

Even more fascinating and remarkable, bats are the ONLY mammal capable of flying. Other mammals, like Flying squirrels and similar critters, do not take “true flight”, meaning they do not fly like a bird. Instead, they soar or drift on wind currents. So, yes; bats are the only mammal on the planet that can fly. How fascinating!

How do bats help the environment and economy? Do you love chocolate? How about margaritas? Fruit? Crops of any kind? Well, you can thank bats for helping to pollinate those crops and more. In fact, more than 549 known plant species are either pollinated or dispersed by bats! Megabats, like Old World Fruit bats, also known as Flying Foxes, are top-pollinators of cacao, agave, mangoes, guava, bananas, and so much more.

Helpful Microbats

In the regions of the country that are not tropical or sub-tropical, you will find Microbats, or Microchiroptera. Opposite of Fruit bats, which eat nectar, sap, and syrups of flowers and crops, microbats are insectivores, and amazing ones at that. A single bat the size of your pinky finger can consume over 1,000 flying gnats, mosquitos, flies, moths, and more, in just a single night. Since they are not solitary, colonies usually present in numbers from a few dozen to a few hundred thousand. With all this built-in pest control, farmers have more successful harvests using less pesticides and chemicals, which is great for the environment and translates into economy stimulation.

In addition to crop protection, pollination, and economy boosting, bats are also helping with modern medicine, such as the creation of vaccines. They are also helping scientists innovate new technologies based on bat sonar, known as echolocation.

Getting Rid of Bats Safely

Just because bats are important for our environment and local economies does not mean we want them overtaking our properties, especially our attics and wall voids, where bat infestations tend to happen the most. Bats should never be harmed, trapped, or killed under any circumstances. In fact, you could be breaking state and federal laws if you do. For instance, the Indiana Bat is federally-endangered, and if you are caught tampering or killing one, you will face very serious criminal and civil penalties.

There are safe and humane ways to abate nuisance bat activity on your property, as well as extract bats from an interior infestation, support local populations, and more. The best place to start is with professional Indianapolis bat removal and control services. Licensed and insured wildlife protection and abatement companies have the required permits, resources, training, and technologies to get rid of bats and prevent them from becoming a threat to your property in the future.

Bat control includes mitigation techniques like sealing openings and gaps in the exterior of edifices, using mesh wire screening and bat valves, ultrasonic technologies, and more. To support your local bat populations while also diverting their attention away from the structures on your property, consider installing bat houses.

Are bats becoming a nuisance around your residential or commercial property in Indiana? Contact Budget Animal Removal at 317-875-3099 for DNR licensed and insured bat removal and control in Indianapolis and its surrounding counties. Request a free estimate or advice, today!

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