How We Solve Saint Paul Wildlife Problems
It starts with your phone call. We answer our phones 24/7, and we will carefully listen to your wildlife problem. Every case is different, so we will ask appropriate questions to help
us understand the situation better. Questions like, "do you hear the noises at night or during the daytime?" or "what type of roof do you have?" After we have a general idea of your
situation, we can provide a ballpark price range, and schedule a same-day or next-day appointment to inspect your property.
INSPECTION: Once on site, we will perform a full inspection of your home and property. This allows us to use the correct strategy and traps. If the animals are in an attic, a full building inspection is crucial, including the following:
- All ground-level areas, such as piper or A/C line entry & exit areas, A/C chase bottoms, ground-level vents, etc.
- All mid-level areas, such as dryer vents, siding gaps, first floor eaves or dormers, etc.
- We inspect the entire roof, including all plumbing stacks, ridge caps, vents, and other potential gaps or holes.
- We also inspect inside your attic, to identify animals and damage they have caused.
- If the animals are outside, we notice many subtle clues that will assist us in a successful strategy.
TRAPPING, EXCLUSION, REMOVAL: Once we understand what animal species we are dealing with, and the problem, we use the most effective means of removing the animals. We use dozens of different types of traps.
- Trapping - If trapping the animal(s) in live cage traps, trap type, set, and location are crucial to success.
- Exclusion - Oftentimes, we are able to simply set one-way doors or other exclusion devices that allow the animals inside a building to safely exit, but never get back inside.
- Removal By Hand - Sometimes we actually remove animals by hand, or with special tools like snare poles.
- The Law - In all cases, we obey state and local laws regarding wildlife, but aim to take the most humane approach.
ENTRY HOLE REPAIRS: Repairs are a crucial step in the wildlife removal process. In many cases, such as bat or rodent control, the job cannot be performed without detailed repairs, and in all cases, sealing the entry holes shut ensures that no future wildlife will ever enter your home.
- 100% of the entry holes must be found, and sealed shut, or the job is not complete.
- Our repairs are professional contractor grade, look good, and when applicable we use steel, which rodents such as rats or squirrels are unable to chew through.
- We give a written guarantee on our repairs against any future animal entry.
ATTIC DECONTAMINATION SERVICES: It may be desirable to clean your attic after we've removed the animals. They can leave behind large amounts of droppings, urine, hair, oils, food, nesting material, and so on. These remnants can attract insects like cockroaches, and the scent left behind can encourage new animals to chew their way into your house. You might experience odor problems from the waste. It's possible that mold will grow on waste areas.
- We remove or vacuum all droppings, or remove all the soiled insulation.
- We fog the attic with a special enzyme-based cleaner that destroys any organic matter and deodorizes the space.
- We repair damage, such as ductwork, electrical wires, pipes, insulation, and more.
When our beautiful Minnesota weather begins to change, our wildlife starts to feel the change. They start looking for places they can be gauranteed food and shelter. Places they are usual found are in your garbage cans, garden, and attics. We are lisenced and trained in trapping and removing St. Paul's wildlife from your property. Our team proudly services the following cities: Brooklyn Park, Woodbury, Eagan, Eden Prairie, Coon Rapids, Burnsville, Blaine, Lakeville, Minnetonka, Apple Valley, Edina, St. Louis Park, Maplewood, Shakopee, Richfield, Cottage Grove, Roseville, Inver Grove Heights, Andover, Brooklyn Center, Savage, Minneapolis, Bloomington, Plymouth, and Maple Grove. We also service the following counties: Hennepin County, Dakota County, Anoka County, Washington County, Scott County, Wright County, Carver County, Sherburne County, St. Croix County, Chisago County, and Pierce County.
Other Saint Paul animal pest control topics:
How to Keep Squirrels Away
How to Trap a Snake
Pigeon Repellents
How to Kill a Bat
To learn more about our services, visit the Saint Paul wildlife control home page.
This month's wildlife how-to article: How to get rid of pigeons
How to get rid of pigeons
There are quite a few recommended methods of getting rid of pigeons but all of these only work up to a point because all pigeons will always return home, and if they grew up where you are then that is their home. If you have a serious infestation of pigeons then it is recommended that first of all you trap a large percentage of the population, take them to your local animal control who will euthanize them, it is the only solution to stop them returning home, i.e. your property.
Once you've culled them down to an acceptable level you can start setting up exclusion things. These can start out as simple things like plastics snakes and cutouts of predatory birds like owls, falcons and hawks, all of which will deter the pigeons for some period of time but eventually the pigeons will figure out they are fake and just ignore them. The recommended way of using these types of deterrent is to rotate them, so use snakes now and when you notice the pigeons ignoring them, pick up the snakes and replace them with the owl cutouts. If you have numerous cutouts and rubber snakes then you should have enough to deter the pigeons for a few weeks and the good part is when it comes time to reuse the snakes the pigeons don't remember they are fake.
The actual best method to prevent pigeons from either roosting or nesting in and around your buildings is to use spike strips wherever they can nest and where they have been nesting. These are quite hard to install it should be done by professional, they are also quite expensive but have one huge advantage, they are 100% effective for many many years to come. You can buy do-it-yourself spike strips from most hardware stores but these are a lot less effective than the professional ones.
There is a solution out there for getting rid of pigeons that is gaining more and more traction as time passes, it is basically birth control for the birds, as pigeons breed up to six times a year and have two babies at least every time the idea of this birth control is that the eggs will not hatch. This method of controlling bird populations, not just pigeons, is now being recommended by most of the leading animal welfare groups in the United States because it is considered to be “bird friendly”.
