animal control wildlife
Different Types of Diseases Transmitted by Rodents
Rodent infestations create several problems for property owners. They damage different parts of your house when they make a den and they bring all sorts of bacteria and germs with them.
With rats and mice infesting your property, you put yourself, your guests or other people living in your house of getting all sorts of diseases. Click Here!
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome
Hantavirus is a potentially life-threatening disease that rats may transmit. The symptoms of this illness include fatigue, muscle aches, fever, headaches, vomiting, nausea and abdominal pain. An infected person may start displaying the signs between one to five weeks after exposure to the virus. Misdiagnosis may occur because of the similar symptoms with other diseases.
Leptospirosis
Rodents may transmit this bacterial disease after a person comes in contact with infected water. You might contract this ailment when you swim, wade, kayak or drink contaminated water. Individuals who work outdoors or with animals have a higher risk of getting an infection. This diseases has the following symptoms:
1. Severe myalgia
2. Abdominal pain
3. Chills and intense headaches
4. Skin rash
5. Red eye
Symptoms begin to appear within 7 to 12 days.
Rat Bite Fever
Two types of bacteria may cause rat bite fever these are spirillosis and streptobacillosis. Some of the symptoms of this disease are inflammation around an open sore, a rash that appears purple or reddish, chills, fever, vomiting and muscle aches.
These are some of the diseases that rodents may transmit, if you allow them to infest your home. Once you see any sign of a rat infestation, it is best to call an expert animal remover.
How do rats transmit disease?
You might get rat-borne diseases, if they bite you, or handle one that died and inhale spores from their droppings and urine. You might also get an infection by coming in contact with or drinking contaminated food or water. The most at risk of getting a disease are children, seniors and people with pre-existing medical conditions.
How to Get Rid of Rodents
Trying to get rid of rodents on your own is a difficult task. You might be ill equipped to handle dead rats or clean droppings and urine. You put yourself at risk of getting an infection, if you do not have the proper gear and knowledge about rodent removal. Even if you remove the rats, they might re-infest.
Animal removers have the experience and skill to get rid of rodents humanely and properly. They have the equipment to handle droppings, urine and dead animals. They will also do a thorough inspection of the possible places that other pests may invade your home. They will close these and deodorize the area to prevent the spread of bacteria, viruses, germs and disease.
Animals You Shouldn’t Keep as Pets
You have plenty of options as to what kind of animal to have as a pet. Dogs, cats and other domesticated animals are popular options. However, certain people prefer exotic animals, these may seem like a novel choice, but particular animals are not suitable to have as domestic pets.. They may cause damage to your property or transmit viruses, bacteria, germs and diseases.
Bats
Bats are not ideal pets because they have sharp teeth, may transmit rabies and bring other diseases that may infect you, your pets or anyone in your home. These animals also leave a trail of guano and urine that are not only foul smelling, but may also spread disease. They may also damage walls, wirings, and the exterior and interior of your home when they build a den to raise their young.
Skunks
Skunks may seem like cute animals to keep as pets, but these creatures release a foul odour when they feel threatened. It may take days to remove the awful smell when it sticks to your skin and clothes. These animals may also bring disease, bugs and bacteria into your property.
Raccoons
These creatures have a mask-like facial feature, powerful paws and beady eyes. These animals may seem harmless at first when they rummage through your garbage, but they do not make good pets. Raccoons become aggressive when they feel that their young are in danger. They may bite and scratch you, resulting in injuries or transmission of rabies.
Their powerful paws can also damage property by tearing through walls, roofing, insulation and wires. All these will increase your energy and repair bill. Raccoons also bring all sorts of bugs and germs that may cause diseases.
Foxes
Foxes may seem like good pets because of their physical similarities to dogs. However, these animals are dangerous, especially if you have small children at home. It is possible to tame these creatures up to a certain extent; however, they are not trustworthy.
Wolves
Keeping a wolf as a pet may seem like a good idea, but these animals have wild instincts that are impossible to tame and domesticate fully. These creatures hunt when they are hungry, play when they want to and sleep whenever they feel like it. They will not make good pets because they act on instinct purely.
These are some of the animals that you must not keep as pets because of their wild nature. You may tame them up to a certain extent; however, their instincts will prevail in the end. When you find any of these animals in or around your property, hire an expert animal removal specialist to prevent an infestation and intrusion.
Skunks: 10 interesting facts about these striped animals
Skunks are very well known for their pungent spray, but there’s more to these striped animals people don’t know about. Skunks may vary in colour, and may be spotted or striped. They belong to the family of Mephitidae, and the most common, the striped skunk, found in Canada is called Mephitis mephitis.
Skunks are just as interesting as others in animal kingdom. There are many things about them that makes even these pungent little critters special. Let us take a look at some of them.
- Skunk’s chemical spray is not their normal gas release. The spray is actually produced by two anal glands, is highly repellant, and comes in a limited amount. Skunks cannot spray all the time; they need time to replenish the substance produced by the glands.
- Skunks warn their predators by squealing or hissing, pounding their claws to the ground and uncurling their bushy tails. They even perform warning dances. This is to intimidate predators and shoo them away, conserving their spray and minimizing the risks of being preyed upon while the glands are out of substance. They can shoot a target within ten feet.
- Skunk spray contains thiols which are sulfur-based compounds. This makes the spray highly flammable. The spray can cause nausea and temporary blindness, depending on the intensity and to the level of exposure to the spray. It may also take several weeks or months for the odour to go away completely.
- They are excellent diggers but poor climbers. Their short legs are ideally for digging. They burrow dens and may take refuge under houses’ foundations, sheds, decks and porches. They are unable to climb onto a roof and get into an attic.
- Skunks are nocturnal animals. Since they forage at night, they are more vulnerable to terrestrial attacks compared to daytime hunters. This is also the reason why skunks have evolved to produce an effective anti-predator spray.
- Skunks are docile animals and are less likely to pick fights themselves. They are even willing to share their dens with other skunks, unless there is a mother skunk caring for her kits.
- Male skunks usually mate with multiple females. Their mating season starts by the month of February.
- Skunks have a very developed sense of hearing and smell, although they have poor eyesight.
- A skunk litter may be composed of 2-10 kits. The mother protects the young and will aggressively defend when threat is sensed. The babies will continue to live with their mothers until the fall season.
- Skunks can carry rabies. Since they are nocturnal, skunks seen in daytime are suspected to be carriers of rabies, especially if they act uncharacteristically. However, mother skunks also forage by day to find food for their young, so not all skunks that you see roaming around by daytime are guaranteed carriers of rabies.
Skunks are not all bad. They do what they can to survive, and people need to see that they have their own roles in the balance of our environment. They belong to the wild, and if some of them get astray and somehow wound up being in your property, find a wildlife control company that offers humane ways like Skedaddle. You will not only save your family’s life, but the lives of these creatures as well.
Why Wildlife Infestation Increases Every Day
Are you wondering why you see raccoons and squirrels lingering near your home? If so these animals might be attracted to your property because of accessible food, and it is suitable to turn into a den to raise their young. Several factors affect the possibility of wildlife infestation, knowing what these are will help you determine its cause and prepare for animal intrusion.
Loss of Natural Habitat
Rapid urbanization is leading to the loss of natural habitat of all sorts of wildlife. Animals such as raccoons, squirrels, bats, skunks and others will look for other suitable places to live and raise their young. If your property happens to be near, there is a high possibility that these creatures will infest it.
Looking for a Suitable Den
Loss of habitat caused by urbanization will push animals to look for a suitable and warm den to raise their young in, especially when the cold months begin. Once they infest your home, they will look for warm spaces such as between walls, the area just above the bedroom, the attic, basement, sheds or other empty spaces. They will bring all sorts of insects, bacteria and germs that may transmit diseases.
Mothers who feel that you are threatening their young will become aggressive and may hurt you with their biting and scratching. Wildlife will not only bring diseases, but will also damage property. They will tear or chew through rotten wood, walls, insulation, electrical wires and others.
Accessibility of Food
The possibility of wildlife infestation increases because of access to food around or in your property. Throwing food in unlocked garbage bins will attract raccoons, squirrels and other animals into your property. They will rummage through garbage cans and may enter your home, if they get a smell of something to eat inside. To prevent this from happening, dispose of food until the collector arrives or lock bins to deter animals from opening them.
How Can Animals Infest Your Home?
Animals will find ways to invade your home, whether it is slithering through tiny holes or tearing through an opening to fit in. Raccoons have strong paws that allow them to open doors and windows, and claw their way through rotten wood. Rodents can enter a home through small golf ball-sized holes. Your best defense is to cover holes, replace rotten wood and repair damaged areas that wildlife can enter.
Remove Animals
With the help of animal removers, getting rid of wildlife is faster, humane and easier. Animal removers have the expertise and experience to handle all sorts of wildlife, from raccoons to bats to rodents. They have the appropriate gear and tools to remove animals without harming them.
Some will also clean and deodorize dens to prevent attracting other animals. They do not only remove but they make sure that wildlife will not re-enter once they do the job.
Wildlife Entry Points: Exhaust Vents
If you’ve ever had problems with wildlife infestations, you know what pain it can be to remove the critters. While the occasional unwanted visitor may be an unfortunate (and annoying) part of life, it doesn’t need to be. Making a habit out of maintaining your home and seeing to it that all the potential entry points, such as exhaust vents, are properly secured, can prevent animals from seeking shelter in them.
Exhaust vents work by depressurizing your home, in turn providing adequate ventilation for your home, whether it’s in the kitchen, living room, or bathroom. Unfortunately, they’re also prime targets for nesting birds.
If you’re not sure if there are any animals making shelter in your exhaust vents, place a cloth or paper inside and check back in three days to see if it’s been moved. If it has, that means animals have been using it as shelter.Make sure that there are no more animals inside before sealing the entry point.
Not all vents are the same and for the ones that vent gas appliances, such as a high-efficiency furnace, you should not attempt to put a screen over it. This can prevent the furnace from exhausting properly and create a back up of carbon monoxide, putting the lives of everyone inside the house in danger.
When first installed, vents don’t typically have screens to keep out wildlife. Vent screens can be purchased from hardware stores and are pretty easy to install. The difficult part is in knowing which kind to get. This will depend on the kind of wildlife accessing your home. Light-gauge vent screens are for smaller animals like mice or pigeon. For raccoon or skunk problem, grills might be the better option.
When in doubt, consult the help of a professional. This will ensure that any proofing done to your home is done properly and, should there be need for removal of any animals, humanely as well.
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