Before & After Photos

This homeowner in Fair Haven, NJ had several squirrels nesting underneath the solar panels on his roof! Since he had used our pest control service before, he knew we have a nuisance wildlife division and called our office. We were sent out to handle the squirrel problem.

A short while after setting up our devices we successfully and safely retrieved all the squirrels and took them to a safer location. Now we need to prevent them or any other nuisance wildlife from harboring underneath the solar panels. To accomplish that, we disinfected the area underneath the solar panels and then installed a solar panel exclusion kit around the entire perimeter of the solar panels! The solar panel exclusion kit creates a physical barrier to prevent the squirrels from accessing the area beneath the solar panels. This will protect the equipment from any future intrusions from all nuisance wildlife as well as nuisance birds!

Little Silver, NJ homeowners found themselves with a family of raccoons (a mom and her two babies) that had taken up residence in their attic. The mom, looking for a quiet area to build a den for her kits, was able to gain entry through an opening in a boxed eave. These particular eave returns at the corner end of the roof fascia are informally referred to by builders as pork chops. “Porkchop” eaves are quite common. They are easy to build even though, aesthetically, they aren’t considered the most elegant design (hence the name). With these returns, the raking fascia is built flush with a triangular piece that covers up the end of the rafters and merges with the soffit below.  

With this opening in the soffit, the raccoon had free reign to come and go as she pleased to forage and care for her babies. To remove the raccoons, I made what wildlife techs like to call an “eviction ball,” and placed it into the soffit. The objective is to encourage the raccoon to vacate the premises and move on. ideally, we want them to enter a trap so we can relocate the animal to a safe area. My hand-made eviction ball happened to be a tennis ball. I drilled a hole into it and filled it with a raccoon eviction (repellant) fluid. This fluid, a thick, creamy paste, is a natural by-product of a male raccoon. The solution is a mixture of urine and other scents. The males are a predator to females during their birthing period,. To a mom raccoon, the smell of this fluid is a major warning sign that her young are in serious danger. A male (boar) raccoon will kill the baby kits in order to assert their genetic dominance. A sow that has lost her kits will go back in the heat and can then be re-impregnated by the male. Raccoons are one of a number of animal species that practice this type of infanticide. It’s one of the more gruesome scenes that a wildlife tech can come across, and one that I prefer to avoid. 

In addition to the eviction ball, I placed two baited traps on a lower roof. I put some tape over the roof opening to monitor raccoon activity. In this case, the mother wound up taking her kits and vacating the attic. She avoided entering the traps. After ensuring that there was no more wildlife in the attic, I framed out the end of the soffit and attached a new piece of metal flashing to cover up the hole. With the attic now sealed, this homeowner should not be visited by any more raccoons.

A new customer in Little Silver, NJ had a raccoon rip apart the soffit area of his home and invade his attic! So he contacted Little Rascals for help and we were sent out. After setting up a number of our retrieval devices, we safely retrieved the raccoon and took it to a safer, humane location.

After that, we disinfected the entire attic and then installed some metal flashing over the access point to prevent any additional raccoons, or other nuisance wildlife, from getting back into the home through this area.

The homeowner in Red Bank, NJ, contacted Cowleys because he was concerned about his crawl space access, which was wide open. Cowleys has a contractor division that specializes, among other things, in crawl space improvements. Vented crawl spaces are often a source of many homeowner issues.

These chronically humid below-grade spaces often develop mold, and their environment attracts insects, mice, and wildlife. This homeowner was motivated to fix this opening because he has young kids who play around the house, especially now that spring is here and temperatures have warmed up. He was justifiably  concerned that their curiosity may get the best of them and they could accidentally fall in the entry hole. A dangerous situation, to be sure. Candidly, upon arrival, when we first saw the opening, we were surprised that nuisance wildlife had not yet exploited this opening. There was a high likelihood, even if the homeowner was not aware of it, that overwintering mice had vacationed in the crawl space. 

We had the perfect solution for this particular type of crawl space access — The Turtl. It’s not what you think. We didn’t block the crawl space entry hole with a giant snapping turtle!  This particular “turtl” is the brand name of a solid PVC vinyl weatherproof crawl space door and entry system that eliminates the need for a crawl space door and access pit in one fell swoop. 

Crawl space entry doors made of wood or steel can weaken over time through rot or rust leading to unwanted water intrusions, mold, and insect an wildlife infestations. The Turtl crawl space entry, with its locking lid, provides a tough attractive entry system that protects your crawl space from the harsh outdoor elements and keeps out insects, wildlife, and even little kids looking for trouble! The Turl crawl space access attaches directly to the foundation so it can’t shift or move. Also, it is manufactured using a rotational molding process, as are many chemical and fuel tanks, so it is seamless and can’t split. As you can see from the before and after photos, the Turtl turned an unattractive and potentially dangerous crawl space hole into a safe, protective crawl space entry system.

After we safely and successfully removed several gray squirrels from this home in Tinton Falls, NJ, we now need to seal up their entry point to prevent any future intrusions from squirrels or any other nuisance wildlife.

There was a portion of the roof shingles that had a pretty big opening on both ends that was perfect for the squirrels to enter the home. After we disinfected the area, we installed sturdy, metal flashing on each end of the shingles, screwed them in place, and sealed them with a premium, waterproof adhesive.