animal damage

ANIMAL DAMAGE

~ Landscape Damage ~

                     1. Ground Squirrels
                 2. Pocket Gophers
                 3. Moles
                 4. Chipmunks
                 5. Norway Rats
                 6. Voles
                 7. Beaver
                 8. Porcupine

~ GROUND SQUIRRELS ~

Ground squirrels consume agricultural products and will eat the eggs of nesting birds such as pheasants and quail. Their extensive burrows can undermine roadways, railroad rights- of-way, and buildings. The ground squirrel tunnels weaken earthen dams, ditch banks and levees and they cause soil erosion and loss of irrigation water. The burrow entrances in golf courses, cemeteries, playgrounds, horse pastures are not only unsightly, but may cause ankle and leg injuries.

Ground Squirrel Burrow Opening

Infested Orchard

~POCKET GOPHERS ~

Damage caused by pocket gophers may include destruction of underground utility cables and irrigation pipes. Crop damage is seen in alfalfa, lawns, root and bulb crops, trees, shrubs, vines and herbaceous plants.

Pocket gopher borrows can lead to soil erosion, loss of irrigation water, and the weakening of levees, dams and ditch banks. Pocket gopher mounds can interfere with the harvest of hay and grain crops.

~ RATS ~

Rats often gnaw through the insulation layers of electrical cables causing short circuits, loss of power and structural fires. They damage clothing and fabrics and damage structures in their attempts to gain entry, obtain shelter, food or nesting sites.

In addition to transmitting a variety of diseases by their feces, urine and hair, rats consume or contaminate a wide variety of agricultural commodities and stored food products. Rodent mites will leave the dead rat in search of a warm blood meal from a living host.

Exposed attic wire

Insulation gnawed from electrical wire on attic floor joist. Such damage can lead to loss of power or fires.

Ultrasound emissions are not effective as a deterrent of rats in a home or building.

This seems to have created the
opposite effect as the rats have been attracted to this device depositing their droppings on top of and all around it.

Sound deterrent???

Roof Rat about to become someone's "Uninvited Guest".

More rats enter buildings by way of structural defects than they do by openings of their own making.

The key to effective rat control in a home or building is to find these structural openings and make the repairs necessary to exclude the vertebrate pests.

One-way doors installed in foundation vents like the one shown here will allow the rats to leave the structure while the exclusion work in underway

~ Structural Damage ~

                     1. Raccoons
                     2. Skunks
                     3. Tree Squirrels
                     4. Opossums
                     5. Roof Rats
                     6. Bats

~ TREE SQUIRRELS ~

Tree squirrels damage roofing and siding materials in attempts to gain entry and obtain shelter. They gnaw telephone cables and electrical wiring. They consume a wide range of agricultural commodities.

Covered Vent

Uncovered Nest

This squirrel damage to the redwood shingles was created
while the squirrel was in the gutter.

The smooth hole in the center indicates long term use by squirrels going in and out of the attic.

Nationwide, damage caused by tree squirrels is the number one consumer complaint received by
Wildlife Control Operators.

Determination and Perseverance

Sometime animal damage continues and spreads even after the exclusion work is done.

This squirrel was determined to
re-enter this building so he made a new entrance by climbing down the screened vent and gnawing his way back in.

Photo by Mark Jones

Soffits are often damaged by tree squirrels attempting to get out of an attic space.

Opening such as these create opportunities for other small nuisance animals to enter the house and create additional structural damage.

Photo by Glen Robertson

Squirrel soffit damage

Brief stop along the gutter highway

The facia boards behind a gutter is another area commonly damaged by tree squirrels as they attempt to get into, or out of, a home.

Photo by David McDaniel

Tree squirrels create a tremendous
amount of damage to telephone cables causing frequent interruptions in service. Heavy black sheaths are sometimes installed over the cables to prevent this type of damage.

Telephone cable gnawed by squirrels

~ BATS ~

Bats can transmit rabies and act as a host for encephalitis, both of which can be fatal to humans. Bat manure may contain histoplasmosis spores which can be transmitted to humans. Bat manure and feces, in large quantities, can produce offensive odors inside structures.

Droppings On Insulation

Bat Colony On Rafter

Bats On Chimney

Pallid Bats

~ Livestock and Pet Damage ~

                        1. Coyotes
                        2. Mountain Lions
                        3. Bobcats
                        4. Bears
                        5. Feral Cats
                        6. Raccoons

~ RACCOONS ~

Raccoons damage lawns in search or grubs and worms. They will kill poultry and pond fish.
They tear off shingles, vent screens, or facia boards in attempts to gain access to an attic or wall space. Roof jacks and chimneys are frequently used by raccoons for shelter and nesting sites. The raccoon roundworm parasites found in their feces can be transmitted to humans and the feces and urine can weaken and discolor ceilings and walls. Attic insulation is often contaminated or destroyed by prolonged raccoon infestation.

Lawn Damage

Coon Nest In Chimney

Raccoon Nest Above

Raccoon Urine Stains

Roundworms In raccoons's Gut

Raccoon roundworm is being found in most captured urban raccoons or in their feces deposited in the latrines they make on the roof, in trees, or on the ground around the property.

After accidental inhalation or ingestion of the raccoon roundworm by a human, the growing larvae can become very dangerous to the liver, lungs, and heart as the larvae lengthen and move.
The condition is called larva migrans which means that the roundworms have a tendency to migrate to the eye and brain.

Raccoon Roundworms

Raccoon Droppings In Attic

The raccoon deposits its feces in
"latrines" such as this one.
When raccoons are allowed to remain in a house, or around the property, many such latrines will be present.

Raccoons are effective predators and scavengers and they will not only kill and eat the pond fish but they will also consume many aquatic plants.

Low amperage wires installed around the pond will keep them out of your water.

Goldfish Predator

~ Bird Damage ~

Reported wildlife strikes have killed more than 400 people worldwide and have destroyed more than 420 aircraft.
Between 1990 and 2001 alone, over 40,000 strikes have been reported to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The estimated cost of wildlife strikes to U.S. aircraft is nearly a half billion dollars per year.

Nesting Materials

Small birds such as sparrows or starlings can build a mound of grass and twigs like this in an attic space within a single breeding season.

Not only does this condition present a potential fire hazard, but it also provides an ideal breeding medium for various microorganisms and insects known to endanger human health.

Pigeons like these really deserve to be called "dirty birds" or "flying rats".

They are prolific producers of fecal matter and they spread it around in great quantities.

They establish their nests in the midst of their droppings where they usually deposit two eggs at a time.

Photo by Kirk LaPierre

Pigeon Pollution

Air-borne fungi from pigeon droppings can cause respiratory mycoses such as histoplasmosis and cryptococcosis.

A risk to human health exists when the air-borne spores infiltrate a building's air ducts and are then disseminated throughout the interior spaces and unknowingly inhaled by people.

Photo by Kirk LaPierre

Pigeons need only food, water or shelter to survive and multiply on a given property.

This extended family roosted inside the attic of this house and loafed outside on the roof.

A breeding pair can produce a large extended family like this one in only a few years.

SEAGULL CONTROL PROJECT
Colma, CA 4/21/08

Bird Jolt low-voltage, solar-powered, electric track

Artistic concept

The Bird Jolt system was installed onto the ridge tiles of a mortuary roof where the pesky gulls would stand, watch and wait for a bird feeder to drive up and provide the birds’ with their next meal.

The deterrent effect was seen almost immediately and has persisted without fail.

View of roof’s ridge tiles from street

Actual installation

Neither the tracks nor the solar charger can be seen from the street level and, now that the roof has been cleaned and the gulls have been sent packing, our customer could not be more pleased.

Gull Netting (4”X 4” Black)

Looking through the gull netting from the flat roof

Looking up through the overhead netting

Looking up at the netting from the street

Daddy Long Legs

The gulls used this cupola to watch for the arrival of food.
You can see the “snow capped mountain” they’ve created.

Thin, stainless steel rods rotate in the breeze and wave
menacingly, interfering with the gulls as they attempt to land.

Screech Owl

We installed this rotating animated screeching owl to frighten gulls away from this particular area in the cemetery. Four predator sounds are programmed: birds in distress, predator attack, cries and wing beats. A photo cell activates the sounds during daylight hours

Identify your pest birds:

Learn whether your pest birds are pigeons, seagulls, sparrows, starlings or crows, and how to resolve the damage they are doing.