The Critter Hunter

In another situation regarding squirrels, the customer is having problems with squirrels getting into a dormer of the roof for at least 4 years. Her husband had been completely ignoring what was going.  She wasn’t about to stand for it anymore. They have 3 small children at home and she was no longer willing to be patient.

She called All That’s Wildlife, Inc. to trap these animals.  When I got to the house I inspected the site. I found the squirrels were using their attic as a breeding site for some time. I set my traps and caught the female the same day.

The next day I got a call that the trap doors were closed. When I arrived at the house and got up on the ladder and looked in the traps I was completely blown away by the size of the baby squirrels. I could not believe they could actually trip my traps. They were so small that I opened the trap and reached in and pulled them out with no effort. I took both of the baby squirrels and put them inside one of my leather gloves where they both fit neatly inside. When I brought them home that evening my wife instantly fell in love with them. They readily ate and quickly fell asleep. They are doing very well and will be reunited with the mother.  See attached pictures of the digs my wife made up for them.

Read more about Squirrels at All That’s Wildlife, Inc.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter

I don’t know if it was the harsh winter that we had, but animal litters have been a little later this season. As of last week I am now just starting to get more squirrels calls. For a while they have been nonexistent.

The calls from customers start out, “we are hearing scurrying sounds in the attic”. Once I am at the customers house I do a thorough assessment. I will then set a couple of traps in strategically placed areas. Within a few hours I will usually have the female, that’s the easy part. They are always slaves to their stomachs. They absolutely cannot resist a grocery store by their front door. The babies on the other hand can be a little more difficult. Right now I am noticing the different sizes of the young. Some have been ranging from 4 inches up to 10 inches. Depending on the size of the litter it can take from 2-5 days to capture the babies because they are very cautious. They haven’t experienced the outside world as of this time; they depend on the mother for food.

Most recently I trapped a solid black gray squirrel that was living in a wall of a church. I set two traps very close to the hole which happened to be in a real bizarre place and involved a little ingenuity when it came to setting them up. The female mother squirrel was caught within about 2 hours. She was released on my property and for the next 4 days one squirrel per day came out and ventured into the trap where they were caught. Since they were separated from the mother and still too young to fend for themselves, they are currently being fed by hand and doing very well.  When they are old enough they will be released on my property where the mother was released.

Read more about Squirrels at All That’s Wildlife, Inc.

Stay tuned for more stories on Baby Squirrels.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter

Cute But Dangerous1

Cute But Dangerous2

It is that time of the year again where we start to get frequent calls regarding female red fox (vixen) with litters of kits (baby fox) appearing from underneath sheds, decks, and large concrete stoops. It really amazes me sometimes how people don’t even realize that a fox is living on their property until the kits start to emerge from the den.  They are roughly 4-5 weeks of age at this time. People start complaining about dead animal parts lying around in their lawn and on their decks. The vixen is starting to introduce solid foods into the kits diet. The little grayish fluffy balls of fur start to wander out of the den to check out the world outside for the first time.  At first they stay very close to the entrance of the den but soon will start to wander around and check out their surroundings, still not straying too far away. They will wait for the mother to come back and bring them birds, rabbits, chipmunks, mice and other small creatures. She is teaching them what they are going to eat when they are able to hunt for themselves. They will take the best part of the animal at first and leave the less desirable morsels strewn around the yard for later consumption. Other pieces become just toys. This will create an untidy little scene for those with weak stomachs.  What you are seeing is raw nature at its finest.  This is a photographers or wildlife observers dream.  People will ask me “can you or will you remove these animals’. They have concerns about their childs safety and safety of their pets, as well as concern for their neighbors well being.  My answer to them is of course but I also inform them this can get a little expensive and time consuming.  I also let them know that it isn’t a 100% guarantee that we can get the mom and kits. She hunts day and night to bring back enough food for all her kits.  This can make it very difficult to capture her. She will take short breaks, sometimes up to an hour to spend nursing and grooming of her babies.

If we trap the whole family, which could be very difficult and time consuming, they cannot be relocated successfully.  As strong as her motherly instincts are if relocated to a different area her own survival would become the most important thing to her. She will abandon her kits in which they will perish by starvation or predation.   In my own personal opinion do not try to approach them at all as cute as they are they are still a wild animal and pose a threat. If they are not creating a large problem they will usually be gone within another 4 weeks of foreseeing them. When they are strong enough to accompany their mother on hunting trips which is usually about 8-10 weeks of age they will leave the den. They may come back a few times but will eventually disappear and abandon the den site and will wander their territory.  If a customer wants them removed we can certainly provide them with that service. They can call an  All That’s Wildlife, Inc. professional for an assessment.  If you choose to let them be—only enjoy them from a distance.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter

Once we have determined what is going on at your residence or business, we will give you an estimate over the phone and explain to you exactly what we will be doing. We come out and do a thorough inspection, determine the problem and explain the course of action we will take to remedy this problem. We also explain to you your responsibilities as the customer so we can provide you the quickest most cost effective solutions to your situation. We strategically place the traps where they are the most needed and help us insure that we are capturing the target animals that are creating the problems. We then give an additional estimate on any repairs and preventions to help avoid any future problems. Remember, all situations are different. A large animal can sometimes do a little damage, and little animals can do a lot of damage. The best course of action is to not procrastinate, call an All That’s Wildlife, Inc. professional for an assessment.

Sometimes a customer will procrastinate on their decision to remove the animal. If they wait too long the damage only gets worse and the costs can increase dramatically. In this case the customer waited almost 2 weeks before calling us back as you can see by the pictures the damage got quite extensive. I later found out that the homeowner tried to take care of things himself but ultimately ended up costing him more money in the end.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter

Animal exclusion is a process that is set up that allows animals to get out and not get back in.  In most cases we prefer to trap and remove the animals from the site to insure they do not come back to the area and become an ongoing problem.  The only animals we prefer to do exclusion work with are bats.  For more details on this subject please give All That’s Wildlife, Inc. a call at 847-980-5561.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter

Raccoons breed in the month of January and sometimes even as late as May or June, this can depend of the region of the United State.  Their gestation period is about 60-64 days.  Most litters are born in April and May but some may be born later depending on the breeding.  There is only one litter of young born each year. They can have one to six but the average size litter is between three and five.  To find out more, visit our website at All That’s Wildlife and look under animal facts.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter

This female had 4 babies

No, this would fall under pest control.  Pest control is an industry all of its own and their license differs from that of a Wildlife Control Operators license.  You will need to find a Pest Control company to take care of this for you.  You can look them up online in our area or in your local telephone book.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter

We would classify these as an emergency situation if the wild animal is inside the living quarters of the home. Do you know where the animal is hiding? Do you know what kind of animal it is? Try to isolate the animal to one room if you can by closing all doors so it can’t travel to any other part of the house. We suggest to not get close to the animal. They are highly stressed and frantic because they are trapped and can be very dangerous.

Wild animals could also have health problems such as rabies or distemper.  Give us a call and we can come out as soon as possible to take care of the situation.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter

Yes, we remove dead animals.  This is a service that we provide on an almost daily basis year round. We get calls for foul orders that are coming from under stoops, decks, inside walls, attics and crawl spaces. It’s important to deal with these matters as soon as possible. Dead animals can carry diseases as well as attract unwanted pests and vermin around your house. We will come out and do a thorough inspection to determine where the animal is and remove it as well as disinfect and deodorize the areas that are affected.  Sometimes during the process of dead animal extraction it is necessary to do some dismantling of dry wall, insulation, etc.  We also provide the service of restoring these areas back to normal as well as the areas where the animal has gained access.

This service is only for Wildlife only not domestic animals.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter

Absolutely in no way do we ever recommend anyone deal with a wildlife matter without extensive training or experience. All kinds of wildlife can be dangerous. Some people may think, “What could that poor little squirrel do to me? huh!”. Let me tell you, they can do a lot. A two pound squirrel is nothing but solid muscle, large chiseled teeth and long sharp claws. I’ve seen those long sharp chiseled teeth chew through metal flashing and metal screening. Imagine what they can do to a finger or a hand if you try to grab them.

Or, how about a raccoon, they can get up to 30 plus pounds. Even though they look like a fat friendly teddy bear like creature, the only way I can make people realize just how strong these creatures are is they actually have strength enough to pull up shingles and plywood and tear a hole big enough to get into your attic. I’ve also seen them tear aluminum siding off a house to gain access inside. These animals are just plainly strong with their long sharp razor like claws and up to a six hundred pound square inch bite! All wild animals are very unpredictable.

I recently had a woman call to tell me she needed my assistance with some squirrels that moved into their attic. When I asked her if she was sure they were squirrels, she replied “Yes, I am sure they are squirrels. My husband did not want to hire anybody to take care of this problem and said he could handle it himself. Why should I pay somebody when I can do it myself. He put an extension ladder up against the house to get to the roof. He was about 25 feet off the ground where he was promptly greeted by a squirrel that shot out of the hole. It startled my husband and he fell to the ground. He suffered two cracked vertebrae and was just released from the hospital.”  I said “Ok, that’s proof enough for me and went out to their home to set up the job.”  This story is to prove a point, anything can happen, call an All That’s Wildlife Inc.  professional to deal with all wildlife conflicts.

Rick Wilberschied a/k/a The Critter Hunter