What is Wildlife Exclusion?

A raccoon and a skunk looking through the garbage at someone's home in Baton Rouge LA - Dugas Pest Control Wildlife exclusion is one of the most important services that we offer here at Dugas Pest Control. Especially as the temperatures wane into winter, wild animals of all sorts are looking to take shelter on our properties, even inside our homes. To prevent wild animals from taking up residence in your home, bringing with them the risks of property damage and disease, it’s important to sign up for wildlife exclusion services administered by your local exterminators. But what exactly is wildlife exclusion? To learn more about how we keep wild animals out of our customers’ homes around Baton Rouge LA, read on!

What Does “Wildlife Exclusion” Mean?

Wildlife exclusion is the professional process of preparing homes or businesses to defend against potential wildlife problems, as well as the safe removal of any active wildlife on the property. It’s an all-encompassing service that shouldn’t just happen once. Many wild animals are adaptive and opportunistic—they will take any opportunity to find shelter or food as soon as it presents itself. By signing up for wildlife exclusion with Dugas Pest Control, you can expect the following services:

  • Identification of present wildlife, which often includes raccoons, squirrels, opossums, mice, or rats.
  • Humane removal of all active animals.
  • Damage repairs, waste removal, and material replacement (wood, insulation, wires, and more.)
  • Entry point sealing using caulk, sheet metal, or otherwise applicable materials.
  • Return visits as necessary to maintain a wildlife-free space.

Benefits of Wildlife Exclusion Services

Trying to deal with wildlife on your own can be ineffective and dangerous. There are many benefits to hiring professional exterminators for wildlife exclusion services:

  • It’s humane. We only take the necessary measures to remove animals from our customers’ properties, prioritizing humane methods in all cases.
  • It keeps animal families together. Many people make the mistake of removing animal mothers and not their babies, leaving the young to die. Beyond being inhumane, this can cause unpleasant odors and new wildlife presence on your property. Wildlife exclusion focuses on getting the entire family out.
  • It’s a long-term solution. Trapping and removing animals does not get to the root of the problem. Professional wildlife exclusion services will discourage future animals from nesting in your yard.
  • It’s affordable. It actually costs less money to deal with pests humanely! Prioritizing prevention with a company that looks out for local wildlife is the best option for your conscience and your wallet.

Can I Keep Wildlife Out On My Own?

There are certain steps you can take to keep wildlife off of your property, like sealing gaps and cracks in your foundation, siding, roof fixtures, doors and windows, and more. Cleaning up your yard by clearing out yard waste and trimming your plants often will also help. However, sometimes you can’t control a wildlife infestation without the help of local pest professionals. At Dugas Pest Control, we bring over 60 years of experience to the table every time we help relocate wildlife. Contact us today for a free quote!

A Closer Look at the Opossum

An opossum in Baton Rouge LA - Dugas Pest ControlLouisiana is home to all sorts of wildlife and pests, but the opossum is one the most unique of the bunch. As the only living species of marsupial in North America, the opossum is in a class of its own, although it is commonly grouped in with rodents due to its appearance. While they don’t pose many dangerous health risks to humans, they can be frightening, filthy, and possibly disease-ridden. To learn more about opossums and how you can keep them off of your property in Baton Rouge, read up on the Dugas Pest Control technicians’ advice!

What Do Opossums Look Like?

Opossums largely resemble rats. They have gray bodies with white, slender faces and long, rat-like tails. They will grow to be about the size of a house cat in most cases, reaching up to about seven pounds.

There are several other habits that can help you identify opossums in your yard:

  1. Opossum mothers carry their young on their backs. If opossums are nesting in your yard, you might soon see upwards of ten young. They are capable of having three litters a year, too!
  2. When approached, opossums are known to play dead as a defense mechanism. Never approach one with intent to remove it, as it may resort to quickly biting.
  3. Opossums mainly eat grains, fruits, and insects. If you have lots of fruit trees or bugs in your yard, you are sure to attract opossums.

Are Opossums Dangerous?

Fortunately, opossums aren’t usually dangerous. They are timid creatures that only attack in situations where they feel extremely threatened. However, they have the ability to spread disease and filth in some cases. Here’s how you can prevent them from nesting on your property:

  • Seal any entry points to your shed, attic, crawlspaces, and more.
  • Declutter your yard by promptly removing any yard waste.
  • Use trash cans with tight-fitting lids to prevent them from digging through your garbage for food.
  • Call a wildlife pest control expert for professional prevention or removal services.

Wildlife Control in Baton Rouge LA

If you’re already dealing with opossums on your property, it’s safe to not try to remove them by yourself. You can rely on your local wildlife removal experts to get the job done. Our wildlife specialists at Dugas Pest Control have years of experience dealing with the specific pest problems that we face in our climate. For a free quote or more information on our services, contact us today!

Wildlife Exclusion – The Secret Weapon in Pest Control

Raccoons can be avoided in your Baton Rouge LA home with wildlife exclusion services from Dugas Pest Control.Whether you live in rural Louisiana or near an urban area, one thing that we all have to deal with is wildlife. Even in cities and suburban neighborhoods, the south is full of animals like possums, raccoons, squirrels, and other rodents that don’t mind being around people. The bad news is that because these pests are so used to people, they are also frequently found trying to make a home inside your home. In order to get them out, and prevent them from doing it again, wildlife exclusion is the key. This pest control method provided by the experts at Dugas Pest Control ensures your property is not suitable for nuisance wildlife invasions. Read on to learn more!

What Exactly Is Wildlife Exclusion?

Wildlife exclusion is an essential part of keeping nuisance wildlife away. It involved sealing your home to the animals using preventative measures such as sealing holes in your roof, installing screens over windows and doors, and more. A professional wildlife control expert will thoroughly inspect your property to look for vulnerabilities that could lead to animals making their way in through your crawl space or attic. The most common wildlife problems we face here in Baton Rouge include:

Why Do You Need Wildlife Exclusion Services?

While it’s completely normal to see wildlife out in nature, you likely don’t want to share your home with them. Here’s why wildlife exclusion is so important:

  • First, they can cause major damage to your home. When these animals make nests in the crawlspace or attic, they can ruin electrical wiring, plumbing, or foundational material with chewing and other behaviors. By nesting to protect litters, rodents like these can cause damage to your home.
  • These pests can also present a danger to your family, especially small children who might not know better than to approach these animals, and anyone who tries to capture or “shoo” them out on their own. That is because many of these animals carry diseases. They can also attack if they feel threatened, which can cause serious injury.
  • Finally, these animals also present a danger to your pets for the same reason. If one of these animals feels threatened by a dog that has rooted them out, or if they feel like your cat, prowling through the attic for mice, presents a threat to their food source, they may attack and either injure your pet or pass on a disease.

How Dugas Can Help

If you want to avoid a wildlife problem on your property, Dugas can help. We’ll do a thorough inspection of your home, the foundation, the roof, and other access points, and find the areas where these animals got inside. After blocking off these entrances, we’ll show you how to make sure your home stays wildlife-free. Working with a local pest control company like Dugas means you can rest assured knowing your safety is our top priority. Get in touch with our wildlife control team today to learn how we can help!

Opossum Removal in Baton Rouge

Dugas Pest Control provides humane wildlife trapping service in New Orleans and Baton Rouge Louisiana If something has been getting into your garbage, eating your pet’s food and creating strange, scratching noises in the attic, it may not be squirrels or raccoons that are invading your property. It may be opossums coming into your Baton Rouge home.

Opossums are especially skilled at identifying entry points that allow them to get into home to seek food and shelter. Although they prefer living by streams and swamps in the wild, burrowing in brush piles and tree cavities, they can fare quite well in the average south Louisiana home. Besides getting into the attic, opossums also live underneath sheds and decks, and they eat just about everything, from garbage to fruits to grains to pet food.

How to Identify an Opossum

Many people don’t know that there are more than 100 species of opossums, and that they are related to kangaroos! They are white or gray in color and feature a rat-like tail that lacks fur. Although these nuisance pests vary in size, they are generally the size of a household cat, with an average of 6 to 7 pounds for the males and 4 to 5 pounds for the females.

Other notable characterizations include their naked, rounded ears and monkey-looking hands. They leave behind little tracks that feature a bent thumb. Since opossums have a varied diet and flexible stature, they are able to move into attics and underneath structures, living off food scraps and pet food.

Why are Opossums Considered Nuisance Pests?

Fortunately, opossums are not generally dangerous to humans. In fact, if you were to approach one, it would most likely pretend that it was dead. Nevertheless, these Louisiana pests are bothersome in the home, and like any wild animal can be dangerous if cornered. They create mess by going through garbage, eating up pet food and being plain messy. They have large, smelly droppings, and they will harass your pets. Once they get into the home, they can shred insulation and wiring in an effort to create a comfortable spot to sleep during the day.

Opossums have strong odors and are hosts to a variety of parasites and diseases. Interestingly, they rarely attack people and do not carry rabies. Most people notice that they have an opossum problem when they hear scratching and scooting at night, notice that pet food and trash is getting ripped through and when they smell the awful odor of the feces. Generally, opossums don’t burrow in the ground, but they will still live in already-dug burrows. They also climb very well – in trees, on telephone wires and vines – so it’s important to look both high and low.

Opossums Have Gotten into the Home. What’s Next?

If you’ve identified that it’s opossums making all the noise in your home, it’s time to call in the professionals at Dugas Pest Control. We practice wildlife exclusion, which is the humane way to trap and relocate an animal into their natural habitat. Our ultimate goal is to remove the pests from the home without killing them, while sealing up all points of entry. We look for loose vents, tears in screens and holes in the siding.

Once we patch up these points, you won’t have to worry about pest problems in Baton Rouge anymore. If pests do come onto your property, they won’t stay long, as there won’t be any source of food or shelter to pursue.

In addition to sealing up your home’s entry points, we also encourage our clients to be smart about food sources around the home. Since opossums will eat just about anything, you should always keep trash cans tightly shut, remove pet food at night and perhaps even reconsider bird feeders. Opossums are nocturnal, so they will often come out and look for food when humans are sleeping. It’s never a good idea to tackle pest control in Louisiana on your own, so be sure to consult Dugas Pest Control as your first step. We have the necessary tools and trapping methods to safely remove pests from the home while protecting the health and safety of your family.