Critter Control of Lancaster

Get them out.
Keep them out.®
Call for a Free Inspection

(717) 872-6575

The warm, humid summers of South Central Pennsylvania draw many wildlife pests to the area, such as squirrels, raccoons, skunks, and opossums. All of these pests forage for food in outdoor garbage bins and gardens.

They set up nests on lawns and destroy landscaping by killing plants and digging holes in the ground. Once cold weather sets in, these pests and others move inside homes, where they den in garages, under decks, in wall voids, and inside attics.

Our knowledgeable wildlife control operators can handle nearly any wildlife control issue in Lancaster, Reading, York, and Harrisburg. We are very familiar with the wildlife issues facing area property owners, from bats in attics to raccoons in chimneys.

Critter Control Wildlife Control Process

Critter Control is here for you every step of the way in the wildlife removal process. From inspection to removal — and even exclusion and repair — we have the services you need to get rid of raccoons, rodents, and other nuisances fast. First, we identify the animal on the property, then use humane methods to remove the animal and secure weak points where more could enter. If damage has been done, we can make those repairs for a complete restoration. Contact a Critter Control office near you today.

STEP 1

Wildlife Inspection

During the inspection we try to ascertain how many animals there are, where they are located, and how they got in. Based on what you have seen, heard and smelled, we start the inspection where you have noticed signs of animal activity. Evidence of animals inside your home include nests, dens, feces, and animal tracks. We investigate the exterior of your home looking for possible entry points, any evidence of animal damage, tracks, fur, animal waste, or rub marks.
STEP 2

Removal

We use several methods to humanely remove the animal from your home. Depending on the species, the number of animals, and the condition of your property, we develop a custom wildlife removal plan. Humane wildlife removal strategies include animal traps, one-way doors, and repellents. Once we guarantee all animals are gone, we implement exclusion techniques. Exclusion techniques provide a safe, long-term solution to nuisance wildlife in your home. We create barriers to prevent animals from getting to resources. We only apply exclusions once we are sure all animals are gone from your home.
STEP 3

Exclusion and Repair

Wildlife will damage your home. Exclusion techniques repair any damage the animal causes getting into your home. Inside your home, animals build nests and dens out of readily available material. They will create runs through the insulation. Rodents will gnaw on anything including electrical wires and pipes. Animals can also spread diseases. We apply sanitation agents to clean up feces and urine. Mammals can host pests like fleas, ticks, and mites. Ectoparasite treatments exterminate those pests so you don’t become their next host.

Raccoon Removal

Raccoons are primarily nocturnal. If you see a raccoon, their cute bandit-like masks may fool you into thinking they are safe. They aren't.

Raccoons can become aggressive when they feel threatened, especially when protecting their young. Being bitten by a raccoon puts you at risk of contracting rabies. The Department of Agriculture notes raccoons in Berks County have tested positive in the past.

Raccoons are like mini superheroes. They make over fifty sounds to communicate, can remember how to complete tasks for up to three years, run up to 15 mph, rotate their hind feet 180 degrees, and can fall over 130 feet without harm. Their human-like hands make it easy for them to climb buildings and trees, swim, and be mischievous.

Raccoons can open lids to garbage cans, pet feed bags, doorknobs, pet doors, and gates. They dig holes in your lawn, look for insects, steal chickens from the coop, and take advantage of weak spots in your house. Weak spots are cracks or damage that turn into entries to your attic or basement. Broken shingles, screens, caps, windows, and boards are a raccoon's dream come true.

Once inside, raccoons destroy insulation, ducts, pipes, drywall, and wires. Removing a raccoon can be tricky and may require a license, depending on the method. Because diseases can be transmitted to pets and humans, you must call a wildlife expert for help. They can safely get rid of a raccoon and ensure they do not return.

Inspection

Inspection

During the inspection, we determine the severity of the raccoon infestation. We look for physical evidence like footprints in or around the home, stains from raccoon feces and urine. On the exterior of the house, we look for damage like scratches on boards, broken vents and screens, ripped apart shingles, destroyed soffits, and every possible entry point.

Raccoon Trapping

Raccoon Trapping

Live trapping is one of the most efficient ways to get rid of a raccoon. Depending on the situation, a one-way door or excluder valve can be installed. An excluder valve works by allowing the raccoon to leave but blocks its reentry. The choice of device is largely dependent on the season and location of the raccoons on your property. Direct capture is not commonly used because raccoons are a rabies vector species. If we must trap, we place traps strategically to safely catch the raccoons and we check traps frequently, based on state laws.
Repairs

Repairs

We provide a wide range of repair and restoration services. We can repair raccoon damage like broken screens on vents and chimneys and broken boards on decks and porches. It is essential to apply cleaning agents and ectoparasite treatments on areas inhabited by raccoons.

Rodent Removal

Like many other cities, Lancaster has a rodent problem, with the house mouse and the Norway rat exhibiting nuisance behaviors. Controlling them takes different techniques because they are very different species. House mice are small, weighing about 0.5 ounces, with beady eyes and pointed snouts. Norway rats are heavier, weighing 11 ounces or more, with a blunt nose and a two-toned tail.

Both rodents damage your home and property. Norway rats like to burrow and build tunnels under your home, driveway, or shed. House mice build nests in your walls, ceilings, and under appliances. Both create fire hazards by chewing electrical wires and building nests in ventilation systems.

The greatest risk associated with rodents is their ability to multiply quickly. One female mouse can breed up to eight times in one year, with litters of five or more babies. Female babies are ready to start breeding within six weeks. Rats start breeding within three months. They can give birth up to seven times a year and have up to 12 babies each time.

Rats and mice are excellent climbers and swimmers. They eat anything, but rats prefer fresh meat and grains, while mice prefer grains and cereals. Rats will even eat mice. Neither likes to travel too far away from their nest to get food. They create pathways or trails between the two, marking them with feces and urine, which can be an attractant to other rodents.

Rat traps and baits will not catch mice and vice versa. Rats are very cautious and will avoid anything new in their environment. Mice are more curious, but if the trap is not in their pathway, they may never see it. Wildlife control experts know how to get rid of these pests, no matter how many there are, and can teach you how to prevent them from returning.

Inspection

Inspection

During a rodent inspection, we thoroughly inspect your attic and provide a complete exterior home inspection. The most common signs of rodent activity are gnaw marks, feces, rub marks, nesting material, runs in insulation material, and small entry points.

Rodent Trapping

Rodent Trapping

A Critter Control wildlife specialist will create a strategic trapping plan to remove the rodents found in your home. Critter Control specialists may use snap traps and live traps to capture and remove mice and rats. Rodent trapping can usually takes between five to fourteen days. 
Repairs

Repairs

The best way to reduce the possibility of letting unwanted rodents into homes is to seal possible entrances. Exclusion methods include caulking cracks in foundations, capping chimneys, and installing mesh covers over vents and crawl space entrances. We also strongly recommend a maintenance service. Rodents have front teeth that continuously grow, which means they can gnaw a new way back into your home.

Squirrel Removal

Another rodent, squirrels, are viewed as cute creatures that are fun to watch. Watching them raid bird feeders, scurry across electrical wires, and steal fruits or vegetables from the garden can be fun. However, too much of this "cute" behavior becomes a nuisance. Squirrels do not fully hibernate during winter, so they spend so much time collecting and hoarding foods and nesting materials.

Squirrels in Pennsylvania include gray, fox, red, and flying squirrels, and they prefer nuts, grains, seeds, flowers, fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms. They bury their findings in shallow holes close to their nests, often in tree hollows but may also be in your attic, chimney, crawlspace, or behind the siding. Squirrels can find food under a foot of snow, so their collecting doesn't end in winter.

Like rats and mice, squirrels' teeth are constantly growing. To keep them filed, they will chew on anything. They can chew vinyl, plastic, wood, wires, and more. If these materials are in your home, the damages can be costly. Squirrels also rip out insulation, changing your home's ventilation abilities. They clog pipes and ducts, creating fire hazards.

Signs you have a nuisance squirrel are seeing tracks, droppings, or piles of foods and items from the outdoors. Look for frayed or gnawed wiring, teeth marks in the wood, broken vents, holes in shingles, and water damage from the ceiling. If you hear chirping, squeaking, barking, scratching, and the pitter-patter of feet. Wherever squirrels are active, they will leave feces and urine, which have been associated with diseases like tularemia and salmonella.

Let the experts eliminate your squirrel problem safely and humanely, and follow Pennsylvania regulations.

Inspection

Inspection

Wildlife specialists look for signs such as chewing on, in, or around your home, small openings leading to the attic or the crawl space, droppings, and debris like nuts or nesting material. Beams, wires, pipes, and insulation may all show signs of damage from squirrels.

Squirrel Trapping

Squirrel Trapping

Live trapping or one-way doors are the most effective and humane ways to get rid of squirrels. One-way doors should never be used during birthing seasons (Spring & Fall), so our specialists will decide which is the best tool for the job. If we have to trap, we place traps strategically to safely catch the squirrels and check those according to state laws.
Repairs

Repairs

We can restore your home or office by squirrel proofing all entry points after we have removed the offenders. We can also clean-up the nesting sites and remove any debris, food, feces and soiled insulation. 

Bat Removal

Nine species of bats exist in Pennsylvania. The ones you may find in Lancaster homes are brown bats. Bats often have multiple roosting spots, including attics, eaves, chimneys, barn rafters, and sheds. Bats are the only true flying mammal, and they travel to areas with a good source of insects. If you watch them closely, they appear to be performing acrobats in the air.

Every bat consumes thousands of insects every night, making them crucial for the ecosystem. Although needed, they can become nuisances to some homeowners. Bats' biggest problem is their guano feces, which can leave stain marks wherever it lands.

Some bats roost alone, and some roost in colonies. The larger the colony, the more guano you will see on your property. Guano is toxic as it contains acids. It also can grow mold spores associated with histoplasmosis and other respiratory conditions if inhaled by humans. Additional problems associated with bat guano include the smell it emits as it decomposes.

Bat guano tends to pile up quickly and become heavy. It may cause weak boards to break. It will seep through gaps between floorboards, contaminating areas below. If these areas hold food or commercial products, it can be a costly problem to fix.

Bat guano attracts parasites and arthropods like cockroaches, mites, fleas, and ticks that can move to other parts of your home. They may even be sucked into your ventilation system, eventually entering your living area.

Bat urine crystalizes at room temperature, soaking wood beams, floors, and rafters. A white powder-like coating is a sign of urine saturation. When colonies of bats urinate in the same area, stalactites and stalagmites will form.

It is rare for a bat to have rabies. However, don't risk getting the other diseases a bat carries by trying to remove it yourself. Call a wildlife technician first.

Inspection

Inspection

We perform a full interior and exterior inspection and search for signs such as rub marks, guano, a strong scent of ammonia, and small openings. The most common sign is the accumulation of guano (feces).

Bat Removal

Bat Removal

The most effective and humane way to remove bats is by utilizing a bat valve in conjunction with a full home exclusion. A bat valve allows for bats to exit your home but not re-enter. We follow all local ordinances for humane bat removal. We will never abandon flightless pups in your attic.
Repairs

Repairs

After removing the bat valves, we seal the entrance hole(s) so bats can no longer enter your home. If there is substantial guano in your attic, you should consider taking advantage of our attic remediation services to remove the soiled insulation and replace it.

Opossum Control

Opossums are prevalent in and around Lancaster,PA. If you see an opossum in your yard, it is best to ignore it. They usually move on from a location within a few days. In the meantime, they will probably eat pests like ticks or rodents. 

If you’ve got one in your home, you know it’s there. They are noisy animals. They scream, hiss, thump and bump. They can truly be annoying at any time during the day or night.Opossums will also leave feces and urine wherever they go. If you have a nuisance opossum in your house or udner a deck, call us to evict opossums early.
Inspection

Inspection

Opossums can be found inside attics and basements or outside under decks and sheds. Common signs include unique paw prints and feces. Opossums are docile and usually easy to spot.

Trapping & Removal

Trapping & Removal

Opossums can be lured into cages for live capture. If it is maternity season, we follow all guidelines for removing mother and newborn opossums. We will seal entryways into the building to prevent opossums from reentering in the future. Opossums can be kept from getting under sheds and decks by installing fencing around the bottom edges and burying the fence underground.
Repairs

Repairs

Broken screens on chimney and roof vents are replaced with sturdier materials, and we properly seal all entry points, including crawlspaces. We clean and deodorize areas of opossum activity. Exclusion may include eliminating sources that attract bugs, like nighttime lighting, stagnant water, and livestock poop.

Bird Control

Hundreds of bird species exist in Pennsylvania, both native and non-native. Lancaster's most common backyard birds include sparrows, starlings, bluebirds, bluejays, woodpeckers, and blackbirds. Birds seem harmless until you start paying for repairs like removing stains from bird droppings, fixing broken roof ledges, unclogging gutters that led to water damage, or cleaning out nests in chimneys that are fire hazards.

Birds, especially in swarms, do more damage than you may think. These "pest" birds tend to roost in large numbers, putting too much weight on parts of your home's structure. They also breed in large numbers. Colonies can mean large amounts of waste and a lot of noise.

Most birds are protected under the 1918 Migratory Bird Act, making exclusions the only way to get rid of nuisance birds. Wildlife technicians are experts in exclusions.

Inspection

Inspection

We thoroughly inspect the area for things that attract birds, like harborage and loafing areas, as well as food and water sources. Also, we look for where birds may be entering your home or business. We also inspect for damage caused by birds, whether it's by nesting, or by droppings.

Trapping & Removal

Trapping & Removal

After identifying the bird species, we may start by physically removing the species in question. In rescue situations, such as chimneys or basements, birds can be released on-site if the entrance has been secured properly. Occasionally, live traps will be used, especially if flocks of birds are involved. For persistent birds and larger flocks, several advanced techniques may be applied simultaneously including netting, spikes, ledge products, scare tactics, misting and more. The most effective method of bird control is prevention and exclusion.

Repairs & Prevention

Repairs & Prevention

We can repair the damage that is allowing birds entry to your home, like broken siding, weakened gutters, rotted soffits and fascia. We can also install protective screens on chimneys and vents. We can also remove nesting materials and accumulated droppings, then clean surface stains. We can use netting over fruit and vegetable crops and water basins. Netting can also be used in car ports, building overhangs and food courts. We also install a large number of different types of roof ledge barriers too.

Woodchuck Removal

Woodchucks, groundhogs, or whistle pigs. No matter what you call it, you can bet money they are causing damage to someone's yard, fields, or crops with their long, curved claws. They are diggers that burrow a massive tunnel system underground. Some tunnels are six feet deep and 20 feet long.

Each groundhog tunnel has a space designated for specific tasks, including a toilet, sleeping, giving birth, etc.

Most damage by groundhogs involves crop destruction on farms, home gardens, and orchards. The holes dug by groundhogs are large enough to cause severe damage to tractors and farm equipment.

Depending on where they burrow, groundhogs can create costly home repairs. For example, burrowing under your home makes your foundation unstable. It also shifts how water drains, causing water to fill the area underneath your home.

Woodchucks' incisors continue to grow as they age. Typically, they file them by grinding teeth against one another while chewing. If they can't do this, an incisor will look more like a tusk.

To get rid of groundhogs, call a wildlife control operator. They know how to use deterrents and repellants to treat burrows and flush out the groundhog. They also have safe and humane traps. Once trapped, exclusions must be implemented immediately to prevent a return. And this must all happen before they go into hibernation.

Groundhog Inspection

Groundhog Inspection

Groundhog nesting isn't hard to spot. Being the largest member of the squirrel family, they have a rather large entrance hole to their nesting spots and they leave a great amount of dirt at their front door.
Groundhog Removal

Groundhog Removal

Once we've identified all burrow entrances, the next step is deciding what will work best for the situation at hand. Woodchucks may be excluded from denning under structures with one-way doors, if the structure they're living under can be sealed with a rat wall. If the area can't be sealed, then trapping and removing the animal is the best option. 
Groundhog Repairs

Groundhog Repairs

We can install rat walls to keep groundhogs out of crawl spaces and from entering under decks, sheds, patios and many other locations. Please call us to discuss how this process is completed. 
Get them out.
Keep them out.®
Call For A FREE Inspection
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Looking for pest control in Lancaster? Visit our sister brand Fox Pest Control. 

The Critter Control Difference

Trained Specialists Animal removal is a highly sophisticated job. As such, we vet and train our team members to ensure they have the knowledge and skill to remove any pest from your building. Our wildlife experts utilize advanced removal and exclusion techniques and damage repair.
Guaranteed Work Your satisfaction is always guaranteed. Critter Control® takes great pride in providing quality workmanship resulting in customer satisfaction.
Critter Control Guarantee Your satisfaction is always guaranteed. We provide reliable prevention from future intrusions. Resolving a nuisance wildlife issue calls for more than trapping and removing the critter. Our exclusion services offer immediate and long-term wildlife solutions.
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