Category: Tips

Use Your Bird Seed Wisely

One of the easiest ways to deter unwanted wildlife from getting into your home is to get bird feeders away from the house. We love the birds, but the hard truth is that the bird seed people put in their feeders attracts all sorts of critters, from raccoons to deer to squirrels and mice. Birds are notoriously messy in their eating habits, as you can see from the picture above. Raccoons and other critters will often come to the area by night to scavenge the spilled birdseed. Enterprising raccoons or squirrels will actually climb up and knock the birdfeeder around to intentionally spill more seed. A lot of bird seed gets consumed this way; in fact, it has been estimated that for every 20 pounds of bird seed a homeowner puts out, 11 pounds of it will get consumed by creatures other than birds. The danger in this is that…

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The Proper Way to Help A Turtle Across the Road

A common act of charity on Michigan roads is the occasional stop to help a turtle cross the street so it doesn’t become a road pancake. This is easy enough when the turtle is a small painted box turtle, but it can get a little sketchy when it is a very large, mature snapping turtle. Snapping turtles are noted for not only their size but their ornery temperament; if you’ve ever had a turtle hiss at you, it was probably a snapper. Their powerful jaws can easily break—and in some cases completely sever—a human finger. They can be very aggressive if they feel cornered. Snappers are not to be trifled with by those unfamiliar with how to deal with them. But even so, we can’t just stand by and allow our belligerent reptilian friends to get smooshed by traffic. Snappers have extremely long life span—most snappers you see crossing the…

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House Centipedes: Harmful or Helpful?

There is nothing more disturbing then waking up in the middle of the night to something scurrying over you. For most of us we instantly get up, squash it, and flush the remains down the toilet making sure to note we need to call Creature Control in the morning. Well, Michigan State University is reminding people that not all insects you find inside your home are harmful. House centipedes, although creepy are actually beneficial as they feed on spiders and other small arthropods that enjoy living inside. No matter how beneficial house centipedes can be some of us are unnerved by the presence of these quick little buggers. Not only do they have 15 legs, they also house to long antennas on their heads, and two long antennae like appendages coming from their bottoms. If you are one of the many Michigan homeowners that don’t really appreciate the presence of…

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How Do I Make My Home Less Desirable for Raccoons?

Are you wondering why your home seems to be a regular hangout for raccoons? You may be attracting them without even realizing it. Just like they are portrayed in cartoons, raccoons are smart, sneaky, and peculiar. Their sweet little masks and ringed tails make this particular nuisance wildlife pest hard to be mad at for getting in your trash. Let’s face it, raccoons and baby raccoons are downright adorable. If you start noticing an influx of raccoons around your home, you will want to call in the experts at Creature Control to start putting in place active prevention measurements. We can help you make your home less desirable for these adorable but less than desirable critters. Raccoons Basic Survival Needs Raccoons are driven by their basic survival needs: shelter, food, and water. Obviously, our homes create the perfect environment for them to thrive. They are insane climbers that can easily…

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Identifying a Honey Bee

“Help! I’ve got honey bees in my house!” As summer approaches, we start to get a lot more calls for “bees.” I put “bees” in quotation marks because often “bee” is a catch-all phrase people will use to refer to any and all stinging insects. Yellow jackets, carpenter bees, honey bees, bald faced hornets, mud dauber wasps and everything in between are called “bees.” People will often call and say they think they have a honey bee infestation. Honey bees are of particular concern, for two reasons. First, removing honey bees from a home can be a major hassle. Besides removing the hive, the bees will often have constructed massive honey combs in walls or ceilings that can only be removed at great expense. Second, honey bee populations in the United States are going into steep decline due to a phenomenon known as “colony collapse disorder.” Because of this, Creature…

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Small Game Regulations: Check Before You Trap!

When it comes to the control of nuisance wildlife, sometimes you can get so focused on solving the problem that you can forget about the legal details of wildlife removal. The July, 2016 edition of Michigan Outdoor News “Cuffs and Collars” section reported a man was dealing with an abundance of nuisance fox squirrels. Exasperated, the man purchased some live traps and began trapping the squirrels. Over several months, he trapped and killed 40 squirrels on his property. Eventually, some neighbor made a complaint to the DNR about the man’s trapping activities. A Conservation Officer was dispatched to investigate. The CO discovered the squirrel trap and a squirrel carcass. The homeowner admitted he had been trapping the squirrels and thought it was not an issue, but what the man did not realize was that fox squirrels are classified as small game in Michigan. The trapping of fox squirrels – even…

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12 Tips to Deter Insect Activity

Deterring insect activity is significantly more challenging than animal prevention, simply because insects can get into openings so small that it is not realistic to seal them all; in many cases they are not even discernible to the naked eye. With insects, exclusion is not entirely possible; rather, you are looking at reducing conditions conducive to insect problems. In this article, we will look at some ways to deter insect activity. 1. Reduce Use of Mulch Around Your Foundation Mulch is any layer of organic material applied to the surface of the soil. Its purpose is to improve the fertility of the soil by adding nutrients and conserving moisture. Because mulch conserves moisture, mulch beds make attractive nesting sites for insects, especially earwigs, but also centipedes, roly-poly bugs, and spiders. When people mulch gardens that abut the foundation of their home, it is inevitable that the insects nesting in the…

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DIY Skunk Trapping

Skunks are some of the most obnoxious of all nuisance wildlife to have to deal with. Besides being notoriously smelly and ruining the day of many over curious dogs, skunks also destroy lawns by their persistent grubbing. Faced with a prowling skunk, many homeowners decide to try trapping the animal themselves. This article will give you some practical do-it-yourself advice to help you be prepared before you start trapping. Learn more about the behavior and biology of skunks! 1. Identifying the Skunk Den Your chances of trapping a skunk increase dramatically if you can identify the den. Skunks can range a mile or so when feeding at night, so its important to try to determine whether the skunk actually lives in your yard or is just roaming through from somewhere else. Skunks are not picky about dens. Woodpiles, hollow logs, under decks, in brush, or the empty dens of other animals…

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Why You Suck at Trapping Mice

Mice have lived alongside humans for thousands of years. They are probably the most common household pest; at one point or another, almost all homeowners will deal with mice in the home. When homeowners start finding the characteristic signs of a mouse infestation – the droppings, urine stains, nibbled boxes in the pantry – their first reaction is to buy a pack of generic mouse traps, bait them with some peanut butter, and start trapping. Unfortunately, they seldom have the success they hope for; the mice continue to proliferate. Many of these would-be do-it-yourselfers end up contacting a professional company in the end to take care of the problem. This is because having the trap does not mean you have the right technique. Let’s review the three fundamental rules of mouse trapping! How to Trap Mice There are many different sorts of mouse traps on the market. Some of these…

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Mold Remediation

An unwanted animal infestation in your wall or attic can bring a lot of headaches. Besides the removal of the animal itself, homeowners often have to contend with cleaning up after the mess the animal made. Raccoons, squirrels, mice, and especially bats can destroy insulation and wreak havoc in your attic. How Animal Problems Become Mold Problems Prolonged animal residence and damage in your attic can lead to ventilation problems. Ridge vents, soffits and other points of ventilation can become clogged or destroyed by the animals, leading to an accumulation of moisture. If this situation goes on too long and is untreated, mold can develop in these moistened areas. Animal activity can also compress insulation. Insulation that has been severely compressed loses its R-value (the capacity of the insulation to resist heat flow). This means that in the winter heat will simply pass through the insulation, causing the rapid melting of…

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