Animal Removal — March 4, 2007
In Mass and RI the skunk breeding season usually occurs during the month of February. During this time male skunks will compete for females in heat. This produces a lot of skunk activity including extensive travel, fighting and spraying each other. In our industry there is no doubt that February is "Skunk Month".
Over the last month we have been inundated with calls for skunks. We've had skunks under sheds, sun-rooms, additions, porches and believe it or not we even had a skunk in a living room. I've had enough skunks to last me the entire year and I'll be glad when the breeding season is over.
Along with the skunk calls we have also been dealing with the usual gray squirrels, flying squirrels and even bats. We have got more calls for bats in houses this winter than ever. I'm not sure if this is a reflection of the mild winter we've had or an indication of a healthy bat population. See our recent projects below for more details.
Skunk Removal
I removed this skunk from a living room (yes a living room!) in Hingham MA on February 23rd. The skunk entered through a cat-door on the customer's back porch. The family awoke to find the skunk eating from their cat's bowl in the kitchen. By the time I got there the skunk was hiding under a couch in the living room. I didn't take any pictures of the skunk in the house as I did not want to take the chance of it spraying. I managed to trap the skunk after a quick game of chase and then released it in the backyard. After I released the skunk it turned around and charged at me. Very odd behavior for a skunk. I shot some video of this intimidating little guy and barely avoided getting sprayed: Skunk Removal Video
Lexington Bat Removal
In early February I was called out to a historic home in Lexington Mass to remove a bat from a permanent air-conditioning unit. The bat had crawled up into a small gap and gotten stuck between two panes of glass in the window. I had to remove a Plexiglas panel to remove the bat from the window. Once again, very odd behavior for a day that the temperature never got above freezing. Take a look at the video from this bat removal service.
Wrentham Bat Removal
We received a call from a woman in Wrentham regarding a bat flying around her living room. Upon arrival I found the bat roosting on the brick fireplace in her living room. The bat had gone dormant and I gently removed it from its perch. A further inspection of the home found a small number of bats in the attic and also a bat hiding out inside a roof vent. I saw this from inside the attic and then got up on the roof to take a picture of this bat. Bats will use these vents during the winter months in an effort to stay warm. These vents are installed to allow the attic to breathe and warm air rises through the house and exits through these vents on the roof. I took a picture of a similar vent on my neighbor's roof after the recent snowstorm to illustrate how much warmer these vents are than the rest of the roof. You can see how all the snow is melted around the vent from the constant supply of warm air from the attic. I don't have an answer as to why this bat was under this vent instead of inside the attic with the rest of them.
Waban Squirrel Removal
I removed a single gray squirrel from a fireplace in Waban Mass in Mid-February. As usual, the squirrel had fallen down the chimney and could not get out. As I pulled into the driveway I saw a squirrel sitting on top of the chimney looking down at his trapped friend. I got a mid-air picture of this squirrel jumping from the chimney to a nearby tree. I also installed a chimney cap to prevent this from happening again.
Attleboro Squirrel Removal
At a recent squirrel removal service in Attleboro Mass I got a picture of the ugliest gray squirrel I have ever seen. This squirrel had chewed his way into the corner of a house. This is a very common entry point for squirrels as shown in the two other pictures from similar projects. Removing squirrels and repairing squirrel damage is a very large part of our workload this time of year. Visit our squirrel removal page for more information on these services.
