Best practices
for nuisance
wildlife control operators in New York State
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Best practices |
Home | Wildlife control | NYS DEC | CCE | NYS IPM |
Interview | Inspection | Signs of wildlife | Inspection equipment
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One size does not fit all! Your chosen strategy for dealing with these beavers might change dramatically depending on the site and the needs of the customer. For example, beavers may not be tolerated at all in a reservoir used to supply the town's drinking water while the same level and type of activities might not bother a private landowner. Each nuisance wildlife situation presents different challenges and requires a customized solution. |
Before you can confirm the problem and contemplate solutions, you'll usually need to inspect the property. Take a good look at the whole landscape, and the neighborhood. This is the big picture that could explain why the problem developed. With the added information from an inspection, an experienced observer can provide management options for problems associated with uninvited animal guests.
Follow appropriate safety precautions throughout the inspection. Before you start your inspection, think about the space you're entering and the typical hazards associated with it. In an attic, you might worry about heat stress; ladder accidents; airborne diseases stirred up from rodent, bat, or bird droppings; and scratches from nails that might expose you to tetanus. Heat stress and airborne diseases are also concerns when entering a crawlspace, but you may not encounter nails or need to use a ladder. (See chapter four).
Find out where the property lines are, and whether the caller owns or rents. If it's a rental, talk to the property owner or manager to secure permission. (If the renter refused to pay, the managers might not be willing to if they didn't authorize the work.)
During your inspection, you might focus on the specific problem area but there are some benefits to inspecting the entire building or property. A "problem-specific" inspection takes less time and addresses your customer's immediate concern, but a more thorough inspection may identify other problems that your customer doesn't know about. For example, you might be called for raccoons in a chimney and find that the animals have also entered the attic. Or maybe they haven't made it into the attic, but you suspect it's only a matter of time because the type of roof vent on this house is very vulnerable to raccoon damage. Rotted soffits, trim, and roofs are also vulnerable to animal entry.
A thorough inspection will also reduce the likelihood of overlooking some aspect of the current wildlife problem. What if there's more than one species involved? Even if the customer didn't ask you to look for that, they might not be happy if you missed it.
Detective tools (inspection equipment)
"I had a job where a raccoon was living in one of two spaces in the attic of a large house. If I'd limited my inspection to the area where the customers regularly heard the raccoon making noise, I would have missed the actual entry site. This raccoon got into the building through a hole that wasn't visible from the outside. Then it traveled through a small wall void into the second crawlspace area, where it was most active."
—Lynn Braband, former NWCO in New York
Take pictures during the inspection, using a digital camera or instant camera so the images are available right away. It's much easier to explain the situation to your customers if you can show them pictures of the damage, the animal sign, and the entry holes. In fact, you may want to create a photo album that shows structural problems, typical animal damage, management options, and prevention techniques. That's a handy resource to keep in the truck. Consider offering fact sheets to customers, too. This could save you time while reducing the odds of misunderstandings. (Make sure the information is reliable! Dependable sources include the state wildlife agency, health department, and Cooperative Extension.)
It's just as important to take notes during the inspection. Write down your management recommendations, either on the inspection form or the contract. Give the customer a copy of the inspection report and remember to keep one for yourself. Once you've reached agreement on the approach, you and your customer may want to sign a contract that clearly describes the work, your fees, and terms of payment. Many NWCOs also collect a deposit at the beginning of a job, although this is usually most practical with private individuals. Different arrangements are often made with corporate accounts.
Another tip that may save you time later is to be systematic as you conduct your inspection. It's easier to remember whether or not you've checked a particular area if you always work in the same pattern. After you've done a few inspections, you'll develop your own style. Here's an example of a thorough inspection of a building for existing or potential wildlife problems.
Start inside the building at the top and work your way to the bottom. Within each room, move either clockwise or counterclockwise. Pay special attention to the corners, and spaces underneath and behind furniture. If there are suspended ("dropped") ceilings, push up the panels in a few places to check above the ceiling. Inspect attics; basements; the areas underneath sinks; the places where pipes, cables, and wires enter the building; and crawl spaces. Look inside closets and built-in drawers.
Use light to your advantage. During the day, turn off the lights and look for places where the daylight shines through walls and floors. If light can get through, so can some small animals.
Once you're done with the inside of the building, move outdoors. You can use light to your advantage here, too. At night, turn the lights on, then go outside to see if there are places where the lights shine through the walls or roof. Again, start at the top and work your way down. Use binoculars for a good view of the roof.
What's the condition of the eaves, dormers, windows, vents, ledges, chimneys, and roof corners? Animals often gain entrance at joints and places where different building materials meet. Give careful attention to the foundation, because that's a vulnerable area. Check beneath decks, porches, and crawl spaces. Don't forget the garage; barns; sheds; the places where they store garbage cans; dumpster areas; compost heaps; and piles of firewood, lumber, or junk.
Next Section (Optional activities)
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