Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs

How do I get rid of an animal in my roof?

Getting rid and preventing animals from entering a home is a never-ending chore.  Some preventative measures are to keep branches and other objects away from the roofline.  This prevents animals from readily having access to our roofs. But despite our best efforts some animals are just good climbers such as tree rats, Norwegian rats, raccoons, squirrels, and opossums.  Animals love to create entrances or use entrances created by other animals to enter a roof.  The best way is to prevent animals from entering by exclusion mechanisms.  Some recommended exclusion methods are repairing any visible holes or damaged areas in the roofline with metal flashing.  Animals will eat through wood soffits and flashing quite easily.  A Solid Integrated Pest Management plan will include exclusion work and trapping if necessary.  We offer many detective, preventative, deterrent, corrective controls for wildlife, hornets, wasps, and bees.

What is the best way to remove a dead animal from my house?

Unfortunately, sometimes wildlife dies in our homes.  Animals such as squirrels can become trapped in the attic due to entrances being blocked or excluded.  Squirrels sometime nest between the framing and flue after creating an entrance in siding, not to mention the mess and fire hazard their nesting materials may create.  Birds can get caught in chimney flues or nest under chimney caps or eves and die.  Raccoons often get stuck in chimney flues which lead to quite a smell if they pass away from being stuck.   Most of the time a dead animals occur due to either being trapped inside or being poisoned by pest control such as bait traps.  Smell can last weeks depending on the size of the animal.  If you don’t have protective gear to remove a dead animal and sanitize the area it is best to call a professional such as HBR to clean up the mess.  

Do you perform humane wildlife removal?

HBR does perform humane eco friendly wildlife removal and pest management.  We have Bee friendly insecticides that work! Part of our pest management plan is always ensuring we don’t impact the greater ecosystem or have a minimal impact.  We have humane animal traps and can safely relocate all types of animals to a place away from your home. 

What to do about a squirrel in my attic?

Squirrels are notorious for getting into our roofs and the pitter patter of feet running across the roof or inside an attic can be frightening at night.  The best way to get a squirrel out of an attic is using exclusion traps on the entrance to the space.  Once trapped we can use metal flashing and other types of repairs that will prevent squirrels in the future.

Squirrels eating my roof?

Squirrels love to eat holes in wood.  With teeth that perpetually grow throughout their lifetime the constantly gnaw at our wood fences and rooflines disrupting the seal that would exclude them from our homes. 

How to prevent Squirrels from eating my house?

Use metal flashing to prevent squirrels from eating your home.  Another mechanism to deter squirrels is removal of access.  If they cannot get on your roof, they most likely wont chew it.  Squirrels like the cover of branches and don’t want to be caught out in the open. 

Are raccoons dangerous?

Raccoons are formattable animals and can cause terminal harm to many domesticated pets.  Wile large dogs are usually able to fend off a raccoon smaller toy breeds and chickens often fall victim to raccoons.  Also, raccoons do carry an array of transferrable diseases (See diseases of wildlife).

How to remove an opossum in my trash can?

Opossums although they look menacing are some of the more compliant wildlife when it comes to removal.  They literally play possum allowing for a quick scoop up into a bucket for relocation.  Not able to see very well and relatively slow-moving opossums while they seem scary are quite beneficial.  Due to their body temperature rabies is basically non existent in opossums. As omnivores they sustain themselves on a diet of small bugs such as the American cockroach and sometimes are found in the trash cans feasting on our thrown out. They are also very timid when it comes to other domestic pets.  They are more interested in the cat food than your cat.

Best way to prevent mosquitos.

This is quite a loaded question that we get quite often.  What is the best solution for mosquitos?  People say nothing works.  My reply is use deet based sprays and lotions, but the answer can be quite complex depending on the location, structure, and expectations of our customers.  Physical controls such as nets, removing water, screens and planting deterrent type plants work well.  Misting systems are also great.  Attractant systems such as bucket traps as Dynatrap and other work.  Foggers are good at killing local adults. Call us today for a free consult and let us find the system that works best for you and your budget.

What is the best mosquito fogger?

Insecticide for mosquitos has come a long way since the 80s.  There are really two type of foggers oil and water based.  These come in both adulticide and larvicide each has its perks and there are multiple chemicals that target specific species as well as broad spectrum.  Cal us today for a review of chemicals we use to help understand what is the best for your mosquito control.

Local Mosquito Company            

Not all mosquito companies are the same.  Did you know you have to be licensed to kill mosquitos commercially in Texas? Can your technician produce his license (not the number on a vehicle)?  We have found most don’t have licenses or can’t produce them.  Do you really want someone spraying pesticide they don’t know how to mix correctly or know of the effects to your health and animals?  Many of the mom-and-pop shops don’t carry licenses as is quite expensive to have the business license and all your technicians licensed.  Testing and training is also a big requirement for licensing.

How long does a mosquito treatment last?

A good Integrated Pest Management Plan will deter and prevent mosquitos indefinitely.  Sprays foggers misters all have different timeframes for deterrent, and it is not a one size fits all situation.

What to do about rats in my walls?

Rats in the walls of your home can be quite problematic.  Not only do rats spread parasites and disease like rat lung worm, tapeworm, fleas, they can be a major contributor to food born illness.  To stop rats you need to understand where they are getting into the structure.  We employ a complex array of tools and tactics to rid rats from your home such fluorescent powder that glows to identify where they are getting in to exclusion work, physical traps, and bait traps to rid rats.