Seven Tips for Choosing a Wildlife Control Company

The HSUS

Starling Exclusion

With the right information and supplies, it's often pretty easy to head off or solve conflicts with your wild neighbors by yourself, but sometimes it's time to call in a professional. The Humane Society of the United States recommends the following guidelines when seeking and contracting for services.

1. Ensure that the company will provide an on-site inspection and a firm written quote. Any fee for the on-site inspection should apply toward the work that is contracted. During the on-site visit, ask that the company identify both the animal and the points at which it is gaining access to the structure and to provide pictures, if it is not clear how the animal is getting in.
   
   
2. Request specific details about how the problem will be resolved and the animal(s) treated. Will the animal be killed, and if so why? Are there young that might be offspring that will be orphaned or abandoned? Will the method resolve the problem over the long-term?
   
   
3. If an animal is in a building, insist on the use of guaranteed exclusion strategies that include one-way doors and/or hands-on removal and reunion of families, leading to their release on-site. 
   
   
   

   The HSUS

   Kit ready to be reunited with mom.

4. Make sure that the company provides a full range of animal proofing/exclusion services that carry at least a one–year guarantee against re-entry. 
   
   
5. Never sign a contract that contains an open-ended clause allowing a company to charge for removal of any and every animal that can be trapped on the property, as a way of insuring that other problems that could be caused by "non-target" species are prevented. This is an unethical practice and will not solve conflicts for the long-term.
   
   
6. Obtain a referral for the company from a local wildlife rehabilitator, humane society or animal control agency.  Ask these references how they have determined the company uses humane practices. 
   
   

   The HSUS

   Installing a chimney cap.

7. You can also request written assurance that the company's practices are in compliance with federal, state, provincial and local laws and regulations and that the company carries commercial liability insurance. And you can always ask for references from previous customers. 

Posted Nov. 13, 2007