Have you seen damage from squirrels in your air ducts in Memphis TN? We specialize in removing squirrels in your air ducts. During the warm summer months, squirrels will mostly stay outside in the fresh air and nest in trees. Attics are too hot, so squirrels like to stay in the open breeze.  But when the temperatures begin to drop, squirrels will start looking for warm places to nest.

Having squirrels in your air ducts can be a problem for many reasons. First, the nesting material they use is very flammable. This can potentially lead to a fire in your home. A squirrel’s teeth constantly grow, so they will chew on different things to regulate the size of their teeth. This includes your electrical wires. If this chewing happens to create a spark, then a house fire is very possible.

Second, you will also begin to notice a foul odor in your home from the squirrels’ fecal droppings. Your ventilation system will send the odor of urine and feces throughout your entire home. If you suddenly notice that your family is not feeling well or has any odd symptoms, go to a doctor. Let the doctor know there is the potential of a respiratory infection from wildlife.

When we receive a call indicating a squirrel may be stuck, time is of the essence. Once an animal is stuck, it can dehydrate quickly from over exertion. It's much easier to find a squirrel making noise than trying to find it by smell once it has died somewhere in your home.

A live squirrel will be scratching and clawing frantically looking for a way to get out. This can happen if they accidentally fall into a wall crevice. It can also happen if a juvenile squirrel has become lost from its nest. Our technician will use a drill and boroscope to try to locate the squirrel. If he can see and get to it, he will cut a hole large enough to capture the squirrel. He can either use a catch-pole or a net depending on the circumstance. The customer is responsible for repairing the wall once the squirrel is removed. Apex Wildlife Control does not do carpentry work such as patching up walls after animal removal.

Apex Wildlife Control offers a dead animal removal and deodorization service. If a squirrel has perished in your duct-work, you will start to smell a strong odor that may last weeks. With a dead squirrel in the duct-work, the odor is not be centralized and will spread throughout your home. If this happens, it can be very difficult to find where the squirrel is located.  This is why we always urge people to call Apex Wildlife Control as soon as they think a squirrel may be stuck in the wall or duct-work.

Apex Wildlife Control performs interior and exterior squirrel inspections. Our technicians go into your attic and look for fecal droppings to verify the species. Then they check for chewed wires, damage to your duct-work or HVAC, as well as other signs of wildlife. Following the interior inspection, we perform a full exterior inspection. This inspections consists of locating all potential points of entry. This inspection begins at the foundation of your home and extends to your rooftop.  The technician will document his interior and exterior inspections with photos of his findings.  These photos will be emailed to you at the end of the inspection.

Once the inspection is complete, the technician will provide you with an estimate detailing not only trapping but also the sealing of your home against wildlife, also known as exclusion.  This estimate will include the necessary sealing and trapping options, and the photos will show actual and potential points of entry.

During the exclusion process, we will completely seal the property with the exception of one primary entry point. This ensures that there is only one way for an animal to get in or out of your property. 

Once the property has been completely sealed, we will set an excluder trap over the only remaining entry point. This trap will allow the animal to exit the property but not reenter. This will ensure that no animals are trapped inside of your home once all of the other areas have been sealed. This trap will remain in place for up to 7 days following the sealing of your home. Following this 7 day period, we will remove the trap, seal the remaining area, and begin your one year warranty against re-entry. 

The location of these traps will be shown to you during the initial set up. In addition to this trap, we also set interior traps for rodents. These are placed in the attic or crawl space respectively.  These traps are set in addition to the excluder trap, because of the potential for higher numbers of rodents in the home.

Squirrels are known to carry numerous diseases, though only a few are dangerous to humans. Some of the more common include tularemia, typhus, plague, and ringworm. Such diseases are transmitted through bites or other forms of direct contact with infected squirrels. Tularemia, typhus, and plague have symptoms that mimic the flu and can be deadly when left untreated. While all mammals are capable of getting rabies, squirrels are very rarely rabid.

Other diseases squirrels transmit to humans come from the various parasites they carry. Rife with parasites such as fleas, ticks, and mites, squirrels living in proximity to homes frequently pass these tiny pests on to both humans and pets. Some of the diseases humans can get from the parasites include Lyme disease, Encephalitis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Many of these diseases are fatal when left untreated, so individuals should monitor for symptoms, and seek medical attention after coming in contact with squirrel urine or feces.  Breathing in particles of the animal's excrement is the most common method of disease transmission.  Squirrels can build nests in your attic, soffits and gutters that can contain all kinds of disease that can make you and your family very sick.

Keeping squirrels off your property and out of houses is the best way to ensure the health and safety of both homeowners and their pets. While screening and capping vents and chimneys is effective, entry points like windows, doors, and holes in the roof should also be properly sealed.

Our company does not fix rotted wood or do any major carpentry work. If there is a lot that needs to be done, we ask that you have a carpenter come out to assess your home and repair those areas first.  The little fellow to your right seems perfectly happy with the easy access this rotted wood provides him!  Obviously we could not seal this area up without this rotted wood being replaces first. Our main focus with exclusion work is sealing up the small gaps, securing vents and patching up the smaller holes. If there is rotted wood around your home, it needs to be repaired before we perform exclusion. We can’t secure any of our work to something that could fall apart or is easily chewed through.

At Apex Wildlife Control, we pride ourselves in providing the highest quality work. We want satisfied customers who know our work is going to hold up and last!

So if you have some fuzzy-tailed little friends hiding in your air ducts, give us a call today.  We're here to help!