If you have a problem with wildlife in your Cave Spring home, your best option is to hire a company that specializes in Virginia wildlife removal only. This is a specialty business, and regular pest control companies do not use the proper techniques to solve animal problems. I have spent many years reviewing Virginia and Cave Spring, and I recommend the following:
NOTE: If you have a dog or cat problem, call Roanoke County Animal Services: (540) 777-8606
Blue Ridge Wildlife & Pest Management, LLC specializes primarily in removing animals from attics of homes and buildings - this includes squirrels in attics, raccoons, and rats or mice in homes. Virginia also has a documented problem with
bats in buildings, and Blue Ridge Wildlife & Pest Management, LLC is specially trained in bat removal. They also perform general wildlife trapping services, such as the capture and removal of skunks or opossums on the
property. Call 540-322-3005 to discuss your critter problem and schedule a same-day or next-day appointment. Click here to learn more about what prices we charge in 2020.
When hiring a company to solve your wild animal problem, you want these features:
Blue Ridge Wildlife & Pest Management, LLC is a full-service Cave Spring wildlife removal company. This is very different from a regular Cave Spring pest control company. The pest control companies spray poison to kill insects. This is not at all
similar to wildlife removal. Blue Ridge Wildlife & Pest Management, LLC performs a full inspection of the home or property, and determines why the animal(s) are there, and if inside a building, how the animals got inside. All
animals (including rodents) are trapped and removed, or if possible, removed from the building using special exclusion devices. Once the animals are gone, preventative repairs are essential, and
cleanup is sometimes recommended.
Cave Spring wildlife trapping - it's not as simple as it may seem. It's illegal in Virginia to trap without a license. Trap type is very important and there are many different types, bait is somewhat relevant, trap placement
is vital, and there are dozens of small things that are very important to know.
Safety is a concern. Then once the animal is trapped, it must be removed and dealt with in the proper manner according to Virginia law. We offer Cave Spring raccoon removal. Read more about how to get rid of raccoons.
Animals in attics - this is our specialty at Blue Ridge Wildlife & Pest Management, LLC. Many types of animals like to live in attics. This includes squirrels, raccoons, rats, mice, bats, birds, and even possums. Critters like to go into attics for a safe place to live
and raise their young. Removing animals from attics is very complex work, partly because of the presence of baby animals. If you need Cave Spring squirrel removal, we can remove all the squirrels from your attic, and seal out any future ones. Read more about how to get rid of squirrels.
Rodent control must be done in a very specific way. First off, the most important thing is that all the openings that rats and mice can use to enter a house be sealed. Then all the rodents must be physically trapped and removed.
Never, ever use poison! Most Cave Spring exterminators will just use this lazy poison technique to kill rodents, and it causes more harm than good - dead stinky rats, and it doesn't solve the problem. Call us for correct Cave Spring rat removal. Read more about how to get rid of rats.
Bat removal is a highly specialized task. Virginia is known to have colonizing bats who often live in buildings. Bats love attics. If not removed, the colony can grow to a very large size over the years. The bat droppings are often corrosive and
cause health risks. The same goes for bird droppings on or in buildings. We perform Cave Spring pigeon removal and bird control. But our specialty is Cave Spring bat removal. We remove 100% of the bat colony and seal the building so that it's totally bat-proof. Read more about how to get rid of bats.
If you have animals inside a house, no job is complete without proper exclusion repairs. If you simply hire a Cave Spring trapper who only removes the critters, then the problem will return. You need to hire a Cave Spring wildlife control company that identifies 100% of the animal entry points
into your building, and seals them shut with professional repairs. In addition, in many cases animals have left waste or contamination behind, and you'll want a company that can provide professional cleaning services. Blue Ridge Wildlife & Pest Management, LLC does both.
The above are just some of the services offered by Blue Ridge Wildlife & Pest Management, LLC. We also trap and remove animals that destroy lawns, such as moles, or digging animals. Sometimes animals like opossums will live under buildings, steal pet food, raid garbage cans, etc.
Read about how to get rid of opossums. Skunks commonly live under sheds or decks, and set up a den. We can trap and remove them without them spraying. Read about how to get rid of skunks. Blue Ridge Wildlife & Pest Management, LLC
also provides dead animal removal in Cave Spring. If you need help with any other wildlife conflict, from a fox, beaver, groundhog, or any other critter, we can solve it. We also do Cave Spring snake removal - most of the snakes in Virginia are not venomous, but
call us if you want safe removal, or read about how to get rid of snakes in Cave Spring. And remember, we are a private business, not Roanoke County Animal Control Services, so if you have a dog or cat problem, call the County at (540) 777-8606.
Roanoke County animal services does not handle any wildlife issues.
Every wildlife removal situation is different, from the species of animals involved, the location of the animal inside a house or outside, the extent of repairs or cleanup, etc. It's impossible to give one-size-fits-all prices. Examples MIGHT include:
Small Job: For example, a one-stop job to remove an animal in the yard: $100 on up
Medium Job: For example, getting critters out of your house with minor repairs: $300 on up
Large Job: For example, a project involving many service trips and complex work: $500 on up
Give us a phone call now and tell us about your wildlife issue and we will be able to give you a price estimate over the phone. If you're cool with it, we can schedule a same-day or next-day appointment if you like. Our prices are fair, and a good value because we do the job right, the first time.
Cave Spring Wildlife Tip #1:
Wildlife Behavior: Why Groundhogs Dig
If you have not had the opportunity to see a groundhog in nature, exhibiting its characteristic behavior, they a really quite interesting to watch. While this large rodent can also be one of the most destructive creatures due to its size and strength, it is genetically designed to dig.
Groundhog Biology:
From children's stories and fairytales, the Marmota monax known by its binomial name, the groundhog or woodchuck as it is also referred to, has physical features specifically for the purpose of digging. The groundhog has an arched backbone with short limbs like most ground dwelling animals. In addition, the groundhog has curved thick, claws that can easily remove roots and small branches when digging.
Groundhog Digging and Habitat:
One reason that groundhogs dig is due to the fact that the live underground in burrows. Although capable of climbing, their lives are spent primarily on the ground. Their behavior is heavily dictated by seasonal changes. This animal who weighs between 5 and 14 pounds will dig very deep into the ground to make a home sufficient for its size and usually lives with a few others of its kind. Unfortunately, the elaborate tunnels of burrowing can sometimes destabilize or damage structures above ground which can be extremely costly for the human counterpart of this ecosystem. The groundhog is also a hibernating animal. When the grounds begin to freeze, the groundhog will hibernate until the thaws begin based on geography, anywhere from 2 to 5 months.
Digging Herbivore:
The dietary requirements and breeding cycle of the groundhog are also factors in the natural digging patterns of these creatures. When they come out of hibernation, they have used up the fat stores in their bodies and have a ravenous appetite. This is also the time in which mating season begins and it is time for females to build up their fat stores for motherhood, and both males and females will be building up their weight for the next season's hibernation. The groundhog will dig up several pounds of grasses and vegetation per week. This is one of the reasons they can be so destructive to gardens, crops, farms and structures. Fresh vegetation is also their only source of water. They do not drink water like most animals and survive on juice from fresh plants, and rain water from freshly dug roots.
And lastly, the nature of the groundhog is fight or flight. These animals are very fast and although they have few natural predators aside from humans they dig to avoid danger and prefer not to get too close to other species of animal. The sheer simplicity of this creature and physical makeup are designed to dig.
Cave Spring Wildlife Tip #2:
Virginia Wildlife Information:
Virginia State bird: Northern cardinal
State mammal: Virginia big-eared bat
State fish: Brook trout, striped bass
State insect: Tiger swallowtail butterfly
Virginia is attached to the Chesapeake Bay, and because of this, it has a large coastal plain that extends inland, passing the bay's tributaries and eventually ending at the swelling of rocky foothills. Those foothills spread into the Blue Ridge Mountains, an extension of the Appalachian range. The state has an abundance of carbonated rock which has led to the creation of thousands of cave systems. Ten of those systems are currently open to the public, leaving about 3,990 on private land or currently uncharted. Along with the caves comes a variety of bat species, including the big brown bat, Brazilian free-tailed bat, eastern red bat, evening bat, gray bat, and the hoary bat, to name a few. Caves are the perfect habitat for these animals, which can either migrate or hibernate in the colder months. While Virginia is not prone to particularly harsh winters, the cave systems make a good, temperature-controlled place for hibernation.
Bats, though numerous, are only a small portion of the animal population in Virginia. The state has a number of predators including black bears, bobcats, cougars, and coyotes. This state doesn't have huge issues with the larger predators mainly because of how mountainous and wild the habitat has remained. The coastal plain is much more covered in people's homes, and this is where critters like squirrels and raccoons love to play. Because of the amount of trees in this state, it doesn't take long for a vertical-loving animal to find a way into a house. While raccoons and squirrels are definitely on the list of nuisance animals, they are among a score of others including woodchucks, skunks, porcupines, and opossums.
The state is also perfect for birds, and Virginia has a population of golden eagles, a large avian that tends to live in isolated settings across the globe. Not much research has been done on the golden eagle, and Virginia wildlife authorities hope they can study the growing population and shed some light on the species.
The fresh water feeding into the Chesapeake Bay provides a good ecosystem for amphibians and reptiles, and Virginia has a number of water-loving snakes including the cottonmouth and the common water snake. The state also has glass lizards, a snake-like creature, and the only limbless lizard in the United States.
You can always call Blue Ridge Wildlife & Pest Management, LLC, any time of day, at 540-322-3005, for a price quote for Cave Spring wildlife control services. I am confident that this is the best choice amongst wildlife removal companies in Cave Spring, VA.