If you have a problem with wildlife in your Ithaca home, your best option is to hire a company that specializes in New York 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 New York and Ithaca, and I recommend the following:

Fur and Feathers Wildlife Control
Cell Phone: 607-353-6330

NOTE: If you have a dog or cat problem, call Tompkins County Animal Services: (607) 257-1822

Fur and Feathers Wildlife Control specializes primarily in removing animals from attics of homes and buildings - this includes squirrels in attics, raccoons, and rats or mice in homes. New York also has a documented problem with bats in buildings, and Fur and Feathers Wildlife Control 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 607-353-6330 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:

• Specializes in wildlife removal, not pest control
• Fully New York and Tompkins County licensed and insured
• Works 7 days per week (critters don't take weekends off)
• Performs full building inspections: enters and inspects attic
• Performs exclusion repairs, with guarantee against animal re-entry
• Offers cleanup of biohazardous wildlife waste



Fur and Feathers Wildlife Control is a full-service Ithaca wildlife removal company. This is very different from a regular Ithaca pest control company. The pest control companies spray poison to kill insects. This is not at all similar to wildlife removal. Fur and Feathers Wildlife Control 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.

Ithaca wildlife trapping - it's not as simple as it may seem. It's illegal in New York 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 New York law. We offer Ithaca raccoon removal. Read more about how to get rid of raccoons.

Animals in attics - this is our specialty at Fur and Feathers Wildlife Control. 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 Ithaca 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 Ithaca 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 Ithaca rat removal. Read more about how to get rid of rats.

Bat removal is a highly specialized task. New York 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 Ithaca pigeon removal and bird control. But our specialty is Ithaca 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 Ithaca trapper who only removes the critters, then the problem will return. You need to hire a Ithaca 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. Fur and Feathers Wildlife Control does both.

The above are just some of the services offered by Fur and Feathers Wildlife Control. 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. Fur and Feathers Wildlife Control also provides dead animal removal in Ithaca. 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 Ithaca snake removal - most of the snakes in New York are not venomous, but call us if you want safe removal, or read about how to get rid of snakes in Ithaca. And remember, we are a private business, not Tompkins County Animal Control Services, so if you have a dog or cat problem, call the County at (607) 257-1822. Tompkins County animal services does not handle any wildlife issues.


Fur and Feathers Wildlife Control: 607-353-6330

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Ithaca Pricing Info For Year 2020

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.

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Ithaca Wildlife Tip #1:
What kind of poison will kill a raccoon or groundhog? Extermination is a road that you probably aren't going to want to go down when it comes to removing a raccoon or groundhog from your life, although you would be forgiven for thinking about. As yet, there are no registered poisons that have been deemed safe and humane to kill a raccoon or groundhog, which is why you should look at other extermination methods, such as using kill traps. This is even more so the case if you want your raccoon or groundhog to have a somewhat humane death. Usually, rat poison is used to kill a raccoon or groundhog, and although it might work, it will generally take a long time, in some cases - 4 weeks or more. As you can probably imagine, this will be a long and painful death, with the animal suffering with related conditions of the poisoning, rather than the poisoning itself - blood loss, internal bleeding and even anemia. These are all things that have proven to be very painful - is it really worth it? You are already ending the raccoon or groundhog's life; do you really want to put it through that much pain beforehand? There are so many risk factors that you are going to need to put some serious thought into if you decide to use poison. Firstly, are your children going to be safe? Secondly, are you going to kill your dog or cat, or even other household pets in the community? Thirdly, could you be the cause of secondary poisoning? This is when a predator eats the carcass of the raccoon or groundhog that has died as a result of poisoning, thus transferring the poisoning residue to another animal. This could potentially kill wildlife that you may actively be encouraging into your garden. If you really want to get rid of that raccoon or groundhog, there are so many other options open to you that poisoning should really be a last resort, especially if you are not willing to put your time and effort into researching it first.

Ithaca Wildlife Tip #2:
Skunk break into house - A skunk won't break into a house if that building is fortified as a home should be. Fortifying your home isn't about installing bars or fencing around the perimeter. All it takes to keep a skunk out of the home is regular preventative maintenance. This is the most important thing you can do as a homeowner. Cracks need to be repaired. Siding needs to be fixed and replaced. You can't leave screens torn and windows broken. Doing these things only invites a wild animal inside. If a skunk comes into your home, probably during the night, it did so because it found the task easy, and because there was something drawing it inside. That "something" was most likely food of some sort. People forget that cat and dog food is real food and contains real meat and vegetable protein. A skunk will love this kind of easy meal. If you have pets, you should pick up their bowls once they have walked away-unless your home is secure. If the skunk is inside and you're not sure what to do with the animal, chances are it is just as afraid of you as you are of it. You can't spray it with a putrid odor, but the you share a mutual ddesire for the animal to get outside. Open a few doors and wait patiently. The skunk will find its way out. If not, call a wildlife removal company.

New York Wildlife Information:

New York State State bird: Eastern bluebird
State mammal: Beaver
State amphibian: Wood frog
State fish: Brook trout and striped bass
State insect: 9-spotted ladybug
State reptile: Common snapping turtle

New York, the Empire State, has a diverse population of animals, attributed to the state's variety of landscapes and wide range of temperatures. Not only are there heat-loving animals in New York, like snakes, frogs, and turtles, there are a good number of animals just as oriented to survival in cold weather, like wolves, bear, and deer. Most of these cold-to-warm critters have adaptations not seen in other states. White-tailed deer, for example, will store fat and develop thick coats for the cold season, whereas their cousins in the warmer southern states have no need for such an improvement. If winter is too much for an animal in New York State, it either enters of form of hibernation or it migrates. This is true for the numerous bats, woodchucks, geese, amphibians, and snakes in the area.

People who aren't from New York often associate the state with the large city that shares its name. New York City, though it houses the majority of people in the state, is just a small part of the landscape. Upstate New York, which can be rural or urban, is far larger, and has the bulk of wildlife New York is known for.

Unfortunately, because New York is widely populated with the exception of the Adirondack Mountains, most of the animals in the state have the potential to become nuisances. Residents have their fair share of raccoon, opossum, skunk, and woodchuck invasions every year. Beaver, though not as densely populated as they once were, number in the hundreds of thousands. These creatures are not terribly problematic unless homeowners live near bodies of water that are being flooded or drained due to beaver activity. Some landscape damage from tree-felling is also characteristic of this wood-loving critter. While beaver, skunks, squirrels, and woodchucks aren't predatory to people, there are a number of dangerous wild animals in New York that can become pests. The number one problem predator is the coyote. Because of a population boom, this canine has spread to both urban and rural areas, killing pets and livestock, posing a threat to small children. Coyotes are also common carriers of rabies in the state along with skunks and raccoons.

When it comes to rabies, however, bats are still the number one species for infection in New York. There are thousands of confirmed animal rabies cases in the state every year, and the Department of Environmental Control took to vaccinating the animal population with vaccine-doctored food blocks dropped into the wild by way of helicopter.

You can always call Fur and Feathers Wildlife Control, any time of day, at 607-353-6330, for a price quote for Ithaca wildlife control services. I am confident that this is the best choice amongst wildlife removal companies in Ithaca, NY.