Bats Removed From Ellenton Home (Bay News9)

Bats In Ellenton Home

ELLENTON 

A Manatee County family is battling a bat problem.

Leo and Joan Masucci, who live in Ellenton’s Colony Cove, said hundreds of bats recently moved into their home, causing major problems for them.

“You can’t imagine how stressful this has been for us,” Joan Masucci said.

The couple said that at first, they didn’t even realize the bats were there. Then, after a few months, they started smelling a rotten odor.

“I thought there was a dead animal under the house,” Leo Masucci said.

The bats were not visible to the homeowners because they were up above the ceiling. They were able to get into the home through a small hole in the back of the house.

The bats chewed through the drywall, shredded the duct work and left feces all over, which created the terrible odor.

Despite learning about the problem, the couple couldn’t do anything about it because of what time of the year it was.

“From April 15 to Aug. 15, bats here in Florida are protected,” said Christy Norris, who works with Nuisance Wildlife Removal. “There’s a maternity season, and you can’t exclude them in any way shape or form during that time.”

So the couple waited until after the protection date to move forward. However, now they’re dealing with another problem.

To repair all of the damage done to their home, it’s going to cost an estimated $15,000.

The couple thought their homeowner’s insurance would pay for it, but they’ve been told the repairs are not covered.

Bay News 9 contacted the homeowner’s insurance company, American Traditions. A representative said the company is aware of the problem and is looking into it.

The homeowners fear for their health and said that because of that, along with the smell and damages, they’ve moved out.

The Masuccis said they have decided to pay for the repairs themselves so they can return home soon. However, they’re still trying to convince their insurance company to cover the costs.

Nuisance Wildlife Removal and another team are now working on the home.

The couple says this is something they never thought was possible and now they’re warning others.

“I’d like people to know to make sure their homes are checked and that holes are filled in,” Joan Masucci said.  “There are a lot of bats looking to nest. I don’t want anyone else to have this same problem.”

 

Bats Attack – Are You The Next Target?

Your family will not have to go through this kind of trauma when you get a free home evaluation form the bat experts at nuisance Wildlife Trapper Inc.  So call today to gain peace of mind from filthy flying rodents living in your home.

CALL 866-263-WILD (9453)

 

Dead Opossum in Attic

Dead Opossum In Attic In Orlando

“There’s a what in my attic,” exclaimed an Orlando customer today.

We routinely get called out to figure out why someone’s house has a dead smell emanating from seemingly everywhere, especially the attic.

Dead Opossum in Attic
Dead Opossum in Attic

A dead rat or mouse is generally the reason for the offending smell.  A lot of times customers attempt to rid their nuisance rodents themselves by poisoning them with various products.

While effective, there are a couple of issues with using poison.

  • It often leads to a rat dying in the attic or a wall and sometimes that noise coming from the attic isn’t a rat or mouse.  Sometimes it’s a squirrel or raccoon.
  • Less frequently, and to the surprise of a lot of people, it’s an opossum.

Today It Was An Opossum

That was exactly the case today.  A customer had been hearing something running along the ceiling off and on for a couple weeks.  Assuming it was a rat he went to Home Depot in Orlando, bought some rat poison, and threw it in the attic.  After the poison killed the opossum the homeowner finally gave in and called us out as the problem now was only getting worse.  I removed the dead opossum and explained that it wasn’t rats he was hearing but that the opossum had been living in the attic.

After getting over the shock that an opossum could or would want to be in his attic he asked how to prevent it and other animals from getting back into the attic.  I explained our exclusion process and plan on being back out tomorrow to seal the exterior of the house to prevent reentry.

Why play around with an opossum that really is dead, not just playing dead. Get a professional wild animal removal expert on the job as fast as possible.

 

CALL 866-263-WILD (9453)

Empty House Inviting To Rats

Rats Move In Very Quickly

Homes left vacant for extended periods of time are prime breeding ground for animals, especially rats. Whether it’s a foreclosed, inherited, or vacation home, if steps aren’t taken to seal the entire structure off from animals prior to vacating the home, the owner is asking for an infestation of rats or another animals upon returning.

Today was the perfect example. A couple from northern Georgia inherited a home from a recently deceased relative. They removed most everything inside and simply locked up and left it until the following year. They also had the water and power shut off, a big mistake.

I was let in by a neighbor and immediately was overwhelmed with the stench of feces, urine, and a dead animal. The carpet was covered in rat feces and chewed throughout the house. Drywall had been chewed through and a dead rat was found in the toilet. With the water being off the rats were free to run through the plumbing from the sewer and come up through toilets and sinks.

The outside of the home also showed evidence of the rats traveling between the inside and outside where vents and other entry points were not covered or covered poorly with thin mesh that was simply chewed through.

 

A Good Rat Ousting Is In Order

An extensive cleaning will need to be done on the inside, an exclusion done on the outside, the water turned back on, and a plumber will need to be out to see if the integrity of the plumbing has been compromised.

 

Snow Birds Take Flight

Strange Noises Coming From The Attic

I received a phone call from a local management company today in reference to a complaint from their tenant hearing noises in the attic of a manufactured home. We scheduled an appointment for an inspection of the property, offering same day service to eliminate the management company possibly losing a seasonal renter.

A Thorough Inspection Is Needed

We arrived at the local Bradenton mobile home community and met with the tenants, who were more than grateful to see us.  After listening to their observations we were fairly certain that the issue at hand was rodents nesting in the ceiling.  But, to be sure, a complete inspection of the entire mobile home was done. It was noted that the entire underneath of the home was wide open.  All of the breather blocks along the foundation had never been sealed against rodents or any animals. There were also several vents and a few areas around the water heater that were wide open, allowing easy access for the rodents straight into the walls leading to the ceiling. After we completed the inspection we explained to the tenant that we would call the management company, discuss our findings and proceed upon approval.

We Are Always Intent On Meeting The Customer Needs

We are always very cautious on what we discuss with the tenants, thus leaving it up to the management company to explain in everything in-depth from their standpoint.  Again this lessens the chance of them losing their tenant.  Everything was discussed with the management company.  It was explained that we would need to exclude the entire perimeter of the trailer, screen around the bottom, seal the miscellaneous open vents and water heater area.

Once the exclusion is complete we would then start the trapping process to remove the rodents trapped inside the sealed perimeter.  We do not use any poison as we would not want the resident to end up with a dead animal under the home or in a wall.

Their Vacation Was Back On Track

After everything was explained to the management company the proposal was accepted and the exclusion has been scheduled.  I then phoned the tenant to let them know that we would be out to relieve them of further sleepless nights.  They were more than ecstatic to say the least!

Squirrels Take Over

Squirrels Running Rampant In Podiatry Office

Nuisance Wildlife Removal received a phone call late Thursday afternoon from a Sarasota Podiatry office in reference to a very foul, dead animal smell.  They also said that they had and are still hearing a lot of noises in the drop ceiling of the office.

We scheduled an appointment for Friday since they were planning on being closed. With the office being closed up over night as soon as we arrived and the door was open  the horrible dead animal smell had taken over the entire office.

Fortunately the staff had somewhat pin-pointed the area of where the smell was most prominent.  It seemed to be coming from the bottom of the wall behind the drywall.  We went into the attic to see if we could retrieve the dead animal in the wall but the way it was constructed there was not a way to reach all the way to the bottom. We could however see it laying right at the base on the ground and it was a squirrel.

Dead Squirrel Found And Removed

So, in order to cause the least damage to the building while retrieving the dead animal we removed the base board and cut a small piece of drywall out at the bottom of the wall.  This minimized the necessary repairs.  After the dead animal was removed and an enzyme treatment was done to eliminate the odor and bacteria, we then did a complete inspection of the commercial property.

There were a total of five other offices joined together and we knew that they did not want to encounter the same issue. Upon inspection it was noted that the squirrels had definitely made themselves right at home. There were several nesting sights throughout the building and while we were inspecting we saw a squirrel exiting the building from an opening in the soffit.  We proposed an estimate to seal the entire commercial complex and to humanely trap and remove the squirrels.

The owner of the building was more than happy with all of our suggestions and gladly accepted. We will be relieving  the doctors of their “unwanted” patients in no time!