Sometimes snakes can be a pain to find. A lot of times they will make their way under a slab of cement, shed, or other obstacle. Sometimes, like today, they’re just really well hidden. I was called out to a house in Orlando. The customer had been seeing what he was pretty sure was just a common black snake. He didn’t really mind snakes but wasn’t a fan either and decided it was time for it to go. I got there and started looking for the snake around the back pool cage where he had been seeing it. I looked and looked and looked for an hour or so and couldn’t find it. I sat and watched for a little while as I’ve noticed sometimes they’ll pop out of wherever they’re hiding if left alone. Still no snake. I started looking again through all the bushes and trees as I occasionally find them there. Sure enough, I spotted a little bit of black movement in the middle of a bush. I watched it as the snake slowly moved upward towards the top of the bush and popped its head out. Finally, I had found it.
Black Racer In Bush In OrlandoBlack Snake In Bush Orlando RemovalBlack Snake Removed From Orlando Shrub
We were called out today to find out what was running around in a customer’s attic. I pulled up to the house and immediately had suspicions of it being an issue with raccoons in the attic as I could see a large hole in the soffit at the roof joint. I went through my usual routine of trying to find out how long the animal has been there, what the customer is hearing, when they hear it, and any other interesting details.
People have described what they’re hearing in a lot of colorful ways but this was probably my favorite.
The customer said, “every night it sounds like someone is bowling in my attic.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. She went on to describe how it sounds like a really heavy ball rolling across the ceiling to the other end of a room or the house and slamming into something. Then it would go another way, over and over. It definitely sounded like she had raccoons in her attic. I grabbed my camera, flashlights, and respirator as I prepared to check the attic out for damage and to confirm that it was raccoons she was hearing. Sometimes they’re still in the attic when I go in but unless you corner them or get near their babies, they stay clear.
The Raccoon Search Begins
I popped open the attic access and instantly heard something scamper across the attic and out of the hole in the soffit I saw earlier. I walked outside with my camera to try and find the animal and after a couple minutes spotted two juvenile raccoons behind the house fifteen feet or so into the tree line. I walked a little closer to get clear of the brush and limbs to get some pictures. One of them took off deeper into the wooded area. The other stayed put, clung to a tree, as raccoons are great climbers. I snapped a couple pictures and went back to finish the attic and exterior inspection.
Luckily, the raccoons hadn’t done any damage to the HVAC system or wiring in the attic. You could definitely see where they had been “bowling” though. Insulation was thrown everywhere as they ran back and forth, playing just like dogs do with one another.
Juvenile Raccoon in Tree Orlando Raccoon in attic found nesting in tree
Today I went out to check on a bee hive that we had sprayed yesterday in order to clean out the hive and seal the hole. An Orlando customer and her two kids had been stung several times by bees over the last few days. The customer noticed the bees flying in and out of a hole fifteen to twenty feet off the ground in a tree. I donned my bee keeper suit and sprayed the bees and hive yesterday.
Bees Are Gone And The Customer Is Happy
Today, the only thing left is the empty bee hive. I will clean out as much of the hive as possible and seal the hole in the tree to prevent another swarm of bees from starting another colony in the same hole.
