Cowleys Pest Services Before & After Photos

After the Little Rascals Nuisance Wildlife team had safely removed all the bats from this residence in Allenhurst, NJ, attic we were sent out to remove the contaminated insulation and replace it.

We removed all the contaminated insulation, disinfected the entire attic, and added about 12" of TruSoft blown-in cellulose insulation. TruSoft is blown-in cellulose insulation that, unlike fiberglass batts and blankets, effectively covers every attic corner, nook, and cranny, providing complete insulation coverage. This insulation offers top-notch thermal and acoustical (sound-deadening) properties.  

TruSoft blown-in cellulose insulation also has a higher R-value than standard fiberglass insulation, has the highest Class-1 fire safety rating, is resistant to mold and pests, is eco-friendly, maximizes home comfort, and optimizes energy usage for year-round peace and savings.

The property manager of a professional services building in Ocean Township, NJ, observed turkey vultures landing on the peak of the roof. The primary nuisance birds in New Jersey are pigeons, house sparrows, starlings, and seagulls. However, every so often, residences and commercial buildings are used as nesting and roosting spots by other bird species, including vultures!

Many are surprised to learn that there are vultures in New Jersey. We are home to two vultures species, turkey vultures and black vultures. Turkey vultures, whose bald red head and dark plumage resembles wild turkeys, are historic residents of the state. Black vultures are a more recent arrival. Vultures are nature’s clean-up crew that help our ecosystem by feeding on dead, decomposing animal carcasses (carrion). The reduce the risk of disease and contamination from rotting animals. If our road maintenance crews don’t quickly remove roadkill left behind on our busy New Jersey roadways, these birds are happy to take over.  How can vultures eat decomposing, even diseased, flesh and organs without getting sick? They have highly acidic stomach acids that kills any pathogens. These acids are also their primary defense mechanism. If threatened, vultures will regurgitate its rancid stomach acids, not to mention its stomach contents, onto an intruder. Most intruders, once covered with vulture vomit, tend to rethink their plans.  

Vultures are a protected migratory bird species, as are most birds. The objective with bird control is to make your property inhospitable to birds using deterrents, so they change their behavior and move elsewhere. They types of deterrents depend on the type of bird infestation and the specifics of the property. There is no one-size-fits-all single bird solution.  

For this particular bird job, we installed 80 feet of shock track along the entire peak of the roof. These tracks gives off a low-volt shock should a bird attempt to land. It does not harm them in any way, but it does send a clear message to seek another area to rest. Even for birds, that aren’t the brightest, it does not take too many negative reinforcements for them to realize that they are no longer welcomed here.  

Needless to say, the property manager was quite pleased for these birds to be gone. Most of the businesses operating here are for professional medical services. The last thing anyone wants to see when visiting their doctor or dentist is seeing large birds hovering overhead that are, literally, waiting for death. With the shock tracks in place, these unattractive birds will no longer be taking up residence on the roof, making a mess from their droppings and making visitors uncomfortable. 

This homeowner in Highlands had wildlife gaining entry into his attic through a gable vent. The wire mesh screen covering the gable vents was damaged, most likely from the animals themselves. With the screen breached, they were able to gain access into the attic.

Homes are equipped with attic vents to provide efficient ventilation. They allow heat and humidity to escape from the attic in the summer and moist air in the winter. You’ll find vents on the underside of your soffits and on the home’s gables, which are the triangular portion of the outside wall of a house that comes to a peak between the edges of the intersecting roof pitches. Homes with a simple gable roof (two roof sections sloping in opposite directions that meet at the roof ridge), typically have gable vents at the two ends of the house, and sometimes over the garage. Homes with more ornate roof structures with multiple gables usually have multiple gable vents. While these vents are necessary for efficient attic ventilation, they often wind up being the “weakest link” in the roof structure for wildlife to gain access. Time and time again, our wildlife technicians have had to deal with infestations with wildlife that used a gable vent as their personal welcome mat to enter the attic. Once inside, wildlife can cause significant property damage. They can ruin expensive insulation and chew through wires, creating a fire hazard, and their droppings are a serious health hazard.

Two members of Cowleys home construction crew were sent in to do the exclusion work and make sure that, going forward, wildlife would be blocked from trying to re-enter the attic through this vent. We carefully removed the damaged screen and installed a new one.

This customer in Ocean Grove, NJ had a rather unique situation - pigeons were nesting inside his chimney and making a huge mess! So we were sent out to safely remove them. In fact, a short while after setting up our retrieval devices, we were able to safely remove them from the home! We then carefully disinfected the chimney.

Although the pigeons were safely removed from the home, the chimney is still vulnerable to infestations from other nuisance birds and raccoons too. To solve this, we installed a chimney cap! This heavy-duty material is constructed out of 24 Gauge Top and Flange, and 18 Gauge Galvanized Mesh! It is designed to prevent access to the chimney from all nuisance birds and wildlife!

Previously, we successfully and safely retrieved a squirrel from this customer's home in Deal, NJ. What had happened was the squirrel had chewed right into the wooden fascia board and made their way into the property! Now that the squirrel has been removed safely, we disinfected the area and began our exclusion process!

We fashioned a piece of sturdy metal flashing and installed over the damaged area of the fascia board. This is going to exclude squirrels, as well as other nuisance wildlife, from gaining access into the home through this area.