Cowleys Pest Services Before & After Photos

This customer in Fords, NJ was getting ready to head to the grocery store when she spotted a few yellow jackets building a nest right by her front door! She quickly ran back inside, canceled her plans to go out, and called Cowleys for help and we were sent out. Yellow jackets are aggressive, territorial wasps, with distinctive yellow-and-black coloration, that are known for their propensity to sting anyone and anything that they perceive as a threat, such as those who venture too close to their nests or their food.

When we arrived, we equipped our protective bee suit and treated the yellow jackets & their nest with a knockdown aerosol product. This treatment rapidly exterminates them quickly. After some time had passed, we removed the nest, disposed of it, and then applied a liquid non-repellent residual application. This will eliminate any and all yellow jackets that return to the area as well as prevent them, and all other stinging insects, from creating a new nest. 

A homeowner in Keasbey contacted Cowleys after hearing strange wildlife scratching and scurrying noises in her basement and inside her wall voids. Mice use wall voids to travel unseen inside a home when foraging for food. Even though mice inevitably find their way into the kitchen for food, they may be nesting anywhere. Rodents have a “gift” for staying out of sight since these nocturnal creatures do their foraging at night. Often, you’ll see signs of rodent activity well before spotting a live rodent, and it is important to keep your eyes, ears, and nose open. Mice populations increase rapidly, and you want to address these infestations as early as possible.

This homeowner was quite happy to see me when I arrived, and was thankful that I was sent out immediately to deal with the infestation. For a homeowner, those unfamiliar squeaks and scratches can be quite disturbing, and she wanted whatever trespassers were hiding in her home to be gone.

All indications were that this home has a mouse infestation. I inspected both the home’s interior and exterior for rodent activity. Although the mice themselves may be hard to spot, they are messy creatures that leave behind plenty of signs, including clusters of their tiny, dark pellet-like droppings, smelly urine, chewed wires, and clumps of insulation, paper, cardboard, or other nesting materials. Sometimes you’ll see mouse markings on walls, which are stains left from the dirt and oily residue in their hair.

Also, during a rodent inspection, I am always on the lookout for potential access points. Entry points need to be identified, so an exclusion can be performed. Exclusions prevent more animals from finding their way inside your home using the exact same routes. In this home, I found several gaps around pipes and other areas, as well as a small basement window that had been left open for some time giving the rodents an open invitation for entry.  

I closed the window and spoke with the homeowner about making sure that all ground-level windows stay shut. After setting a rodent tracking powder inside the gaps and voids, I sealed them with copper mesh. Copper mesh effectively blocks out mice. Mice can chew through wood and a lot of other material, but not this stuff. After treating burrows and patching the holes and gaps, I set up rodent bait stations around the exterior of the home and inside the basement in order to trap any mice still lurking in and around the home. 

A commercial facility in Egg Harbor Township, NJ, nearby Atlantic City, was having an on-going problem with birds gaining access to a tool storage area of the building. The manager contacted Bird Solutions By Cowleys to resolve this bird infestation once and for all.  

Our two-man crew inspected the area to determine how the birds were gaining access. It did not take us long to find the opening. The problem was a gap above an I-beam that gave the birds wide open access. To restrict the bird from further entry, we constructed a bird barrier by closing this space off with hardware cloth. With this access point permanently closed, birds will no longer be able to enter this space and make a mess of things.

This homeowner in Woodbridge, NJ was doing some yard work in his backyard, when he was suddenly attacked by a number of yellow jackets. Luckily, he wasn't allergic to bee stings, but his daughter is, so he contacted Cowleys and we were sent out. 

After equipping our protective bee suit, we started inspecting the backyard. A few moments into our inspection, we found the yellow jackets nest. It was attached to the stone splash block that was hidden underneath a portion of the home. For treatment, we injected a knockdown dusting application, waited a few moments, and then injected a knockdown aerosol application. Both of these products are designed to rapidly eliminate the yellow jackets. After some time had passed, we removed the nest and disposed of it properly. 

An Avanel, NJ homeowner contacted Cowleys for a nuisance wildlife technician to take care of a wildlife problem, and I was dispatched to his home. He told me that animals, possibly opossums, were gaining access under his cantilevered flooring. I have an interest in building construction and, to me, cantilevers are a great example of smart home building. With standard framing construction, joists are extended to a girder at the front end, and the framing looks like a bed frame. However, with cantilevered flooring, instead of a girder at the end of the joists, a beam is placed under the joists, so they can extend past that support.

That overhang that is past the beam is what’s called the cantilever. Using this construction, you can extend a home’s footprint and save on material costs— as long as it’s done right. For a safe cantilever overhang, you have to consider the strength of the particular wood and the spacing of the joists. Also, since the beam acts as a fulcrum, you have to make sure that the flooring can handle the weight put on the cantilever by taking into account the backspan of the joists (the distance of the joist up to the beam). Cantilevered engineering is like building a playground teeter-totter that you don’t want to budge an inch when weight is placed on the unsupported side. Unfortunately, some wildlife was as impressed with this cantilevered flooring as I was — and they wanted an up-close view by getting into the spacing under the flooring extending over the foundation!

For this particular job, the animals had made of mess of things with their clawing and droppings, and I needed to remove all of the debris and contaminated insulation underneath. I was able to access the area through the ceiling of the basement. After removing the debris, I sanitized and deodorized the entire area so that no other wildlife would be attracted to the same area by the left-over scent. For added measure, I blocked off every bay in the framing with Silver-Glo insulation and spray foam. Finally, I installed a Dig Defense® on the exterior portion of the cantilever and the rear deck to keep wildlife from being able to gain access. With a dig defense, the area invaded by wildlife is blocked by underground fencing to prevent them from re-entering.