Cowleys Pest Services Before & After Photos

This homeowner in Holmdel, NJ had a problem with flying squirrels in his attic. Flying squirrels, just like Eastern Grey Squirrels, are rodents. However, we don’t often see them because they are nocturnal. Homeowners generally realize that they have a flying squirrel infestation when they hear animal noises in the attic during the night once these little critters become active. If you happen to see one of these strange-looking squirrels, they are no longer than 10 inches, including their flat tail, and have large black-as-coal eyes. These animals don’t actually fly like birds or bats (the only winged mammal that can actually fly). But these squirrels can glide like a hawk — leaping into space and flattening their fur carpet bodies to glide from one tree to the next (or sometimes your roof where they find a way to access your attic).  

The homeowner had the entry points sealed, and contacted Cowleys to take care of the rest. These squirrels make their presence known as most home-invading nuisance wildlife — by leaving a path of destruction — often gnaw marks and always stains and odors from their urine and feces. Flying squirrel feces looks like bat guano and can cause some confusion about the type of wildlife infestation. These particular pests tend to do their business in the same spots.  Over time, their waste can seep through and stain the ceiling underneath. Like all wildlife, they can bring parasites and tics into your home, and their droppings, once they dry out, release disease-transmitting airborne particles. Needless to say, wildlife taking up residence inside your home is a serious health hazard.

Cowleys was called in to clean, sanitize, and deodorize the attic. Wearing proper protective equipment and masks, we removed the debris and the soiled insulation and hepa-vacuumed the entire attic space, which was a bona fide biohazard when we had first arrived. After making the attic safe, we installed 10” of our blown-in TAP cellulose insulation. Cowleys is a licensed installer of TAP Pest Control Insulation. TAP stands for its three key properties — Thermal, Acoustical, and Pest Control. This insulation not only offers superior thermal and acoustical (sound-deadening) properties but has a pest control component as well. The paper fibers are treated with a borate solution that is harmless to people, but lethal to many insects including ants, beetles, and termites. 

By the time we were finished, this Holmdel residence looked like it had a brand new attic with top-quality insulation. This was a particularly rewarding job for all of us on the installation team. It’s a great feeling to transform an attic that was destroyed by invading wildlife into a clean, beautiful, functional space.

Recently, homeowners in Hazlet Township, NJ, contacted Cowleys after finding mouse droppings in their oven. Mice usually enter a home through gaps, cracks, or openings around the foundation and enter the basement or crawl space. From there, they travel through wall voids throughout the home, eventually making their way to the kitchen to forage for food. Even the cleanest kitchens can have hidden food debris under and behind kitchen appliances. Mice are attracted to not only food, but also heat sources like ovens, dryers, and motors underneath refrigerators. 

Upon arrival, I started my inspection with the oven since that’s where the droppings were found. Mice are nocturnal and do a good job staying out of sight. Homeowners will usually see signs of a mouse infestation, such as droppings, nesting materials, and hordes of relocated food, well before spotting a live mouse scurrying about. Here, I removed the storage drawer on the bottom of the oven and found even more distinctive mouse pellets. After cleaning around of the base of the oven, I found a good sized hole behind the oven where the electrical wires came up from the crawl space. No doubt, this is how the mice were gaining access to the kitchen. With mice, a good inspection strategy is following pipes and wires. often, there are gaps around them allowing the mice to gain entry into the home and then move about inside the home undetected. I sealed the hole with a chew-proof copper mesh and also placed a RTU (“ready-to-use”) bait station in the area. I also inspected the crawl space and placed other bait stations in strategic locations where there was mouse activity.

After we finished installing chimney caps on this homeowner's property, we couldn't help but notice that the chimney was in bad shape. The cracked bricks on the chimney can let moisture in, which will lead to mold problems and even a pest infestation.

After bringing this to the owner's attention, we used a crown seal on the chimney to prevent these issues. Crown seal is a proprietary elastomeric coating that is specifically formulated to repair and protect chimney crowns from water intrusion. Now the chimney is protected from any type of moisture or pest issue. 

Homeowners in Lakewood, NJ had turkey vultures roosting on the edge of their flat roof. Vultures in Jersey? Actually, we are home to two vultures species, turkey vultures and black vultures. Turkey vultures bear no relation to our "gobble gobble" turkeys, so please, don't stuff and cook one for Thanksgiving! The only reason we call them turkey vultures is their appearance. Their bald red head and dark plumage resembles wild turkeys. The turkeys are historic residents of the state while black vultures are a more recent arrival to the state.

Although vultures, as any bird, can become a nuisance bird once they start roosting on a home or other structure and depositing their droppings all over, they are very important birds in our ecosystem. Vultures are nature’s clean-up crew. By feeding on dead, decomposing animal carcasses (carrion), tase birds reduce the risk of disease and contamination from rotting animals. So, if our road maintenance crews don’t get around to removing unsightly roadkill, these birds are happy to jump in.

Vultures are a protected migratory bird species, as are most birds. With bird control, we never "get rid" of birds. Rather, it is all about making your property inhospitable to birds. We install various types of deterrents, the choice of which depends on type of bird infestation and the specifics of the property. We change their behavior so they relocate elsewhere to a place that is more welcoming. Also, bird control is customized. There is never a one-size-fits-all single solution.

Here, the homeowners were pretty distressed with the activity of these birds. Their highly acidity droppings had caused some terrible staining on their home, and they were concerned that the droppings could damage their shingles, and rightly so. Birds excrete their liquid and solid waste together in one sticky "bomb." Their droppings contain uric acid, which is corrosive enough to dissolve paint, concrete, and metal.

Why did the birds choose this house? The likely reason is that this this house has the tallest roof in the general vicinity. Also, since the roof was flat, it made for easy landing.

Because of the roof structure, we decided that the best solution would be to take away their roosting areas by installing shock track on outside edges of the roof. Shock tracks send a clear message to the birds that they are no longer welcome by emitting a low-voltage shock when a bird attempts to land. the shock does not harm them in any way, but it isn't pleasant either. Even for a bird, which aren’t the brightest (being labelled a "bird brain" isn't exactly a compliment), it does not take too many negative reinforcements to change their behavior. All we want them to do is relocate to a new location (anywhere but this house) that doesn't deliver shocks every time they land.

Previously, our Little Rascals Nuisance Wildlife Removal team and safely and successfully removed a large number of bats that had been living in this homeowners' attic. The only downside was that the bats left behind a toxic mess of bat guano (bat feces). 

First, we carefully disinfected the entire attic and removed all the contaminated insulation. Afterward, we added approximately 10 inches of TruSoft blown-in cellulose insulation! TruSoft blown-in cellulose insulation has a higher R-value than standard fiberglass insulation, has the highest Class-1 fire safety rating, is resistant to mold and pests, and is eco-friendly! Blown-in cellulose insulation maximizes home comfort and optimizes energy usage for year-round peace and savings.