Handling Critter Problems for Landlords or There’s a Raccoon in the Attic

If You Own or Manage Rental Properties, Sooner or Later There Will Be a Problem With Critters Inside. Here’s what to Do When the Tenant Calls about a Raccoon inside the House.
Unless you come from a long line of hunters and trappers, you are probably going to need some help. Look in the phone book under “pest control”. Find the ads that mention animals and or critters. These folks are most likely to actually do something about your raccoon, opossum, or squirrel issue. Most of the time, your tenant will be calling in the middle of the night wanting an immediate response. Who can blame them? But even though most services will answer you call twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, they are not going to actually show up until daylight (they do need to see where the animals are getting in and analyze what is attracting them to your property). Usually, just knowing that you did all you could to try and get someone on the problem is enough to calm the tenant down a little and have them realize you are doing all you can do at the moment. Most services charge a fee for trapping the offending animal or animals (family plan) and another fee to fix the entry point so you do not have a repeat performance. No, it’s not the same animal, but it might be a relative. Professional trappers are usually state licensed and are very protective of that registration and will act responsibly to you and the critters they are removing. There are regulations they must comply with as to checking the traps daily and proper handling and release back into a suitable wildlife habitat. Confirm that you will authorize repairs only after you understand what will be done and agree that it is a reasonable fee for the actual repairs needed.

You need to make a point of being there when the trapper arrives. You will learn some things about the most common entry points for the pests you are having the current problem with and ways to avoid any further problems. After the trapper analyzes the situation, he or she will tell you what they plan to do. They set traps and bait them with just the right food to attract your unwanted intruder. The traps should be humane so the animal is caught but not injured. Regarding the repairs, once they advise what they think needs to be done and what they will charge to fix that, you can decide if you want them to do it, get some estimates, or just do it yourself, but you do need to do something to remedy the access situation or face another intrusion.

You can also get exactly the results you need from the web by searching for “animal trapping services”. Remember that the response from completing a form on a web page may not be anywhere near as fast as phoning them directly. There may be services that offer “free” trapping as an inducement to get the repair work. Use common sense when choosing any service whether from the phone book or the web.

Look for services that give you indications of honest, ethical, responsible, and humane business practices. There are always clues in their communication with you. Let those clues be a tool you use to make a good decision about your selection. If you were happy with their service, be sure to pass that along to other landlords you know. Good service deserves to be rewarded.