Raccoons invade Asbury hot spot - Wildlife Removal & Control in Asbury Park, NJ

Challenge

Recently, the manager of one of Asbury Park's historic hot spots called Cowleys wildlife for help. Apparently, his latest headache was dealing with a few surly gate-crashers that were not only trespassing on the property, but acting like the owned the place. They were making quite the mess — even going to the bathroom wherever they wanted. 

I started inspecting the basement and back-stage areas for clues. First thing, I was greeted with the unmistakable odor of wildlife urine. For a wildlife technician, once that particular smell hits your nostrils, you know that critters are taking up residence somewhere in the building. Upon further investigation, I found several piles of scat (droppings), and knew the particular freeloaders I was dealing with. Raccoons! Wildlife droppings are like fingerprints for identifying the particular animal and, almost like a trail of breadcrumbs, provide a road map of their activity. For example, with this job, I knew the Hall had a raccoon infestation based on the shape and appearance of the droppings. Raccoon feces is tube-shaped and very similar to dog feces — about 2-3 inches long and slightly smaller than the diameter of a hot dog. With raccoon droppings, you’ll also see undigested food remnants such as berry seeds. 

Raccoons can be highly aggressive. Unless you like scars, the last thing you want to meet face-to-face is a female raccoon protecting her kits. Here in New Jersey, raccoons are the largest critters that wildlife technicians deal with on a regular basis. Some raccoons can weigh up to 30 pounds!  Raccoon infestations are a genuine emergency. You not only have raccoon droppings that contain disease-transmitting microorganisms, but raccoons bite and are the primary rabies vector species in New Jersey. 

The next step was figuring out how these guys were gaining entry. In this case, they managed to find their way into the basement and back-stage areas through an unused pipe run.  Although the opening had been blocked off, it wasn’t completely blocked off. There was still an opening big enough for a raccoon to weasel his way inside. One interesting thing about nuisance wildlife is that they seem to defy the laws of physics. Seemingly big creatures are able to fit through the tiniest of openings. The general rule is that if an animal can fit its head through a hole, the rest of the body will follow. Although wildlife may look too big to fit, they look bigger than they really are.  With wildlife critters, their fur covers a scrawny body. Most raccoons can get through an opening about 4 inches wide. And mice are like magicians. They only need a hole the size of a dime. 

The “behind the scenes” areas of the Convention Hall were dark and filled with all sorts of equipment. During the day, it was easy for these invaders to hide.  At night, when no one was around, they scavenged for their meals in one of several garbage cans as well as food left out by employees and visitors.  

With this job, Cowley will safely and humanely trap and relocate all of the the raccoons. Once we are assured that all of the wildlife has been removed, we’ll completely block off the unused pipe run to make sure that they don’t return. Now, if these raccoons want to see Bruce Springsteen perform at the Asbury Park Convention Hall, they are going to have to get in line and buy a ticket like everyone else! 

Solution

With this job, Cowley will safely and humanely trap and relocate all of the the raccoons. Once we are assured that all of the wildlife has been removed, we’ll completely block off the unused pipe run to make sure that they don’t return. Now, if these raccoons want to see Bruce Springsteen perform at the Asbury Park Convention Hall, they are going to have to get in line and buy a ticket like everyone else!