Pests We Treat Before & After Photos

Recently, homeowners in Manasquan, NJ had contacted Cowleys after observing mouse droppings in their home. They were especially concerned with contamination issues because they had three young children. Mice can contaminate food, countertops, and flooring with their droppings and pose a serious health hazard. Their droppings can contain many dangerous pathogens, including hantavirus. 

For any mouse infestation, it is critical to determine their entry points into the home and how they are moving about once inside. Invariably, mice will wind their way to the kitchen when they are foraging for food and water. Here, I pulled the dishwasher and refrigerator away from the wall to look for entry points. Sure enough, there were large holes int he walls that went straight down into the crawl space. Mice are attracted to the warmth of motors in appliances and it is common to find them nesting underneath refrigerators and large kitchen appliances. I sealed the holes with chew-proof wire mesh to block direct kitchen access from the crawl space and keep the mice and the droppings away from the family.  

With the infestation contained in the crawl space, I set up RTU bait stations in the crawl space. These stations contain single-feeding bait that are magnets for mice. The mouse population should be drop quickly and with the kitchen entry points sealed, the mice will not be restricted from the living areas of the home.

A new homeowner in Brielle, NJ, was having an issue with birds roosting in her home. She had another company come out and try to exclude the birds, but it didn't work, so he called Little Rascals for help. 

During our inspection, we discovered that the birds were actually roosting in a small gap behind the shutters. The previous company installed chicken wiring, but it was extremely loose and not secure. We removed the company's exclusion bird, disposed of it, and then carefully removed all the nesting debris.

In order to properly exclude the birds, we took a piece of metal flashing and scribe shaped it to the shutters. This contours the metal flashing to the shutters almost perfect and will not only exclude birds from the home, but bats, wasps, bees, and hornets as well!

Last week, I was called out to investigate a home in Point Pleasant, NJ. The homeowner contacted Cowleys because mice were getting into the kitchen. She told us that several mice were caught on glue traps that she had placed. In addition, rodent bait stations had already been set up from a previous service call. Mice infestations can be challenging for a variety of reasons. One is their size. Because mice are so small they are able to get through gaps and cracks that we barely notice. identifying and sealing all of them can sometimes take a few visits. 

On this visit, I noticed a door nest to the refrigerator that lead to the crawl space. The door was never used by these homeowners, and was leftover after the kitchen had been remodeled. I observed a large gap under the door. There was a high probability that this was the trouble spot for the mice entering the living areas of the home from the crawl space. 

I used a chew-proof copper mesh to fill the gaps where the mice were likely entering. The benefit of using copper is that it does not rust like steel wool. I also inspected and rebated the rodent bait stations that had previously been set up. Unfortunately, there was active rodent activity in the kitchen and crawl space area as well as the exterior behind the home. Clearly, this was one stubborn infestation. Cowleys, however will stay on the job until the infestation is completely resolved. One mouse inside a home is one mouse too many.  

I set up additional bait stations in the crawl space where the mice were initially gaining entry into the home. I also sealed the gap under the kitchen door as well as a hole by their A/C unit in the back of the home. I expect the indoor mouse population to drop quickly and dramatically. In the meantime, we will have follow-up visits until this infestation is completely resolved.

We were sent out to a condominium association in Point Pleasant, NJ to safely remove birds that were harboring in one of the dryer vents. When we arrived, we spotted a bird coming out of one of the dryer vents on the second floor. In order to safely remove the birds, we installed a customized one-way device over the dryer vent. The birds can push the flap open when they exit, however, because the flap is weighted, they'll be unable to reenter the vent. The best part of this device is that, if there are young birds inside, the adult female will still be able to feed them through the flap, until they leave.

A short time later, we were able to safely remove all the birds from the home. We then removed all the nesting debris out of the vent, disinfected the area, and installed a DryerWallVent® to each of the dryer vents. The DryerWallVent’s large opening and angled damper provide maximum airflow efficiency for the safe venting of the dryer. Integrated magnets keep the damper closed when the dryer is not in use, keeping nuisance birds and other pests on the outside. 

During a scheduled summer service for a Home Protection Plan customer in Shrewsbury, NJ, we found a large bald-faced hornets nest next to the downspout. Bald-faced hornets are social stinging insects that are a close relative to yellow jackets. The surface of their upper midsection almost looks triangular from the side, and they have white markings on their face.

For treatment, we grabbed our extendable pole, attached a knockdown liquid product to it, and then treated the nest with it. This application exterminates the bald-faced hornets almost immediately. Once the hornets were eliminated, we attached a scraper to the pole and removed the nest. We then disposed of the nest properly and treated the area with a residual application to exterminate any returning hornets as well as prevent them from rebuilding a nest.