Chimney Swifts are highly beneficial birds from man's point of view. They are voracious eaters of flying insects including mosquitoes, flies, ants and termites. Unlike martins, they don't mind if a yard has tall trees. Their only requirement to nest is a chimney (non-ceramic) or chimney-like structure. If you would like to have Chimney Swifts nest in your chimney, remove any grate that may be on the top during the nesting season (March - October). The only precaution you must take is to make sure the chimney flue stays closed. When there are young in the chimney, you may hear some fluttering from time to time which sounds very close to the flue. This is caused by the young exercising their wings and is no reason to panic. Swifts leave very little debris in the chimney from their nesting activities and are very clean birds.
Spiders
Moles are carnivorous. Grub worms and earthworms constitute the bulk of their diet. The mole also preys on other soil-dwelling creatures such as beetles, spiders, centipedes, ant pupae and cutworms. In fact, a mole can harvest more than 140 grub worms and cutworms daily (many of which are destructive to your backyard plants). Moles may be found wherever the soil is sufficiently thick, pliable and adhesive enough to support a tunnel system and is adequately populated with wee beasties for food.
Termites
Fleas
Through a combination of these factors, nest survival averages only 50 percent. In addition, cottontails are infested routinely with a multitude of external parasites such as fleas, fly bots, ticks, and lice and internal parasites as tapeworms, roundworms, and flukes.
Cockroaches
Bees
TRUTH: Some snakes have pointed tails but do not have stingers as bees and wasps. Snakes produces and store the dangerous venom in their head.
Wasps
Ticks
TRUTH: Foaming at the mouth can also be a symptom of distemper, round worm, ticks, coccidia, or other external or internal parasite overload, diabetes, liver failure, poisoning, epilepsy, herpes, allergies, and severe dehydration and emaciation, all of which are more common than rabies.
Crickets
Mosquitoes
T bug catchers. You see these animals start their daily 'dining out' at twilight time and continue feasting on all types of bugs, including mosquitoes and other night flying insects until early dawn. These small animals probably account for the demise of more insects than any other source. Their wheeling, dipping and seemingly erratic flight path is actually a very accurate path guided by their 'sonar' which they use to track their quarry. (1) Where do they live? (2) So what harm do they do? Some answers to question (1). Bats live behind the loose shutters on houses, inside a crack, more than an inch wide, near the sofit or eave and yes, inside your attic as the two photos below show. Question (2);
Flies
Centipedes
Beetles
Mites
Pigeon droppings, nesting materials and dead carcasses can contain a wide variety of mites and insects. These can infest areas where people live and can then cause skin irritation, disease or allergic reactions.
Slugs
North America's only marsupial (an animal with a pouch), the Opossum is about the size of a large house cat. It has a triangular head and long pointed nose. It has a prehensile tail adapted for grasping and wrapping around things like tree limbs. The Opossum is a nocturnal animal and uses it sense of smell to locate food. It is omnivorous, so they eat a wide range of plants and animals. Opossums often et grass, nuts, fruit and grains. Rodents, birds, frogs, insects, worms, snails, slugs and snakes are often on their diner plate in addition opossums are scavengers, so they search for table scraps in garbage cans and dumpsters. Opossums also eat meat and bone from road kill or carcasses left behind by other hunters. Because they eat insects, slugs and snails, they are helpful to gardens. Opossums also help maintain the population of rats and cockroaches, because they all compete for the same food. In fact, opossums sometimes kill their competion in order to eat well.The mother may have as many as 25 babies, 7 to 8 is the norm. The young are about the size of a navy bean and climb up the mother's fur and into her pouch where they live and suckle for 55-60 days then they climb out onto their mother back for another four to six weeks.
Worldwide, bats vary in size from only slightly over two grams (0.07 ounce - about the weight of a dime) to more than 1.5 kilograms (more than 3 pounds). The large "flying foxes" of Africa, Asia, Australia, and many Pacific islands may have a wingspan up to two meters (6 feet). United States bats vary in size from less than three grams (0.11 ounce) to 70 grams (2.5 ounces). The largest United States bat, the greater mastiff bat ( Eumops perotis ) occurring from central California south into Mexico, has a wingspan of approximately 55 centimeters (22 inches).
Moles
Except for the flexible, pig like snout, the head is featureless, appearing to be lacking a neck, eyes and ears. Although the mole can only detect light and dark with its eyes, its sense of hearing, touch and smell are acute. The velvety fur is characteristically slate-gray but often appears silvery on fleshly groomed moles and sooty-black on juveniles. A cinnamon-brown staining on the chin and along the middle of the belly is common on the adults, but this is usually is more pronounce in the males. The mole's nearly naked tail acts as an organ of touch which allows the animal to move backwards in its tunnels, although it can, thanks to a narrow hip girdle, perform a somersault in the burrow.
Raccoons
Most people are well aware of the dangers associated with bites from encounters with animals, such as skunks or raccoons, in the wild. But when that wild animal is disguised as a household tabby, those dangers and common sense are often forgotten. The result could be a feral cat bite and the possibility of
Snakes
Snakes swallow their young: Some snakes such as garter snakes, swallow their young when threatened to protect them.
Wildlife
As a Wildlife Control Cooperator over the past decade, I have heard many chemical and mechanical remedies which people have used in an attempt to remove or control nuisance animals within their homes or out-buildings. These remedies include Mothballs, ammonia, gummy bears, ultrasonic devices, radios, lights, and plastic owls. At best these types of remedies are only temporary as the animals simply move to another area, ignore it altogether or dig or chew around the area. At worst
Opossums
Coyotes
Coyotes possess typical canine features. They have large erect ears, with an elongated muzzle, and a long bushy tail. Overall pelt coloration tends to be brown or buff interspersed with mottled gray or black. The chin, throat, chest and stomach are usually a lighter shade. The lower portion of the legs may display black stockings and the tail has a black tip. Average adult weighs approximately 30 to 40 lbs., some individuals might weigh as much as 60lbs. Total length can exceed 60 inches, and shoulder height varies between 11/2 to 2 feet. Males are generally 20% larger than females.
Badgers
Skunks are members of the weasel family ( At one time biologists classified skunks in the weasel family, but more recent genetic investigations have led taxonomists to group all North American skunks and Asian stink badgers into their own separate family. There are five different species of North American skunk in three genera: spotted skunks (Spilogale), hognose skunks (Conepatus), and striped and hooded skunks (Methitis). The five species are (1) Striped Skunk, (2) Eastern Spotted Skunk (Spilogale putorius), (3) Western Spotted Skunk (Spilogale gracilis), (4) Hognose Skunk (Conepatus leucontus, also called Rooter Skunk), and (5) Hooded Skunk (Mephitis macroura) ), all of which possess scent glands near the anus. However, the skunk has the most advanced scent gland development. The glands contain approximately 15 cc of a yellowish, oily liquid. This fluid is a sulfur compound, n-butyl mercaptan. A skunk can discharge a spray of this fluid as far as 15 feet and spray up to six times in succession. It takes up to 10 days to replenish the supply of liquid after full discharge.
Woodpeckers belong to a unique group of birds that includes flickers and sapsuckers. In Maryland, one can commonly see the Red-headed woodpecker, the Downey woodpecker, the Flicker and Sapsuckers. Occasionally, the Pileated woodpecker, the largest of the woodpeckers, is heard and seen. The Northern Flicker and the Red-headed woodpecker are migratory, but the rest live year-round in the same area.
Sparrows
The house or English sparrow, a non-native species, has flourished in the Americas since its human introduction in the mid-19th century.
Starlings
Starlings have two broods a year with four to five eggs a brood. They average eight offspring a year. The eggs are white, pale blue or green-white. Incubation of the eggs takes twelve days. The fledglings leave the nest after 25 days. The young leave to join other juveniles and form huge flocks that move on to other territories.
Crows
The grey squirrel is diurnal and most active at dawn and dusk, searching for available food. Compared with the red squirrel, it spends more time foraging and feeding on the ground than in the trees. It is, however, very agile in the trees and can run along slender twigs, leaping from tree to tree. The long, muscular hind legs and short front legs help it to leap. The hind feet, longer than the front, are double-jointed to help the squirrel scramble head first up and down the tree trunk. Sharp claws are useful for gripping bark and the tail helps the squirrel to balance. If a squirrel should fall, it can land safely from heights of about 9m (30ft). They grey squirrel can leap more than 6 meters! Squirrels have good eyesight and often sit upright on a vantage point to look around them. They have a keen sense of smell too! The grey squirrel builds itself a nest, about the size of a football, made of twigs, often with the leaves still attached. It is built fairly high in a tree and lined with dry grass, shredded bark, moss and feathers. A summer nest is usually quite flimsy and lodged among small branches. Sometimes the squirrel may make its nest in a hollow trunk or take over a crow's nest, constructing a roof for it. A squirrel may build several nests.
Pigeons
Many people see pigeons as part of our natural wildlife and enjoy seeing and feeding them. Part of their appeal is that they can become very tame and will take food from your hand. Tens of thousands of people keep pigeons as pets or to race. As a company we do not believe in lethal control.
Blackbirds
The starling is a dark, chunky, muscular bird. It is distinguished from other blackbirds by its short tail and its longer, slender bill. Starling plumage varies depending on the season. In winter, the bird displays a highly speckled iridescent coat and a dark bill. In summer, the birds coat dulls and has far fewer speckles.
Cottontails are named for their short brown and white tails. Cottontails have white undersides, but the rest of the coat is made up of multicolored hairs having brown, black, and tan bars, giving the cottontail a brown, faintly speckled appearance. The cottontail remains brown throughout the winter. Females tend to be a bit larger than the males, with a range in weight from 2 to 4 pounds. Eastern Cottontail Rabbits have large, elongated incisor teeth that are adapted for gnawing, but are not classified as rodents, Instead they are classified as lagomorphs because of a second pair of smaller incisors located just behind the upper, larger pair.
Mice
The facts are that snakes are beneficial to man and hold an important place in the ecology of all parts of the world where occur. They can effectively control the populations of small mammals, like mice and rats. They are also an important food source for hawks and other predators. Several types of snakes are popular as pets and many people breed and sell captive bred snakes. There are 27 species and subspecies of snakes, only three of which are venomous. These are the Timber Rattlesnake, Copperhead, and the Cottonmouth. Comparatively, 115 snake species occur in North America while about 2100 species occur worldwide. Snakes are found throughout Maryland, from the hardwood forest of the Allegheny Mountains to the tidal marshes of the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay. Killing of Snakes and collection snakes for food, hides, and pets all contribute to the decline of their population. However, habitat destruction remains the leading threat.
Rats
Rats are a Worldwide pest due to their capacity to cause structural damage, to spread life-threatening diseases, and to compete with man for food. The species most commonly found in Europe is known as the Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus). A less commonly found species, the Black or Roof Rat, (Rattus rattus), is largely restricted to port areas. Rats live alongside man, invading his buildings and eating his food.
Squirrels
Discussion: The flying squirrels are the only nocturnal tree squirrels. Although it is active in all seasons, the Southern Flying Squirrel may remain in its nest in very cold weather and will enter torpor in times of extreme cold or food scarcity. The state of torpor is not as deep as true hibernation, but the animal’s body temperature can drop to 22°F (–6°C), and it may take up to 40 minutes to wake. In winter, several individuals may den together in one tree hole, as their combined body heat brings up the den temperature; as many as 50 individuals have been found in one nest in winter. The flying squirrel glides through the air, up to 80 yards or more, from the top of one tree down to the trunk of another. It glides with its legs outstretched and the fold of skin between foreleg and hind-leg acting as a combination parachute and sail. While gliding, it can turn or change its angle of descent. Just before landing, it drops its tail and lifts its forelegs, slackening the flight skin, which then serves as an air brake. It lands very lightly on all four feet, and scurries around to the other side of the tree trunk, in case a predator has followed its flight. Agile and extremely surefooted aloft, it is relatively clumsy on the ground.