What does wildlife control cover?
Wildlife control covers the three animals we get called about most in Kern County: raccoons, skunks, and possums. They are bigger than rodents, they do more damage in less time, and they are not safe to corner on your own.
Control and exclusion are two halves of the same job, and you get both here. Control is getting the animal out. Exclusion is sealing the building so the next one never gets in. Doing one without the other just buys you a few quiet weeks, which is why both happen on the same visit and not as a separate call.
Exclusion is in our name and it is what the whole company is built around. While we are sealing a roofline for raccoons or a crawl space for skunks, we close the gaps that let rats, mice, birds, and squirrels in too. If rodents or birds are your main problem, those pages go deeper on each.
Related: Rodent Control · Bird Control · Pest Proofing
How do I know which animal I have?
An animal you never see still leaves a trail. Most people call us because of a sound, a smell, or a hole that was not there last month. Here is how the three usually sort out.
- Raccoon: heavy thumping and dragging above the ceiling at night, torn roof edges or vent screens, tipped trash cans, and one spot used over and over as a latrine
- Skunk: a sharp smell hanging around the crawl space or deck, a fresh dug hole with a smooth entry, and cone-shaped divots in the lawn where they dug for grubs
- Possum: shuffling under the floor, greasy smudges along a crawl space vent, scattered droppings, and a sudden flea problem on your pets
- Any of the three: scratching that stops when you bang on the wall, then starts up again a minute later
- Any of the three: nesting material, chewed duct work, or insulation pulled down and packed into a corner
Raccoons in the attic
Raccoons are strong and smart, and they are the most destructive of the three. They pull off vent covers, peel back roof edges, and set up in attics to raise young. One raccoon can flatten insulation, foul the space, and chew through duct work in a single season.
A gable vent is the usual way in. The screen gets bent at one lower corner, and after that the same opening gets used night after night. Look for greasy rub marks around the hole and coarse hair caught on the torn mesh.
Raccoons also pick one spot to leave waste and go back to it, which is a health problem as much as a building problem. That waste is not something to sweep up without the right gear.
Skunks under decks and crawl spaces
Skunks dig. They den under decks, sheds, porches, and mobile homes, and in the crawl space right below your floor. You usually smell the problem before you see it.
The entry is a fresh hole with a smooth, worn mouth and a fan of loose soil pushed out in front of it. Once that smell is in your insulation and subfloor it stays, and airing out the house does not clear it.
Never try to flush a skunk out or block the hole yourself. A cornered skunk sprays, and a skunk sealed in under your floor dies there. Skunks are also one of the main rabies carriers in California, so this is the one to leave alone and call about.
Possums in the crawl space
Possums, or opossums, squeeze into crawl spaces and under sheds and use them as a place to sleep through the day. They are not aggressive, but they are messy tenants.
They push past loose foundation vent screens and leave dark greasy rub marks on the stucco where they go in and out. Inside, they leave droppings wherever they settle.
The bigger issue is what they bring with them. Possums carry heavy flea and tick loads, and the fleas stay behind in the crawl space after the animal is gone, which is often when the pets in the house start scratching.
How does ExcludeTech get raccoons, skunks, and possums out?
Setting one trap and hoping is not a plan. We work the whole problem, from the den to the hole they used to reach it. Here is how it goes, step by step.
- Free inspection. We walk the roof, the vents, the deck line, and the crawl space to find the den and every way in.
- Check for young. A spring or summer den usually holds a litter. We find the young first so the family leaves together and nothing gets sealed in.
- Humane removal. We use one-way doors and traps sized for the animal, handled the same careful way every time. No poison.
- Seal the way back. This is the exclusion part, and it is the part that makes the removal stick. We close the entry and the weak spots beside it with heavy gauge screen, flashing, and hardware cloth that a raccoon cannot pull loose.
- Clean up what they left. Droppings, nesting material, and ruined insulation come out, and we can sanitize and replace what the animals fouled.
- Prevention, backed by our satisfaction guarantee. You get a short plan for the spots worth watching, and our work stands behind it.
Related: Attic Cleanup · Crawlspace Cleanup · Sanitation
Why a raccoon, skunk, or possum is worth handling fast
These are not quiet tenants. The damage runs on two tracks at once, the building and the health side, and both get worse the longer the animal stays.
Daytime activity on its own does not mean an animal is sick. A raccoon or skunk that looks disoriented or shows no fear of people is worth a phone call rather than a closer look.
- Structural damage: torn vents and roof edges, chewed duct work and wiring, crushed and soiled insulation, and a crawl space you can no longer use
- Skunk spray: it soaks into insulation, subfloor, and duct work, and airing out the house does not clear it
- Raccoon latrines: raccoons go back to the same spot to leave waste, and that waste is not something to handle without the right gear
- Fleas and ticks: possums and raccoons bring them in, and the fleas stay behind after the animal is gone
- Rabies: skunks are one of the main carriers in California. Never corner one, and never try to move one yourself.
Related: Why DIY Opossum Removal Is Dangerous · The Risks of Ignoring a Skunk Problem
Why pick ExcludeTech for wildlife control?
We are a family-owned, local team. We have served Bakersfield since 2016. We are licensed, bonded, and insured under License# PR-8908.
We do not just haul off the animal you can see today. We close the way it got in, clean up behind it, and back the job with our satisfaction guarantee.
When you call, you get a real person, day or night. Your inspection and estimate are always free. We offer financing, and we take cash, card, check, Zelle, and Venmo.
Where does ExcludeTech handle wildlife control?
We help homes, businesses, industrial sites, and farms all over Bakersfield and Kern County, plus a long list of nearby towns. No job is too big or too small. Pick your area to learn more, or just give us a call.
Related: Bakersfield · Delano · Shafter · Tehachapi · Taft · Porterville