Yikes. There was a HORRIBLE growling sound coming from under the addition of our home. The family room addition also has a vent going from the addition into our “home theater” room in basement and the sound was just awful -A loud growling. My computer is downstairs and I hear it late as night. No one else heard it until today. My husband was trying to convince me it was a squirrel- not a chance!!

Sound of a MAD Raccoon!

After some investigating- it is a raccoon. I found a site, http://terrierman.com/soundspage.htm that helped me figure out what is was- it was invaluable in fact. The site had sounds of different animals- skunks, angry fox, mad raccoon and VERY mad raccoon. Our raccoon was the VERY MAD type. Our kids are PERTRIFIED. Now that I know what it is I am fine. It is very distinct. We are in the middle of figuring out how to get rid of it. Most sites owned by professionals say to NOT try and get rid of it yourself. I am calling some one in the morning to find out what to do.

Some sites say to try playing radio with voices and may go away. This raccoon sounds REALLY MAD and not sure why it won’t leave. Maybe there are two of them?

How To Get Rid of Raccoon In House?

We did call around and it will be about 300.00 per animal to remove. One exterminator/pest control guy said to try putting mothballs in area where raccoon(s) are. We did this… no sign of them today- so far. But house smells AWFUL. Many websites say that using mothballs to get rid of raccoons will not work- but this guy- an old timer- said that people do scoff at it but he has found ti to work. Everyone warned us that if there are babies than removing the raccoon and blocking up entrance hole will be a disaster- the mother will do anything to get back in and do a lot of destruction.

This guy is bit of a character- we have used him before when dealing with VOLES … which almost caused me to move out of the house. will update. So far so good with the mothballs!

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Posted by Linda- Home and Garden Ideas as Pest Control at 7:46 PM EST

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Every Spring my kitchen because home to an army of ugly black carpenter ants. I have tried pretty much everything. Raid drops, sprays and ant traps. This year they seem particularly worse than usual.

Getting Rid of Carpenter Ants: Inside the House

Carpenter ants like moist, wet wood. That’s why you’ll usually notice e carpenter ants wherever there is moist wood — around dishwashers , sinks and bathrooms.

You can find carpenter ant nest it may prove to be difficult- by tapping along wall and listing for a hollow sound. A hollow sound will usually indicate that you’ve found the nest- and you can sometimes hear the sound of the ants scrambling when you disturb the nest,

You need to get rid of the nest. Colonies within the structure should be controlled by a direct application of a pesticide. Boric acid dust, bendiocarb (Ficam) 1% dust, cyfluthrin, cypermethrin, bifenthrin, propoxur (Baygon) 0.5% in aerosol spray containers all are registered materials. Nests in wall voids often can be accessed through plumbing or electrical wiring. Electrical plates can be removed and an insecticide applied into the wall void along the outside edge of the electrical box. Ants follow wiring and plumbing routes through the structure. If the colony is inaccessible for direct treatment, a 1/8 inch drill bit can be used to make small holes in the walls so an insecticide applicator wand can be inserted for application of the insecticide. Dust formulations are effective against all Hymenoptera because the dust adheres to the hairy surfaces of their bodies. As they clean themselves and feed other ants and larvae, the insecticide is spread throughout the colony. This formulation is effective as long as it does not become wet, so it is used primarily in wall voids.

drill small holes into the wall with a drill- about 1/8 across. Do this from OUTSIDE the house. Fill the holes with with boric acid. The ants should die off after touching the acid.

Prevent Carpenter Ants from Invading Your Home!

Don’t let tree branches touch your house- they will act as a bridge straight into your house. Prune these branches! If you have wood siding, don’t rest things against wood siding- rakes, shovels bags of leaves, firewood, etc. this is a breeding ground for carpenter ants! Fill crack or holes on foundation- these are doorway into your home for carpenters ants. Getting concrete grout at hardware store is cheap and filling in grout is easy to do. Good Luck!

Author: LJ Bronart

Books on How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants and their control (Bulletin) (Bulletin) Controlling carpenter ants (University of Wisconsin–Extension, Cooperative Extension) (University of Wisconsin–Extension, Cooperative Extension)Carpenter ants (House and landscape pests) (House and landscape pests)

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Posted by Linda- Home and Garden Ideas as General Home and Garden, Pest Control at 9:03 PM EDT

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As Winter gets underway, wild mice and rats enter houses more often to escape the cold and rats are also seen in increasing frequency in peoples gardens. However, while this can be a matter for concern, there are ways that you can humanely remove these uninvited visitors rather than calling the local exterminator. He will put down anti-coagulant poisons which cause a long slow death and a great deal of suffering to the mice and rats as well as the poison being potentially dangerous to you, your family and your pets.

How can I tell if I have rodents in my house?

House Mice will leave a cloying ‘acetamide’ smell; other mice leave little odour.

Gnawing : Rodents need to gnaw constantly to keep their teeth trim and they will gnaw on most things.

Tooth Marks : Larger marks made by Rats who can gnaw through soft metals such as aluminium or lead.

Droppings : a rats poo is 12mm long and often tapered at one end. A mouse poo is half the length and thinner.

Greasy Marks: Rats and House Mice leave dirty black smears along well travelled routes especially where the have to squeeze under objects.

You may also hear the scamper of little feet above your head as they scurry around your loft.

What Problems can they cause? Read the rest of this entry »

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Posted by Linda- Home and Garden Ideas as Pest Control, Pets and Pet Care at 1:00 PM EDT

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