Cottom's Wildlife Removal:
Contact (440) 236-8114

There are many Cleveland pest control companies for animals out there, but not all of them are licensed and insured professionals. Make sure that you hire a competent expert for your Cleveland exterminator of wildlife. At Cottom's Wildlife Removal, we will be courteous and friendly and take the time to answer your questions. Give our Cleveland trappers at Cottom's Wildlife Removal a call, and we will listen to your problem, and make an appointment to perform an inspection.

 

We are Cleveland wildlife management experts, and are familiar with all the pest animals, including all species of Ohio snakes and bats. We at Cottom's Wildlife Removal are the best among Cleveland nuisance wildlife companies and can solve all animal damage issues. Our wildlife operators are skilled at bird control and bat removal, and would be happy to serve your Cleveland bat control or pigeon and bird control needs with a professional solution. Opossums, skunks, moles, and other animals that can damage your lawn - we are the exterminators who can capture and remove them. Our professional pest management of wildlife and animals can solve all of your Cleveland critter capture and control needs. Give us a call at (440) 236-8114 for a price quote and more information.

Chuck takes a swing at ridding an apartment complex of bats - On the Job
Our Chuck gamely takes a swing at bat removal
Thursday, September 25, 2008

Wildlife removal expert

Fear factor: 6. Are you sure the bats won't come flying out at us while we're 60 feet in the air?

An idea: Let's make a movie about this and call it "Guano With the Wind."

Lucky day: Nobody had the rat stuff today.

Got a raccoon residing in your roof? Polecats beneath your parlor? Coyotes in your cabana?

Wait, this is the city. That's a country thang, ain't it?

Not at all, podnuh, and that's a good thing for Mike Cottom, founder and owner of Cottom's Wildlife Removal. You see, in the country, animals have lots of room to roam - and they have to do just that to forage for food. Our tasty garbage, warm attics, comfy garages and backyard decks create an urban utopia for them.

Cottom, who finished college trained as a naturalist, used to handle deer research for the Cleveland Metroparks. But when people kept asking him how to remove the invading beasties, he realized there were few people around here doing that. Thus was born Cottom's Wildlife Removal.

Though this series isn't exclusively about dirty jobs, let me tell you, wildlife removal is one. That's something I learned when I found myself on the third floor of the Vermilion apartment complex where Terrence Treadwell was working.

Treadwell and his partner, Tim Board, had already laid enough dropcloths on the stairwells and foyers to carpet Dubuque. Treadwell stood on a ladder, wearing safety glasses and a respirator. Truth be told, I thought it was overkill - until he pried some molding away from the ceiling.

Holy mess maker, Batman! We were caught in a guano gusher. And bats don't just poop; they, uh, bat-tinkle, as well. The insulation did a nice job of soaking it up, so it didn't get into the ceiling, and it's a lot easier to tear out and throw away than drywall. Shoot, maybe the insulation makers ought to petition Guinness as the world's largest bat-pee sponge.

Of course, this isn't the worst Treadwell and Board said they had seen. That might be the house that had been home to several generations of raccoons. The droppings were 2 feet deep in the attic and inside the exterior walls of much of the house.

November is still a month or so away, but I already have reason to be thankful. Bat crap didn't seem nearly as bad.

Especially since at Cottom's order, I left Treadwell and Board to do the cleanup while I joined him atop a crane at rooftop level to make sure there were no additional collections of bat poo-pourri.

It's actually kind of ingenious. A bat can get in through an opening as small as a half-inch. So we used caulk and an expanding foam to seal any small gaps and strips of mesh screwed over the exposed soffit. It's easily stated, but time-consuming. And when you're paying top dollar for a rented crane, it doesn't matter if it's raining.

Luckily, I'm pretty waterproof.

OK, cool. So the bats can't get in anymore. But removing the ones that were already inside was not quite so easy. Turns out, Cottom has devised a way to make 'em do our work for us. He uses regular plastic drain spout twisted into an L shape and bolted over an opening cut in the mesh. The bats fumble through it to freedom and aren't able to find their way back in.

The spout stays up long enough to make sure whatever baby bats are in the attic nursery have time to grow up and spread their wings. Then Cottom returns to remove the spout and patch the mesh.

That's the easy one. But how, you might ask, do you get a critter out of a wall? If the animal is already dead (and trust me, your nose will know), it's vacuum time. If it's still alive, Cottom goes looking with a stethoscope, then drills a small hole at the base of the wall. There, Cottom puts a trap he designed called the Cottom Got 'Em (named by his young son) over the hole and bangs on the wall. Boom, Mr. Critter zips outside using that drilled hole - and right into the trap.

By law, certain critters have to be euthanized - coyotes, skunks, 'coons, beavers and possums. But he doesn't do it onsite. Too traumatic for the kiddies.

Lest you think it might be a bit too traumatic for Mom and Dad as well, you can discard that thought right away. While some who express pity for "the poor thing that's just trying to survive," not many people who've endured days, weeks and months of scratching and poo are willing to see the beastie freed right there on the grounds.

Why, you'd have to have bats in your belfry to do that.