Will Insurance Cover Raccoon Damage To My Crawl Space?

Maybe you have seen the Allstate commercial where "Mayhem" is a raccoon living in an attic.  Like any good raccoon, he is having the time of his life playing in insulation, chewing on wires and having babies.  Although many people found this commercial humorous, if you have recently had a raccoon in your attic or crawlspace, you are not laughing.

A raccoon can do an enormous amount of damage in very little time.  They generally will start to pull subfloor insulation down to nest in, detach air ducts and possibly chew on wires.  On top of all the damage that they can cause, they leave behind an extremely contaminated space in their wake, so if you think you might have a raccoon (or any other wildlife for that matter) living under your home, it is time to do something about it.

Luckily, many of you have this on your insurance policy right now.  A typical crawl space restoration bid can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars depending on the extent of the damage.  There have been many times that we have come to a customers home and found damage and suggested that the customer call their insurance agent before we start the work.  Many times we have found that the restoration was completely covered and the customer did not even realize it!

Steps to take if you have wildlife living under your home:

1) Call a Pest Control Company:  You need to first get rid of the wildlife in a safe manner.  This can be especially challenging if it is a mother with babies.  A pest control company can professionally trap and remove the animal/s and help you seal entry points (typically they get in from open vent screens in the foundation).  If there is damage in the crawl space, most pest control companies do this kind of work and will give you a bid.

2) Call your insurance agent:  Do not let the pest control company start until you have discussed the matter with your insurance agent.  They may need you to take pictures and allow an insurance adjustor to make sure that the price quoted by the pest control company is within their guidelines.  Unfortunately, there are companies out there that will bid crawl space restorations at outrageous prices, but your insurance company will alert you if this is the case.

3) Get the work done:  Make sure that the pest control company both cleans and disinfects the area.  There can be a lot of contamination left behind when dealing with wildlife.  Also, ask them if a flea treatment is necessary.  Raccoons and other wildlife are loaded with fleas and if they have been living under your home, you might have a problem with them as well.

If you are unsure if you have a wildlife problem and just have a few questions, please give us a call.  If you live in the area and need a Portland Metro Pest Control Company, we would love to hear from you!

Photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar / Foter / CC BY-ND

Do Bug Bombs Really Work?

I am sure that you have done this before.  You made everyone clear out of the house and you set up a couple bug bombs around the house, set each of them off and then booked it out of the house.  Listen, I get it.  It seems like the perfect solution for your pest problem.  You nuke them with an aerosol that is supposed to get every nook and crevice.  Unfortunately, all it really accomplishes is coating your home in an oily chemical residue that is basically just a pesticide cocktail.

I remember when I was a kid my parents used these all the time to get rid of fleas.  We would have to leave the house for several hours and after we returned, the place stunk and it just felt gross.  That stuff had to be incredibly bad for us and pretty toxic.  Again, the logic seemed perfect, the fogger would get everything.  However, the only thing that really happens is that the pesticide pushes the insects even farther into walls, cracks, crevices, etc.  If you have had some success with foggers, it probably didn't last, right?  What happened was that the pests retreated and then came back with a week or so.

A recent study from Ohio State University concluded that bug bombs are entirely ineffective on crawling or biting insects.  They did so by placing bed bugs in plates around a room.  They placed various foggers around them and set them off.  The results?  Not much, only a few of them died while the rest seemed completely unharmed.  They did a second test with a tiny bit of paper placed over the dishes for shelter.  In this case, none of them were harmed.  The conclusion is that bed bugs are nearly immune to the effects of bug bombs and the same can be concluded for other types of crawling insects.

In addition to the limited effectiveness, there have been illnesses reported from inhaling the insecticide.  A study that included 8 states in 2008 reported that there were at least 466 injuries from the use of bug bombs and 21 of those had to be hospitalized.

So what are they good for?  Well, they actually work pretty well on flying insects.  If you are going to use them, this is your best bet because it should take care of flies, gnats, etc.  Other than that, they are kind of a waste of money that puts your family at risk.

If you have questions about foggers or any other pest questions, please do not hesitate to call or email.

If you would like assistance with Vancouver Washington pest control, please give us a call.

Will Rodent Bait Hurt My Dog?

One of the first questions that I am always asked when providing a pest control treatment is "is this safe?"  It is a viable question to ask since what I am providing is designed to kill something, right?  If you are reading this article, I would assume two things.  First, you need a pest control treatment and second, that you have a dog or a pet and want to make sure that it is safe.  So, let's see if we can answer that question for you

Why rodent bait is not safe for rodents
Rodents are built a lot different than your dog is.  I am sure that you have seen your dog eat something that it shouldn't have, get sick and throw up all over your carpet.  A rodent, on the other hand, does not have the ability to vomit.  If a rodent eats something that disagrees with it, it has no way to get it out of its system.  This is important because if your dog eats rodent bait, it will get sick and probably throw up, but if a rodent eats that same bait, it cannot do anything about it.  Taking into consideration the differences in body weight, you can see how a little bit of rodent bait is drastically more toxic to rats or mice than it is to dogs.

What will happen if my dog eats the bait?
It would be foolish for anyone to tell you that there is no way that your dog would be harmed if it ate rodent bait.  However, it may not be as harmful as you may think.  For example, a quick look at a common rodenticide product label (Contrac Blox), shows that a possible lethal dose of a 20 pound dog would be approximately 20 blocks.  A standard rodent control treatment generally uses less than this amount, so that would mean the dog would have to eat all of the bait that a pest control company put out, which is not easy to do considering it is required to be placed in a locking tamper-proof box.  (Although they are "tamper-proof", I have a friend who works for a Portland pest control company who said that a Labrador Retriever chewed through two of his rodent bait stations, eating all of the bait inside.  Luckily, it showed no signs of poisoning, but the dog was taken to vet clinic to get treatment just in case.)

What are the signs of rodenticide poisoning?
So, what would happen if it ate just a little bit of bait?  It would probably get sick and despite everything I just said, it should be taken seriously because every dog (or person for that matter) reacts differently when you introduce something new to their digestive system.  A sign that something is wrong is when the dog starts vomiting and has diarrhea.  Sometimes you can see a discoloration in the vomit or diarrhea that is the color of the rodent bait (usually a bright color blue, green or red).  The dog may also start to pant, slobber and seem disoriented.  For any of these signs, we recommend that you take the dog immediately to veterinarian.

The verdict
So, is it safe to bait for rodents when you have a dog?  Well, it is probably safer than most people think, but you still have some risk.  In all my years of pest control, I have never had a dog die, but I have seen a few get sick.  If you do choose to have a pest control company treat for rodents, you should take some extra precautions in keeping your dog away from the baited area.  If you take some simple steps, I think that you can safely and effectively get rid of rodents.