Wildlife Removal & Control Services

Snake Removal and Control Services

There are four poisonous snakes in Indiana: the Northern Copperhead, Timber Rattlesnake, Western Cottonmouth and the Massasauga Rattlesnake. This is usually the first question asked when we get snake calls, so we can get that out of the way right away.

Awesome Critter Gitters only services Northern Indiana and Southwest Michigan so we won’t cover Timber Rattlesnakes and Western Cottonmouths because they are only found in Southern Indiana. The only native poisonous snake found in Michigan is the Massasauga Rattlesnake.

Massasauga got their name from the Chippewa Indians, it means: great river snake or big water snake, I've heard both definitions. It’s easy for me to remember because the only place I've seen Massasauga was around big rivers or big swamps. The reason I've seen so many is because I trap and fish big rivers and swamps. We've never caught or seen one in populated areas; they require big swamps to hunt in to survive. Massasauga are very timid and refuse to strike unless provoked or stepped on. Being a rattlesnake they have rattles to warn you with, even the little ones.

Northern Copperheads on the other hand are a nasty tempered snake that will constantly strike until it tires itself out. For that reason there are more copperhead bites than any other snake in the US. It has a tan and brown banded body with an arrow or V shaped copper colored head and no rattle. They hang out in dryer ground than the Massasauga but still require heavy cover and undergrowth. Bites cause many different problems but are rarely fatal to adult humans. Repeated bites to a child or pet can be fatal.

• Snakes somewhere around your property
• Snakes under your house or decking areas
• Snake in your swimming pool or tub
• Snake inside the home!
• Concern for safety of pets or children

In 30 years of Wildlife control, I've never seen a native poisonous snake in a residential area. The way we landscape our homes make snakes vulnerable to predators so they avoid our lawns, during the day. Most snakes are nocturnal hunters so when we do find them on our property, they are usually curled up sleeping. They are not a threat to pets or children. As a matter of fact they are very beneficial vermin predators. If you stay away from them, they will move on the next evening. Your pets may smell them but they will not attack them, nor will the snake attack the pet. If you have allot of snakes, you also have allot of mice. Kill the snakes and, see what happens, you will be over run with mice.

Indiana Michigan Muskrat and Beaver Trapping

They are both nocturnal so rarely do our customers realize the extent of the problem because most of the rodents aren't seen during the daytime. “We have “a muskrat in our pond” or “a Beaver” is usually how the problem is described when people call pricing the job. The rodents rarely live alone unless migrating to a new home site.

Shooting Beaver or Muskrats is not a responsible option. It’s illegal for a very good reason; the bullets ricochet off water like it’s a solid surface. You, your family, pets, neighbors or someone a mile away could be seriously injured by a deflected bullet.

• Area flooded due to beaver or muskrat dam
• Creek destroyed by beaver or muskrat activity
• Trees destroyed by beaver activity

Both rodents start digging den openings in deep water, at night, when you’re asleep. They dig Hugh caverns, into the bank of the shore, for dens. They push the dirt into the deep water so you never notice it. The top of the den must be close to the surface to provide oxygen to the den in the wintertime. Over time the “dens” grow and can cause severe erosion's problems. We've seen greens on golf courses have such severe erosion under the bank; the sod would actually collapse if walked on because the hillsides had false bottoms.

Berrien County Michigan Coyote

While Muskrat, Mink and Raccoon trapping in 1966, I noticed a Fox track jumping the creek. I set my first fox trap only to have it dug up, defecated and urinated on, every day for the rest of the season. The insult challenged me to a life long Canine trapping obsession. I've trapped more Coyote and Fox in Southwest Michigan and Northwest Indiana than all the other wildlife and pest control operators in this area, combined together, have seen in their lives. There are no books, seminars, workshops or trappers college that can shortcut the knowledge and experience required to be a professional canine trapper. I purchased books; phone called and took trapping lessons from the best canine trappers in the United States. Herb and Asa Lenon, Donald Bierman, Slim Pedersen, OL Butcher, Garold Weiland, Jim Helfrich, Russ Carman, Craig O’Gorman and Bud Boda are some of the most experienced professionals of their generation. Yet no print or words can educate like my decades of experience in the field trapping. I've trapped, live cage trapped and snared canine across the United States in all kinds of weather and snow.

The boys from other wildlife control companies may catch a coyote, or two but they will never catch all the coyotes you've seen or heard around your home. After they have exhausted the few sets they know how to make, and wised up the other coyotes, they have to give up prematurely before all the coyotes are gone. If this happens to you with another company and the coyote are still hunting your pets in the winter, call us. We’ll trap behind them and finish the job.              Guaranteed results.

• Coyotes preying on farm animals
• Coyote threatening family pet
• Fox preying on rabbits or chickens
• Coyotes hunting by your home in winter
• Concern for safety of children and pets

Canada’s Ministry of Natural Resources values, appreciates and regulates their natural resources very effectively. Many Canadians still make a living off the land, trapping, like we did in the States years ago. When the question of what was “humane trapping” came up, they did extensive testing on every kind of trap made. Their findings banned many old style traps that didn't do the job they were intended for. Today we have leg hold traps with rubber jaws, spaced apart, to “hold” a foot rather than “pinch” the foot like the old style traps. We've released many non target dogs, after catching them with the rubber traps, without a cut or broken bone in the foot.

 

Mice Removal and Control Services

When I first started mouse trapping and mouse extermination I carried an ultra violet light to show customers mouse urine in their cupboards and pantry areas. Bad idea, I didn't realize how repulsed some people are by the little rodents. Many people are annoyed by raccoons in their garbage or bird feeder. Others tired of being woken up by animals in the attic, wildlife control problems most families can live with while we remove the animals and seal up the home with warranty. But mice in the home, to some people, is reason to move out until they are gone, gone, gone.

Above: Gary Indiana "Squirrels in the wall and attic call"

At first it was amusing to me, like laughing at an elephant running from a mouse. Then slowly, over the years, after months of mouse trapping charges with no hope of permanent results, I started feeling some lady’s true fear of mice, and it wasn't funny.

One day while explaining that we couldn't keep the mice out short of sealing up the whole house, it came to me. Seal up the house! This was something no other pest control company did; as a matter of fact exterminators relied on monthly mouse extermination contracts so they sure weren't interested in sealing up houses to keep mice out.

As time passed, we learned what mice were capable of and what they could chew through. The steel wool and insulating foam, most husbands use, only rusted away staining the home and after the mice chewed a new hole in their foam, the now foam insulated nest was cozier than ever.

• Mice/Rats living in an attic
• Mice/Rats scratching in the walls
• Mice/Rats scavenging in the food pantry
• Mice/Rats chewing electrical wires and equipment

Although expensive, we are able to seal most homes with a Written Warranty to keep the mice out. The jobs are labor intensive and require expensive equipment just to find all the holes. For that reason the home inspection, estimate and consultation is $150-up for most residential homes. Most homes run $150-up to seal the mice out with a Full Warranty. All our exclusion sealing products and materials are purchased from professional pest control supply companies and proven effective.

Indiana and Michigan Snapping Turtle Removal & Control

We trap snapping turtles in Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan. Snapping turtles can be very dangerous to both humans and pets. The turtle can amputate a finger with its powerful jaws. It will make a hissing sound when it is threatened or encountered; however, when in the water and unprovoked, they are fairly docile toward humans. They will bite under water if provoked or stepped on.

Our most common complaint is snapping turtles killing Coy goldfish. Snapping turtles also kill waterfowl including Swan Signets. Most people don’t realize what is happening until they have suffered significant damage. Snappers are true dinosaurs and will eat anything they can fit into their mouth. Snappers can live 50 years and weigh 50 pounds getting as big as a trash can lid. Full grown Snappers have no predators because they are so mean. They are so big they can’t hide inside their shell like other turtles, so their defense is snapping. Their specific name is “serpentine” meaning snake like because their neck is so mobile and long, they can reach out and bite someone holding their shell as fast as a snake.

• Snapping Turtle in your pond or on your land
• Snapping Turtle in yard
• Snapping Turtle that is infected with shell rot and the fungus infection
• Snapping Turtle has bitten a dog/cat
• Concern for safety of pets or children

Snappers will travel extensively overland to lay eggs. Pollution, habitat destruction, food scarcity, overcrowding and other factors will drive snappers to expand overland; it's common to find them traveling far from the nearest water source. They mate from April through November, with their egg laying season in June thou July. The female can hold sperm for several seasons, using it as necessary. Females travel over land to find sandy soil in which to lay their eggs, often some distance from the water. After digging a hole, the female deposits 21 to 77 eggs each year, guiding them into the nest with her hind feet and covering them with sand for incubation and protection. Incubation time is temperature-dependent, ranging from 9 to 18 weeks. In cooler climates, hatching's overwinter in the nest.
 

Berrien County Michigan Coyote

While Muskrat, Mink and Raccoon trapping in 1966, I noticed a Fox track jumping the creek. I set my first fox trap only to have it dug up, defecated and urinated on, every day for the rest of the season. The insult challenged me to a life long Canine trapping obsession. I’ve trapped more Coyote and Fox in Southwest Michigan and Northwest Indiana than all the other wildlife and pest control operators in this area, combined together, have seen in their lives. There are no books, seminars, workshops or trappers college that can shortcut the knowledge and experience required to be a professional canine trapper. I purchased books; phone called and took trapping lessons from the best canine trappers in the United States. Herb and Asa Lenon, Donald Bierman, Slim Pedersen, OL Butcher, Garold Weiland, Jim Helfrich, Russ Carman, Craig O’Gorman and Bud Boda are some of the most experienced professionals of their generation. Yet no print or words can educate like my decades of experience in the field trapping. I’ve trapped, live cage trapped and snared canine across the United States in all kinds of weather and snow.

The boys from other wildlife control companies may catch a coyote, or two but they will never catch all the coyotes you’ve seen or heard around your home. After they have exhausted the few sets they know how to make, and wised up the other coyotes, they have to give up prematurely before all the coyotes are gone. If this happens to you with another company and the coyote are still hunting your pets in the winter, call us. We’ll trap behind them and finish the job. Guaranteed results.

• Coyotes preying on farm animals
• Coyote threatening family pet
• Fox preying on rabbits or chickens
• Snapping Turtle has biten a dog/cat
• Concern for safety of pets

Canada’s Ministry of Natural Resources values, appreciates and regulates their natural resources very affectively. Many Canadians still make a living off the land, trapping, like we did in the States years ago. When the question of what was “humane trapping” came up, they did extensive testing on every kind of trap made. Their findings banned many old style traps that didn’t do the job they were intended for. Today we have leg hold traps with rubber jaws, spaced apart, to “hold” a foot rather than “pinch” the foot like the old style traps. We’ve released many non target dogs, after catching them with the rubber traps, without a cut or broken bone in the foot.

Berrien County Michigan Bobcat & Cougar

Wildlife control in Southwest Michigan and Northwest Indiana is hard work but not without its high points. Cougar sightings around Stevensville and Baroda Michigan in 2007 spread into all the surrounding towns like wildfire. Almost every one of our customers asked if it could be possible. There are Cougars to the North, South, East and West of us so, yes it’s possible. Here’s the good news, you have a far better chance of winning the lotto than seeing a Cougar in our area. There's a few Bobcat in very remote areas but suffering damage from either of them is unheard of.

My first encounter with Cougar was in the Colorado Rockies in 1972. I was fishing Buchanan Pass on my way to the Coming of the White Buffalo Indian Festival. As I crossed a dry dusty valley the hairs stood up on my neck from “a scream”, is the only way I can describe it, which stopped me in my tracks. I couldn't tell where it came from so I stood still, listening. I felt I was being watched but seen nothing. My partner and I continued our hike, but were turned back by shale rock and a suspended wall of ice-snow, flatLanders, can’t imagine. When returning through the dusty valley, we noticed Cougar tracks, tracking us as we came through earlier! We back tracked the Cougar to find a dead Mule deer, half buried, about 70 yards from where we heard the “scream” earlier that day. When we found the deer, the hair on our necks stood up again so we backed away and watched our back as we hurried out of the valley.

• Bobcat preying on farm animals
• Bobcat threatening family pet
• Wild Cats preying on poultry and livestock.
• Attack on a dog or cat
• Concern for safety of children

Since then I’ve seen many Cougar, Bobcat, Lynx and their kills, in the Rockies, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Canada.

 Bobcat & Cougar Trapping Services

When the Cougar killed horse was found in Berrien County Michigan, the DNR was called. The word got out to Berrien County Animal Control and the local police. They told the newspaper they "thought it was Coyote kill".

Later a young Cougar was kicked in the head by another horse and killed.

Location, location is NOT everything when it comes to Professional Wildlife Control. Having the EXPERIENCE to recognize the location is everything in our biz. If you send people whom never seen Cougar, or their kills, to try and diagnose the attack scene, well you know, BS in and BS out. No harm no foul you say?

If the horse hadn't killed the Cougar, the Cougar would’ve killed the horse. Either way the Cougar would never find peace in this corner of the world. Constantly killing whenever the chance presented itself, lets pray the DNR and others inexperience doesn't cause a tragedy some day. They should stay within their limitations when lives are at stake.

Awesome Critter Gitters is a family owned and operated business. My sons and my knowledge are derived from decades of hands on field experience. Our competitors “National Certifications” proclaimed themselves “professionals” after they paid their money and took a week long course.

Let me show you some pictures taken of a real Professional Wildlife Control person’s education and experience. I’ll caption the pictures to help you comprehend the time experience factor.

1978 Quentin wouldn't give up the mink until he fell asleep. There were no Wildlife Control companies. Trappers worked for farmers, to obtain fur trapping permission.


Quentin growing up in the skinning shed, 1979.


Quentin’s first catch, setting traps by himself. The fox squirrel was a non target catch in a fox set. He still has the tanned gray fox. 1982

Quentin could set traps and catch animals before we would let him use a knife or hunt. It’s hard to see his first Muskrat inside the Golden Eagle. 1983

 Below, Quentin has trapped every animal in Michigan, for many years and is obtaining his Masters Degree trapping Bobcat and Beaver in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The top picture is releasing a hawk (non target catch) out of a Bobcat set, unharmed. The bottom picture is taken in front of National Trapper Association’s Hall of Fame Wimpy Zohns hand built cabin in Menominee Michigan. Quentin will say today, the only reason Wimpy took him on his line was to break ice, paddle the canoe and carry the heavy Beaver but he loved every minute of it.

The year is 1997. Michigan Animal Damage Control Association and National Wildlife Control Operators Association are in their infancy. Fur has become politely incorrect and fur bearers that our country was founded on explode into the need for Wildlife Control Operators.

In 2000 we were blessed to have Quentin join our family Wildlife Control Business.

Southwest Michigan & Northern Indiana Feral Cat Information

A feral cat can live in any neighborhood, whether you see them or not, they are lurking nearby in the shadows. When you do run across one its usually not a pretty sight and much less one you can forget without considering taking some immediate action.

• Problem 1 Feral cats multiplying out of control
• Problem 2 Feral cats harassing and infecting your pet cats
• Problem 3 Feral cats killing song birds and wildlife
• Problem 4 Feral cats using your garden or flower beds for a litter box
• Problem 5 Relative or loved one hording semi-feral cats
   

Our professional feral team is aware of the known sicknesses, diseases and genetic mutations that can occur in feral animals and have been trained to handle feral cat and animal situations with safety.

We will handle each capture-relocation situation per customer instructions. Animal shelters need financing to house or euthanize cats so be prepared to pay us to transport animals to a shelter if you can find one that excepts ferals. Most don't want them because not being "gentle" they are a threat to humans, as any wild animal is.

Michiana Birds Can Be Destructive, Dangerous and Dirty

Birds are beautiful creatures - a reminder of the age of the dinosaurs and the presence of flight in our daily lives.  Just looking at their claws tells you of their ancient ancestory and sophiscated survival and hunting abilities.
 
Yet, That does not mean that occasionally they don't get under your skin and worse the roof of your building and start to cause damage to your property by pooping over everything and tearing expensive materials to shreds. Birds may seem harmless and under most circumstances clearly are, however it only takes a small opening for them to begin thousands of dollars worth of property damage.







And Then, there is there wild behavior. And in public or commercial property this can be another hazard.



Birds are not stupid.



Of course, when the weather is unpredictable or fierce they will take a clue from Mother Nature and move indoors. They might like it so much they stay. That spells trouble.



This could mean your barn or worse your home or business. 



Destruction can happen fast and that is why we need you to call us as soon as you suspect you have a bird, pigeon, bat or other flying species problem.

• Problem 1 Birds nesting in dryer vent
  • Problem 2 Birds in roof and soffit
• Problem 3 Birds nesting and pooping in factory
  
  
  
  
  • Problem 4 Birds nesting in attic
• Problem 5 Pigeons pooping and nesting around AC air intakes
  
  

Our professional bird catching experts have nearly a perfect record of humane-as-possible and safe bird removal and control. Birds can carry diseases...don't mess around.

Here's The Right Way to Remove a Dead Animal From Your Property

All animals die but not always in the best of places. Ironically, it's usually in the worst of places. Hard to discover or detect until days or sometimes weeks later. It might be an awful thought to think about but its true that when you smell something you are inhaling tiny particles of whatever it is your smelling!

In other words removing a dead animal or pest from your home, barn, garage or warehouse is kind of a big smelly deal. We take precaution though to make sure there is no lingering or return smells from the animals .

• Problem 1 How to find dead animal in the wall
• Problem 2 Smell dead animal, can't tell where it's coming from
• Problem 3 Dead animal under crawl space, deck or shed
• Problem 4 Dead or dying animal disposal in public area
• Problem 5 Dead animal and odor removal on private property

Dead Animals don't just smell bad. They attract other animals who want to come prey on those nasty bits and that is not the kind of activity that is good anywhere around your property. It's time to call a professional to find and remove that stink you keep smelling. It's not just going to go away. We have mini flexible cameras to look inside walls for dead mice and animals. We respond to inspect just about any area for the unknown location dead animal but DO NOT guarantee to find the animal. Most, almost all of the time we find the stinker and it's usually a poisoned mouse inside the home.

After the carcass is disposed off, we have many professional products to remove the smell.

Learn How and How-Not to Deal with Opossums!

The opossum is the only marsupial in North America. This means the animal carries its young in a pouch, much the same as does the Australian kangaroo. Once a female opossum mates, she gives birth a mere 13 days later to a litter of roughly a dozen baby opossums that are each no bigger than a honeybee. These tiny, blind, and naked babies crawl on their own all the way to their mother’s pouch. There they each latch on to a teat from which they receive milk. They remain there for nearly three months.

• Opossums living in the attic
• Opossums living under deck or house
• Dead opossum on property or roadside
• Stealing pet food or bird seed
• Sick, potentially dangerous opossum

For the most part possums are a beneficial scavenger. Their feeding habits seem to keep them immune to most diseases. We try to release healthy animals whenever possible, but being a lover of horses has made me rethink releasing an excess of them. It’s been recently discovered that Opossums carry a disease called: Equine Protazoal Myeloencephalitis or (EPM). "Possum disease" is a neurological disease that is sometimes confused with equine encephalitis

Groundhogs can be very dangerous to both pets and humans.

What ever you call them, Groundhogs a.k.a. Woodchucks, Whislepigs they can be devastating to a garden, landscaping and flowers, but where they cost all of us the most money is in farmer’s crops.

If you hear them “whistle” step back because they only whistle as a danger-warning signal when they're scared. They multiply by 4 in the spring.  I searched groundhogs to find out how others handle the vermin. The info on the powder, pellets, ammonia, car exhaust, and other ridiculous sites disappointed me, but there are allot of people who try these ineffective repellents first.

• Digging burrow next to home
• Large animal hole under deck
• Garden/landscaping being eaten

What really bothered me the most is the Google sponsored sites like ask or askville, etc. These sites are littered with people virtually pulling their answers out of their _ _ _ hat. They advocate breaking most States DNR control regulations. Ammonia, moth balls, powders all deadly poisons that get kicked out of the hole by the groundhog, for other animals and people to get into. How casually these pseudo animal lovers tell their readers to break State Wildlife control release law. One lady advises the readers, "Buy a live trap, trap the groundhog and release it at least a mile away in a wild area"……….. HEY LADY, THERE ARE NO MORE WILD AREAS!

 Where you are illegally releasing the devastating rodent is on a farmers PRIVATE PROPERTY he’s trying to grow crops to feed his family on! How many bushels of corn, beans and other crops are lost to these violators? We love animals too but we refuse to force others to suffer because we are above the law. If these cheapskates would adhere to State release and disposal laws, they could appreciate our company’s expenses and justify our charges of doing it right.

Humane Woodchuck-Groundhog trapping.

We prefer to use traps that humanely kill the groundhog because farmers don't want them on their property. Unlike cage traps, our traps humanely kill the groundhog instantly. Groundhogs go berserk in a cage trap. They bang on the trap until their nose is bloody. They chew the wire until they break their teeth and cut up their mouth. Groundhogs stay underground in 55 degree earth during the hottest part of the day because they succumb to heat stroke very easy. How humane is it to transport a cool loving animal like that in the back of a truck all day? Any company that tells you they have permission to release groundhogs are irresponsibly overcrowding them somewhere or lying to you. I've never met a farmer whom wants more groundhogs on their property. Our traps target the groundhogs specifically, where cage traps catch non target animals.

Many people dislike seeing a dead animal and would prefer we catch them in a live cage trap to take them away. Until, they see the groundhog in a cage trap, suffering in the heat. Then they start calling us, 3-4 or more times, getting more and more irritated, waiting for us to complete our GPS routed schedule. Appointments are inserted into our trapping route daily. One day we might check your traps in the morning, then in the evening the next day.|

We used to charge by the animal, but it only caused problems because we catch groundhogs at such a fast rate people can't believe how many we get. Most animals come and go once during a 24 hour period. Groundhogs do it twice, morning and evening so it's possible for our traps to be full twice daily. Customers would call with  animals in the traps before they went to work. We would pick up the animals during the day, then in late afternoon, more chucks would get caught just before the customer comes home from work. They would promptly call us complaining that we never picked up the hogs they called about that morning. I suggest painting the tails different colors, so they can tell if the groundhogs are new. 

If I had a dime for every time a customer said, "Quinn told me there would be groundhogs in the traps before dark, and there was!" I could pay for this web page.    

The proper and improper way to remove and control skunks!

"Mothballs or urine? What is best way to get rid of skunk?" I searched Skunk removal and found this heading on a home and garden site: There will be much knowledge and information; humanity will run to and fro. Unfortunately some humanity will run circles, like poisoned animals do, from exposing their families to Mothballs. If mothballs were the cures all for safe skunk removals don’t you think State Licensed Pest control operators would use it? Misinformed people take it upon themselves to expose their children, family and friends to poisonous fumes, because somebody on an Internet forum said they could “save some money” and do it themselves. The smell is naturally offensive to them but they're assured, it’s only “Grandma’s closet”. Most people reading this have considered using poison for wildlife control, illegal or not. Then brag about their success on the Internet. They may or may not have residual exposure problems in the future, who cares, only the strong survive. This is my issue. People too young to understand the repercussions of the exposure read the bragging.People with little education, the very poor, penny pincher's and people with mental issues all figure if a little doesn't work, go with more, more, more exposing involuntary victims.

Some people have deathly fears of different things…snakes, bats, spiders, mice etc. Our company runs into the most horrendous misuse of mothballs you could NOT IMAGINE.

My heart was broke over a Yorkie’s owner’s ignorance last year. She had skunks under her porch. She put mothballs around the house, inside the basement (where air currents pulled the smell) and inside a crawlspace. She worked during the day while the dog stayed inside. We arrived after she smelled the skunk three days later. Nothing was moving under the porch because she had a pyramid of mothballs blocking the entrance! The skunk smell was the fox urine she sprayed mostly, under the porch. The Yorkie’s eyes were glassed over and she couldn't get to her legs off her mama’s bed. I took her outside and she finally got up and stumbled around. The owner took her back in and insisted the dog was sick from the skunk smell inside the home. 

• Skunk is living under deck or porch
• Skunk has sprayed in the vicinity
• Skunk has sprayed a pet dog
• Skunks are digging holes in yard
• Skunks fell down window well/basement