As I write this article, we are coming off of a 72 hour span since Friday that involved five separate urgent service requests for squirrels. Two were in chimneys, two were attic spaces, and one was trapped inside an interior wall. 

In those 72 hours all five clients have had some level of immediate resolution, 4 have estimates (one will be performed tomorrow morning), and of those four, three have already committed to trapping and exclusion programs with the others soon to follow suit.

Many wildlife control operators handle their urgent service requests (USRs) differently, this article will explain the methods our organization uses, why we do things the way we do, and the benefits our clients and our company sees from it.

95% of all of our USRs come through by phone call. We have a local number that is forwarded directly to my personal cell phone. When the phone rings, either myself or Kandace, as long as we are available (not on a roof, working with an animal on the farm, or other potentially dangerous times to answer a phone), we will answer the call.

There is no set time/schedule that the phone number is “active” for USRs. Meaning we do not have “set” urgent service call time frames or operation hours. I base our availability to respond to USRs on factors such as road and weather conditions, fatigue level, and the next day’s schedule. So generally, at some point in the night I will turn my phone to “do not disturb” and that signifies for our organization that the window for USRs is closed. 

Friday night we were taking calls at 11:30pm. Last night it was at 9:30 in the evening. Tonight, as I write the article, our phone is still “active”. In a rare act of affection, I will sometimes keep my phone on “do not disturb” during a saturday or sunday in the slow season or on holidays so Kandace can have ALL of my attention that day.

Once the USR call comes in, we try to ascertain from the client as much information is possible. We have some “interview” questions we start the conversation with, but generally the client tends to direct the conversation unknowingly into the direction we need to determine our next steps. 

Some of the questions we ask all USR calls are:

1. Has any person or pet come in contact with the animal? (if so do they require medical attention?)

   1. This should always be your first question in my opinion for a few reasons. The first being, if someone needs medical attention, you should direct them to hang up and dial 911 and seek medical care. Once that is resolved, then they should contact you. The second is that it shows care and concern for the well being of the client, their family, and their pets.

2. Where in the home is the animal located?

   1. This question allows for us to determine the tools and equipment we may need in order to remove the animal so our service vehicle is appropriately stocked upon arrival on the client’s site. Will we require a ladder, drywall knife, infrared camera, catch pole, head lamps, etc.?

3. Can you shut a door to the room the animal is in?

   1. This is helpful for many reasons. Other than keeping the animal from having “free reign” of the home in turn making it harder to locate and remove once we arrive, it also limits any potentially dangerous interactions with clients, client family members, or pets.

Once we have determined the scope of the problem, we then load up and head to the client’s home. Our “range” for advertising and marketing of our services is within 75 minutes of our home. So commonly, we can be knocking on our USR client’s front door within two hours of their initial phone call. Many times we are praised and adored from the start, solely because we can provide that level of service. Obviously, for companies with larger territory to cover, the time frame needs to be adjusted. But being able to respond quickly and efficiently is going to go a long way with clients who are dealing with something of this magnitude

• Side note: I should have mentioned this earlier, but now that I am 9 paragraphs in, I can not find a place to paste it in. Please realize that this is oftentimes an unnerving, scary, and worrisome event in the life of your client. Many times they might not have ever dealt with wildlife, let alone wildlife in their home. The perceived invasion of privacy, and attack on security needs to be handled with care and respect. Our industry has us dealing with squirrels, raccoons, rats, snakes, and more on a daily basis. We are numb to the snarls of a pissed off boar raccoon, or the lunging of a defensive rat snake. Our clients often are not.

Once inside the client’s home, that is when the real “work” comes into play. The first thing we do, before we grab any tools or equipment from our service vehicle, is ask to be shown the last known location of the animal. Once we are able to survey the situation, we determine the capture approach, and tools necessary to complete the task. 

While one of us (Kandace or I) goes to the truck to gather the tools/equipment we need. The other spends that time describing to the client the process of removal and the requirements we have of them during the removal process. We have the client sign a document explaining our fees and service, that also limits our liability and covers us from being held liable for damages to property during the capture process. Payment is made BEFORE any removal work is started. 

(I have seen too many times situations where the client refuses to pay for one reason or another after the animal is removed and will not be put in that position again)

It is at this point we then ask the client to leave the area and to not come back into the room/space until cleared by us. We do not do it to be mean or rude, we do it for two reasons:

1. We all know that sometimes you can have the best laid plans, but mother nature decides to throw a wrench in it. The last thing I want to worry about is the safety of our client or their pets when I have to make on the fly decisions in less than a second. 

2. In today’s digital world, nearly everybody has a video camera feature on their phone, and the LAST thing we want is to be trending on Twitter because Sally Smith has a video of me chasing a squirrel around a living room with a Benny Hill soundtrack dubbed over it. Not all publicity is good publicity when we are in an industry that can be as polarizing as ours.

Once we have captured the animal and removed it from the home, our next step is to ensure that the route the animal used to enter the home is no longer an access option for additional animals. If need be, and safe practices allow it, we will temporarily install barrier plates, hardware screening, or metal fiber cloth as a temporary exclusion. We will not perform ladder work, roof top work, or other dangerous work in the dark or during weather that would make it hazardous. Many of our USRs come in the evening hours so that limits the temporary work we can perform.

Before we leave, the last thing we do is thank them for entrusting the security of their home and safety of their family to us and schedule a follow up full home inspection within 48 hours of the USR visit. Frequently the full inspection is the next day.

When we come back for the follow up inspection, we perform a second interview that usually starts with a lighthearted comment about being happy they were able to “get a good night’s rest” and “let’s make sure this does not happen to your family again.” We then ask if there was any more activity (noises, movement, etc) since our last visit, and start our inspection based on their responses.

I will not go into our inspection process here, as that will be an article for another time, but I rarely have client’s decide to do anything less than full trapping and exclusion after a USR call for reasons other than financial.

We establish in this service offering that  Huntsman Wildlife is a well trained, well prepared, expert resource in protecting their health and property.  Our job is to live up to those expectations. It’s the least we can do.

Till Next Time… See Ya Folks.