Foxy Friday! A Series

This weeks fox feature is of mom. In our Youtube video you can see how confused she was when she first approached our reunion box. She dug up quite a bit of dirt behind the box as you can see in the photo. After a few minutes, she became more comfortable and grabbed one of her babies from the box. Within 5 minutes she had returned and relocated all her babies across the street to a safe place.

If you are new to our page or aren’t familiar with the job, this past April Gates Wildlife was called on to humanely remove a family of foxes from underneath a residential deck. There is a YouTube video on our page of the skillful removal of seven four week old baby foxes and you are able to watch their mother instinctively relocate them to their new den.

We are honoured to have been featured on many different social media platforms via popular pages such as The Dodo, recently on Unilad and many many more around the world in response to this video.

I always love to show my followers our exciting adventures that we get to go on. This job is always teaching me something new and it’s so fufilling being able to share my knowledge with all of you. I am very thankful to have the platform to do so and that all of you enjoy learning about the amazing wildlife that lives all around us.

If you have yet to see our YouTube video on this removal, I recommend you do it is TOO cute! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0iQAHd4Rew&t=48s

By Brad Gates, B.Sc.

Brad Gates is the owner and president of AAA Gates Wildlife Control. He has over 35 years experience in the humane wildlife removal and prevention industry.

Many people believe that raccoons do hibernate during the winter months as they are rarely seen from December to March.

Truth be told, raccoons do not hibernate but they do hide away in their dens during the extremely cold, snowy periods. They are capable of sleeping for weeks at a time in order to conserve valuable energy. This is a good survival strategy on their part as their food is either buried under the snow or frozen solid.

At this time of year, raccoons appear to be quite large due to the fact that they are packing on their winter weight and are growing a much needed thick winter coat. Their ability to store body fat allows them to live off of their fat reserves and stay in their den longer when food is scarce. Typically a raccoon will lose up to half their body weight during the winter months.

While inspecting the attic, Gates Wildlife Technician Blake came across this mother and babies in the corner of an attic. He was taken aback by how large this mother raccoon was as they don’t usually pack on this much weight so early in the Fall.

By Brad Gates, B.Sc.

Brad Gates is the owner and president of AAA Gates Wildlife Control. He has over 35 years experience in the humane wildlife removal and prevention industry.

“We appreciate the love and compassion that you have for us. Thank you for placing us in one of your warm reunion boxes while we wait for our mother to come collect us.”

This photo was taken in March of this year.

Foxy Friday! A Series

If you are new to our site or aren’t familiar with the job, this past April, Gates Wildlife was called on to humanely remove a family of foxes from underneath a residential deck. There is a YouTube video on our page of the skillful removal of seven four week old baby foxes and you are able to watch their mother instinctively relocate them to their new den.

We are honoured to have been featured on many different social media platforms via popular pages such as The Dodo, recently on Unilad and many many more around the world in response to this video.

I always love to show my followers our exciting adventures that we get to go on. This job is always teaching me something new and it’s so fufilling being able to share my knowledge with all of you. I am very thankful to have the platform to do so and that all of you enjoy learning about the amazing wildlife that lives all around us.

If you have yet to see our YouTube video on this removal, I recommend you do it is TOO cute! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0iQAHd4Rew&t=48s

Winter Is Coming!  

As winter approaches our furry friends begin looking for warmer accommodations. Raccoons in particular are vacating their summer digs, such as under decks and are moving into attics and chimneys. Homeowners can take simple precautions to reduce the risk of a home invasion of the furry kind.

For example, leaving a garage door open past dusk is seen as an open invitation to a passing raccoon family wanting to stay warm.  Raccoons see it as a safe place to live, not realizing that once the garage door is shut behind them they will be locked in. As a result, we receive many calls at this time of year to remove raccoons that have been trapped inside garages and subsequently attics. Raccoons that find themselves trapped will start by chewing and tearing the rubber seal the bottom of the garage door in an attempt to escape. Once this proves unsuccessful they then move their attention to the attic vents and aluminum soffit. Hundreds of dollars of damage can occur in just one night.

It is extremely important to remember to shut your garage door at night before it gets dark, especially at this time of year. Remembering to perform this simple action can prevent unwanted guests from making your home their home.

The raccoon in the pictures was accidentally locked inside this garage and Gates Wildlife Technician Nick had to scramble over many items to apprehend the raccoon. He was able to use his catch pole to safely bring the raccoon out from behind all the stored items and placed him in a trap temporarily. The raccoon was soon released in the backyard after the garage door was secured.

By Brad Gates, B.Sc.

Brad Gates is the owner and president of AAA Gates Wildlife Control. He has over 35 years experience in the humane wildlife removal and prevention industry.

“I’m sorry for breaking into this townhouse, my mom showed me how to do it!”

Raccoons are one of the few animals that actually learn from their successes and failures. They repeat their successful behaviours and in the case of a mother raccoon, they pass this behaviour on to their young. I enjoy the challenges that are faced with when working alongside these highly intelligent critters.

This photo was taken back in May of this year.

By Brad Gates, B.Sc.

Brad Gates is the owner and president of AAA Gates Wildlife Control. He has over 35 years experience in the humane wildlife removal and prevention industry.

The Much Needed Helping Hand 

This bird found it’s way into the office space of a building and the staff was unsure how the bird ended up inside. Our office received this emergency call and Gates Wildlife Technician Nick was sent out to rescue the bird. Nick was able to contain the bird and safely bring him outside to be let free.

We receive many calls about birds accidentally gaining access into the living space of homes and other buildings. It is often a mystery how they got in but they almost always require a helping hand to get back outside.

Based on the picture we believe this bird is a baby Cardinal. 

By Brad Gates, B.Sc.

Brad Gates is the owner and president of AAA Gates Wildlife Control. He has over 35 years experience in the humane wildlife removal and prevention industry.

If you are new to our page or aren’t familiar with the job, this past April Gates Wildlife was called on to humanely remove a family of foxes from underneath a residential deck. There is a YouTube video on our page of the skillful removal of seven four week old baby foxes and you are able to watch their mother instinctively relocate them to their new den.

We are honoured to have been featured on many different social media platforms via popular pages such as The Dodo, recently on Unilad and many many more around the world in response to this video.

I always love to show my followers our exciting adventures that we get to go on. This job is always teaching me something new and it’s so fufilling being able to share my knowledge with all of you. I am very thankful to have the platform to do so and that all of you enjoy learning about the amazing wildlife that lives all around us.

If you have yet to see our YouTube video on this removal, I recommend you do it is TOO cute! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0iQAHd4Rew&t=48s

By Brad Gates, B.Sc.

Brad Gates is the owner and president of AAA Gates Wildlife Control. He has over 35 years experience in the humane wildlife removal and prevention industry.

Mother squirrels are so intent in retrieving their dependent babies when we remove them from the nest. Sometimes the mother squirrel’s are so overzealous, they don’t often give us the opportunity to place them in our release jug before aggressively approaching. When a mother squirrel recognizes that we are holding her babies she will not hesitate to jump on us in an attempt to get them back.

To avoid getting bit by a protective mother squirrel, it is critical that we move quickly to give her one of the babies back. This immediately takes her focus away from us and efforts turn towards collecting and relocating her baby.

There is never a dull moment in the world of humane wildlife control! The unpredictability of our wild subjects keeps us on our toes. There are not many jobs that offer this type of excitement.

By Brad Gates, B.Sc.

Brad Gates is the owner and president of AAA Gates Wildlife Control. He has over 35 years experience in the humane wildlife removal and prevention industry.

“I am grateful that my landlord hired Gates to ensure that our family stays together”

Gates Wildlife received an emergency call to rescue a skunk that was stuck inside a garbage bin. When our technicians Justin and David arrived on site it appeared that the skunk was enjoying a McDonalds snack while he awaited his rescue.

Photo taken by Gates Wildlife Technician Justin.

Looking back on all the exciting stories we have shared this past Spring, I came across the pictures we took at our baby fox job.

If you new to our page or aren’t familiar with the job, this past April Gates Wildlife was called on to humanely remove a family of foxes from underneath a residential deck. There is a YouTube video on our page of the skillful removal of seven four week old baby foxes and you are able to watch their mother instinctively relocate them to their new den.

We are honoured to have been featured on many different social media platforms via popular pages such as The Dodo and many many more around the world in response to this video.

I always love to show my followers our exciting adventures that we get to go on. This job is always teaching me something new and it’s so fufilling being able to share my knowledge with all of you. I am very thankful to have the platform to do so and that all of you enjoy learning about the amazing wildlife that lives all around us.

If you have yet to see our YouTube video on this removal, I recommend you do, it is TOO cute!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0iQAHd4Rew&t=48s

By Brad Gates, B.Sc.

Brad Gates is the owner and president of AAA Gates Wildlife Control. He has over 35 years experience in the humane wildlife removal and prevention industry.

This particular spot is a very common entry point for raccoons. They are able to use their back and push up on the often very flimsy aluminum soffit and gain access inside the attic. It is very important to screen these areas to prevent any unwanted animal intrusions into your home, especially if you have low-pitch intersections like the one pictured.

In this picture you can see a raccoon that has returned after being evicted from their den site. Our screen is positioned and secured in such a way to prevent any manipulation of the aluminum soffit and prevent re-access into the attic. Raccoons are one of the few animals that actually learn from their successes and failures. They repeat their successful behaviours and in the case of a mother raccoon, they pass this behaviour on to their young.  For example, in neighborhoods where a raccoon has learned how to break in houses like in the picture, we will see this point of entry throughout the neighbourhood. Because of this, we always recommend screening all similar features on a home to the one that the animal has used to gain access. Once they are locked out of your house, they will be looking for a way back in and try the same areas on the home. 

I just love how smart raccoons are and even after 35 years of working with them, they continue to keep teaching us about what they are capable of.

Our service program includes the humane removal of the animals with the use of our one-way-door as well as preventative measures to make sure we are getting them out and keeping them out.

By Brad Gates, B.Sc.

Brad Gates is the owner and president of AAA Gates Wildlife Control. He has over 35 years experience in the humane wildlife removal and prevention industry.

This skunk fell inside a 3 feet deep window well while travelling along one night. Because skunks are poor climbers, he resorted to his innate ability to dig deeper to try to get out, which was unsuccessful. When Gates Wildlife technician Nick arrived on site he could barely see the skunk in the window well and thought he had possibly got out on his own while awaiting the rescue. 

Upon further investigation Nick saw a piece of the skunk’s tail stick out from under the metal encasing within the well. The skunk had burrowed upwards toward the surface and was stuck, which led to Nick deciding the best way to free him was to dig under the skunk, undermining the ground below, causing the skunk to slide back into the open window well. Nick was able to carefully pick up the skunk, luckily without getting sprayed! The skunk was gently released nearby. It is more than likely that this skunk would have died if our customer had not noticed that he was in the well. We are very appreciative that they called our company out for the rescue because without Nick's fearless expertise this situation could have ended quite differently.

By Brad Gates, B.Sc.

Brad Gates is the owner and president of AAA Gates Wildlife Control. He has over 35 years experience in the humane wildlife removal and prevention industry.

As nights get cooler bats start to think about their winter den sites, which is mostly commonly in the attics of urban homes both in the city and countryside. Bats can fit through a hole the size of a dime and often enter in the gap that exists between the brick and soffit. Gates Wildlife will bat proof your home by caulking this existing gap to ensure that there is no access points into your attic. At this time of year we are able to install our one-way-door to allow the bats to exit but not re-enter.

Have you ever found a bat inside your home? If so, there is a good chance there is a colony of bats living inside your attic. If there is any concern that you might have a colony of bats in your home, give us a call to schedule a free on site estimate with one of our technicians. 

By Brad Gates, B.Sc.

Brad Gates is the owner and president of AAA Gates Wildlife Control. He has over 35 years experience in the humane wildlife removal and prevention industry.