Mustaches For Movember

During the month of November our team at Gates Wildlife Control has been fundraising and growing mustaches to support this great foundation.

Gates Wildlife is extremely proud to announce we raised $1635 this month, surpassing our target! We would like to thank each and every one of you that donated, it is greatly appreciated.

We will also be donating $5 for every review that was posted on our Homestars and Google account this month. That will be added to our team donations tomorrow! 

Thank you everyone for supporting us this Movember!

Why do raccoons and squirrels thrive in urban environments?

Living in a city provides certain animals with three main luxuries that their more wild neighbours simply do not have. For starters a city animal has less predators to worry about, such as coyotes, foxes and owls. There is also a tremendous variety and abundance of food available whether it be our garbage, handouts or the planted garden variety. Urban living also offers an abundance of den site opportunities in the way of attics, chimneys etc. By tearing and chewing their way into roof tops, city animals can stay safe from predators and be close to food sources.

These urban environment luxuries provide for a less stressful and longer life for urban animals than that of their forest living counterparts. Living longer means a reproductive female will be able to produce more offspring during her life time. Combining a longer life with easy access to food also results in healthier females giving birth to larger litters. It is more typical to see litter sizes of 5 to 7 offspring with city animals where litter sizes in the wild are only 2 or 3. It is for these reasons we see much higher populations in species like raccoons and squirrels in city neighbourhoods than is seen in the wild.

Animals do not make a conscious decision to live in the city but often urban development forces their hand. Raccoons and squirrels are quick to take advantage of the new resources available to them and if given the opportunity to return to the wild there would be no turning back. Continuous studies have shown that trying to relocate city animals back into the wild results in a low probability of survival. This is probably due to the fact that they have become so accustom to city living that have lost their ability to adapt to the harder way of life in the wild.

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 past weekend our office received an email from a concerned customer. They believed to have “something” in the wall that was eating away at the drywall. She mentioned that her husband knocked lightly and his fist went through the drywall.

When Gates Wildlife Technician Nick arrived on site, he decided to start his inspection by looking at the interior wall where the customer was hearing the noice. They had covered the area with newspaper and duct tape for the time being, while they awaited their appointment with us. Nick pulled back the duct tape, which peeled off the rest of the paint on the wall, revealing this rather large wasp nest! Although the nest was not active at this time of year, Nick recommended a pest control company to the customer to have the nest removed.

From time to time we will receive calls from customers that describe noise as “an animals snoring.” It is common for homeowners to describe the buzzing of wasps inside their nest as “snoring.”

The following is the review we received from this very customer on HomeStars:

“Nick came (was running late due to weather conditions and called to let us know) and inspected the infested area. We thought it was a squirrel inside the wall and it turns out it was a wasp nest. Because it wasn’t wildlife, they were unable to remove the nest but there was no charge for the service. Nick was very professional and knowledgeable, giving us recommendations for pest control companies to contact. I would definitely use this company for all my wildlife removal again.”

Thank you to our customer for writing such a kind review about Gates Wildlife Technician Nick and our company on HomeStars.

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.

Mustache Monday

During the month of November, Gates Wildlife will be donating $5.00 for every review that is posted about our company.

To help us reach our goal, we would appreciate receiving a review from anyone who has used our services over the years. It would mean a lot to us if you could take one minute to tell us how we did on our HomeStars account at https://bit.ly/2NyF81q

Over the years, we have come across many homeowners that take solving wildlife problems, into their own hands. Most DIY attempts have to do with keeping the animals from getting on the roof rather than addressing the problem properly.

In one instance I witnessed where a homeowner experiencing a raccoon problem in their attic spend a few thousand dollars cutting down fifty year old trees around their house. This was done in an attempt to prevent a raccoon from climbing up the trees, onto the roof and into the attic. The next morning the mother raccoon was seen climbing up the brick wall to get back to her newborn babies.

More barbaric DIY attempts include placing boards with nails, spikes and even barb wire (see picture) on the paths traveled by wildlife. On many occasions these inhumane methods are used during the spring months when the adult mother, come hell or high water, will endure anything to return to her young. Proof of the animals’ injuries is sometimes evident in the traces of blood on the roof.

While I do understand how wildlife intrusions present homeowners with anxiety, sleep deprivation, health and safety concerns and repairs, it does not warrant being inhumane. It is not the animals’ intent to be destructive or harmful.

Simply put, the sensible way to deal with an unwanted wildlife tenant is to get them out and keep them out. Without removing the animals first and then securing how they got is nothing more than a band-aid approach to wildlife control. Of course, release on-site, keeping the family unit together and animal proofing are all components of a scientifically sound humane approach to solving wildlife intrusions.

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.

Playing Possum

Playing dead is a survival strategy performed by hundreds of different species, including lemurs, lizards, ants and sharks. But why do animals do this? This bizarre behaviour, know as tonic immobility (TI) or catatonia can be used as a defence or offence.

Since most predators avoid dead or rotting animals displaying catatonia is usually enough to keep predators from killing and eating them. An opossum for example, assumes an odd body posture, sticks out its tongue, drools and oozes a foul smelling liquid from its anal gland. Disgusted, the predator usually decides it’s not the meal it was looking for and leaves. After a few minutes the opossum jumps up and heads on its way.

Animals also play dead in order to catch prey. There is a species of beetle that pretends to be dead and is carried away by ants to their ant nest. Once inside, the beetle springs back to life and feeds on the ant larvae.

Another form of immobility is called clipnosis. A mother cat will pick up their babies by pinching the napes of their neck with their teeth, causing them to hang lifeless and quiet. This induced behaviour avoids attracting unwanted attention from predators when transporting them from one den site to another.

Humans can also experience tonic immobility when they freeze when confronted by a potentially violent attack. An example of this would be if a grizzly bear was to rush towards you unexpectedly invoking this involuntary form of self defence. This counter intuitive behaviour of not fleeing or fighting is not totally understood. 

The animal kingdom has so much to teach us, I cannot wait!

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.

"Thank you for saving me, but can you please put me down now"

After chewing a golf ball size hole into a roof, Red squirrels will venture deep into the structure of a house. Because of their small size they can access the walls of a house by following the holes drilled in the studs to run electrical wires. This can cause serious problems.

When an animal is confined to the attic, any damage can be fixed by accessing the attic. When a red squirrel chews on wires behind walls or between floors the drywall needs to be removed in order to find the problem. This can prove to be very costly.

On occasion a red squirrel will travel so far into the structure of a house it forgets how to get back out. It may find its way into the basement of the house, as this one in the picture did, or it may starve to death and die behind the walls, creating a whole new set of challenges.

Of all the species, Red squirrels are the most challenging for us to solve. Therefore, if a Red squirrel or any animal for that matter moves into your home get them evicted humanely ASAP.

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.

Mustaches For Movember

Gates Wildlife is raising funds and awareness this Movember for all the dads, brothers, sons and mates in our lives.

For over 35 years, Gates Wildlife has been committed to preserving and saving the lives of animals. In keeping with the philosophy of saving lives, we feel it is fitting to join forces in supporting this cause.

Our team at Gates Wildlife is growing mustaches during the month of November to support the cause. We have set up our team donation page on the Movember site. We welcome donations of any amount to help us achieve our target.

Our Movember Page: https://moteam.co/gates-wildlife-control?mc=1

What is Movember? 

Movember is the leading charity tackling men’s health on a global scale. Men’s health is in crisis. Men are dying on average 6 years earlier than women, and for largely preventable reasons. 

Unchecked, prostate cancer rates will double over the next 15 years. Testicular cancer rates have already doubled in the last 50. And across the world, one man dies by suicide every minute of every day, with males accounting for 75% of all suicides. 

Movember is uniquely placed to address this crisis on a global scale. They fund groundbreaking projects all over the world.