Critter Control

He set one mole trap and place two bait stations. He also placed wadded newspaper in the hole opening to check where the activity was occurring. He came back twice to check traps and bait stations. At 3 weeks he pulled the trap and bait stations indicating there were no rodent activity and I was to call him if I saw activity. I saw two juvenile rats playing on my roses, on my patio, the week before I called the company and was very surprised at his actions. I had paid in advance for the service as requested. I felt that if he had viewed the property and indicated rat and mole signs were there and then sold me the contract - "How could he sell me a contract and 3 weeks later pull his traps and bait stations?" He indicated that his company would keep the $s remaining on the contract as a "credit" and it was my responsibility to let them know if I saw any rats/moles. Since these rodents are nocturnal it would/will be difficult for me to see them. I feel they should have finished the contract as sold or returned the remaining credit. I don't know if other "rodent" exterminating companies are like this, but it sure has tainted my view of them.

I'll give the outcome first and will list the journey after. In the end, we were able to determine the root cause of our critter problem. There was a family of starling birds that nested in our attic roof vents. We were able to seal off the area and haven't had a problem since. Let me tell you about the journey. It took more than 3 months to resolve. We initially hired Critter control when we first heard scratching noises above our master bedroom at the beginning of spring. They initially inspected our attic, roof, and perimeter and initially thought that the noise was caused by squirrels on our roof, so they set out baiting stations on the roof. In the meantime, the scratching continued, especially early in the morning. They did capture one squirrel, but after two weeks of still hearing scratching, more needed to be done. The next thought was perhaps there were rats in our attic, although there was no "evidence" to support this. Nonetheless, several bait traps were set in our attic. I have to admit, by this point the ongoing scratching noises was wearing on my patience. However, my husband kept reminding me that they are the "experts." We went through a couple of weeks before they came back to check on the traps. Nothing was caught and the traps appeared untouched. Because we were still hearing the sounds, the traps were reset. When the gentleman from Critter Control returned, he claimed that there was one rat caught and he reset the traps. Right after he left our house (within 5 minutes of his departure), my husband found a hole in our ceiling, near our master bathroom, next to where the traps were set in the attic. It appeared as though the gentleman had stepped through our ceiling when he was in our attic. We immediately contacted Critter Control and the owner visited our home. He confirmed that it was apparent that his employee caused the damage. The owner was very responsive and the repair was done very quickly and with high quality. As it turns out, the owner ended up interviewing his employee and the employee was not forthcoming and his claim about catching a rat in our attic turned out to be fabricated. As a result, the employee was fired. After that, we dealt exclusively with the owner. We continued to investigate the idea that sounds were coming from rats or mice in the attic; although there still was no evidence of this. In the meantime, the scratches at 5:00 am continued. Multiple traps were set and we even added an infrared camera in the attic. It wasn't until my husband was outside one morning with the Critter Control owner that they witnessed at starling bird fly into our roof eve near our bedroom, where resolution was in sight. As it turns out the vents in our attic were very difficult to access, but somehow the birds had made a nest in the roof vent. At this point, the birds had laid their eggs and the babies had just hatched. We decided to wait 2 more weeks to allow the babies to fly the coup. Once the birds left, Critter Control sealed the vent. We are happy to report that we've not heard anymore scratching. I won't fully believe it until next spring arrives. We appreciated interactions with the owner, Tim. However, it took too long to reach resolution and suggest better screening and oversight of their employees.

I thought they did a good job. The workman was fast in finding out the problem. They had no problems about digging up underneath the house and explaining exactly what was happening and what they were doing. The service was good, but I don't think it was exceptional. They did exactly what they were supposed to do so the price for the service we got was right in line. They were out when we called them.

They were very nice. I'm not sure that we ever totally got rid of it but the personnel was very nice.

They caught one mole. they misdiagnosed that the critter problem was skunks, it was squirells, and they did not catch anthing. Pretty much a waste of money.

Back in late March, I was hearing noises in my attic, which I could not determine what was making them. After I heard gnawing above my kitchen ceiling in April, I called a pest control company (NOT Critter Control). They sent a technician to my house who looked in the attic and proclaimed it was rodents (rats/mice). That sounded reasonable enough, as rats and mice do gnaw. This company put out bait stations, one in the attic and one outdoors. However, on Saturday April 10, I spotted a squirrel climb from my roof, into a soffit vent above my side door, and disappear. After that, I heard noises in the attic again. So, thinking I was being helpful, I contacted the pest control company and told them I had seen a squirrel enter the attic. They offered to put up screening on my soffit vent, so the same technician came out to do this on Thursday. After doing this, he seemed irritated with me. I don't know if he sincerely believed it was still rats or mice, and just didn't like having to put up screening, but it was off putting to say the least. He said he had provided all these options, but the only options I was offered by him or his employer were to put up screening, or continue monitoring the bait stations (which does nothing about squirrels in the attic). Huh? I had no evidence of rats or mice in the house, but direct evidence of squirrels (seeing one seems pretty direct to me.) I will admit my college biology is a bit rusty, but I am pretty sure I can tell the difference between a squirrel and a rat. After witnessing the desperate mother squirrel try to get back in the attic, I then contacted Critter Control, by this point practically hysterical. They sent out a technician (Wally) who listened to what I had to say, including my concerns and my account of my less than stellar experience with the other company. Wally confirmed that I did indeed have squirrels, including removing one that unfortunately had passed away, and saying NOTHING about rats or mice. Then he proceeded to put up an exclusion door, so any squirrels in the attic could get out, but those outside could not get back in. After about a week, he put a trap in the attic if there were any squirrels left who wouldn't leave. There were not, it turned out. So after the exclusion door had been on about a week and a half, he put screening back on the soffit vent. I have not seen or heard any squirrel activity since, so I am a very happy customer. If you suspect in the least you could be dealing with something other than rats/mice, save yourself some time and anguish, and call Critter Control. I would probably also recommend them for rats/mice, but I don't have the direct experience.

It went great. They did work as promised and responded whenever we had an issue. We were delighted with the service.

It took about a week or more before I rec'd a call after sending an email via Angie's List. They did apologize and indicated they didn't check the emails from Anglie's List as often. Nonetheless, they made an immediate appointment and were punctual. The representative explained the procedures and followed through with all measures. On a weekly basis the traps were monitored and traps were removed after a designated amount of time. Critter Care was professional, knowledgeable and provided excellent service. Should those little critters return, I will certainly call the company again.

Reviewed problem, and provided options. Installed traps as requested. Removed the traps and closed holes under eaves. Installed protective barriers. All was done timely and as quoted. Provider was professional and clean.

I thought they were very responsive. With regards to the actual work they just sort of came in and did the work and then disappeared. They never really followed up with me as to how the service went. They would charge me for the services without letting me know ahead of time what exactly the bill was for. I was the one who had to follow up with them in regards to the charges.

We had a birds nest in the attic. After a few weeks of waiting for the birds to leave the nest was removed and the openings closed off to future nest making. Other potential infestation points were pointed out and a quote given. I thought the prices a little high and you have to be patient with appointments.

I had Critter Control come out to take care of damaged soffit vents and bird infestation. They charged $199 when I spoke to them on the phone for the scheduling to come out (which I agreed to). Upon arrival they stated they did not have the proper tools or materials to do the job and would have to come back. I received no phone call regarding follow up visit and had them show up on my door step to complete the job a week later without any notification they were coming. The follow up trip cost me $260 for 20 min worth of work, and in the end they told me they would not remove the nest from the vent until the birds were gone. I will say the 2 gentlemen that performed the service were very professional and polite and were apologetic that we were not notified ahead of time for the revisit.

The company was very professional and prompt,

These people were very professional. They were prompt and performed as per their proposal.

Choosing a service through Angie's List gave me a level of confidence in calling services to determine the right company. When I called Critter Control, the customer service person I worked with on the phone provided my options for service and payment. I was grateful for a quick response to my call. Wyatt, my service technician, was professional and very informative from our first meeting and gave me a number to call when any activity or sight of the squirrel was visible. I highly recommend Critter Control for service.

I was having some plumbing work done under my house amd the plumber told me that that was a dead opossum under my house. I called critter control and the person I talked to told me that it would cost $199.00 to come out to come out for a professional wildlife service/inspection and I needed to pay before they came out. So I gave them my payment infromation over the phone. The person I talked to gave me one price for caging live critters and another price for removeing dead critters. The service person came out and did a inspection and removed one dead opossum carcass. He told me it was the same price for live or dead critters. The next day the plumbers came back out to finish their work. and told me that their were Three more dead opossums and a cat still under the house they told me that they would do the best they could to work around the critters but it was a health and safety issue. after they were done I call another company to remove the critters and clean up the feces and ran pumps to clean the air and replace the plastic barrier under the house Gary A Wall Sr

I thought they were a little expensive because they only set traps. I think legally in Oregon we are not allowed to catch the squirrels without a license which is why it is so expensive. They were fine. They were prompt and if you called within a certain time of day they would come by and pick up the squirrels that night which was nice because that worried my kids. The price is probably comparable to similar businesses in the area.

We heard animal noises in the attic, and based on the location and timing (night) we felt it was bat activity. A long shot was some kind of bird. One pest control firm looked at it and decided it was mice, and set about setting traps in the attic and under the house. The noises continued, and no mice were ever found. Evidence of them was slight (let's face it, mice are everywhere.) The firm did a good job; they just were focused on the wrong varmit. So we ended that endeavor and called another who advertised bat control. Given the time of year (winter) their technician...who knows bats, said he doubted bats would be active in the winter in this climate. So they began the same approach for mice. The result was the same; no activity. Stumped by the noise, the technician plugged the potental outside spot with paper, which would indicate if anything was inside by the fact they would push the paper out of the way to get out. No activity was noted. While not determining the creature causing the noise, he permanently covered the area with mesh and caulking to prevent any use by whatever it was. The noise has never returned. We like this vendor; the technician provided good service, admitted mice were not the problem, adjusted the bill (since it wasn't bats) to include the repairs he made. He was alway punctual, industrious and explained what he was doing. Definitely would reused Critter Control. It is my belief the culpritl was a bird---flicker (I saw one fly from the direction of that corner twice prior to the problem), and it was roosting in the ouside corner of the house at night and rest there sometimes during the day. It would move and shuffle around while roosting, and since it tends to peck and scrap its bill, that and any movement caused the noises which carried through the walls.

Most recently in June 2012, the owner came out to look at how to prevent a bat from sleeping at my back door on a nightly basis. No work was done and my $299.00 was refunded. Very kind and professional. Prior to that, he had come out when I had my third bat in the house to look in what we thought was a crawl space. Again did everything expected of him. He has a great personality and was very nice. He also helped get rid of nuisance moles in my yard and a mouse problem in my house. Very happy with all of his services and would highly recommend.

They were here about 2 weeks ago. They have done a couple jobs for me. I would say that they are very resposive. I found them in Angie's List.

They were recommended to us and I was happy with them. We would use them in the future if necessary.

They did all that they said they would do.