Sometimes skunks find their way into very unusal places looking for a den. We recently had to evict one from some new cabinets waiting to be installed in a new home! 

Having skunks under or near your yard isn't a cause for panic. Just call Predator Impact. We have special traps and years of experience handling skunks. We will live trap them and release them on our huge wildlife preserve. We have never had a skunks spray on a customer's property and we hope to keep that trend up! 

Call Predator Impact if you think you have skunks for a free, no obligation site inspection and we can discuss options to evict your unwanted houseguests! 

Predator Impact, LLC
​(918) 397-4091

As the weather gets colder, mice are looking for a warm place to spend the winter. All too often, they seek shelter in our homes! 

A NOISY VISITOR
For their size, few critter make as much noise as the humble mouse. They run through the ceiling, chew on wall studs and scratch looking for food or to make a nest. We commonly get calls where the homeowner believes they have squirrels, only to discover that it is just really noisy mice.
Mice can jump up to 18 inches and can climb any rough surface. There are very few areas in a home that they cannot reach. 

IS IT MICE?
The easiest way to determine if you have a mouse or squirrels is to keep track of the time of day you hear them. Squirrels are usually silent at night, mice operate 24/7. but you are most likely to to hear them at night when the house is otherwise silent. 
Mice are incontinent and leave trails of urine wherever they go. Their urine glows under blacklight and it is easy to see where they are traveling. 

EXCLUSION
It is difficult to mouse proof your house. They can enter through a hole the size of a pencil, and can flatten their bodies to slip through the tiniest cracks under doors and where the exterior trim isn't completely sealed. You can slow them down by stuffing stainless or copper steel wool into openings and install sweeps at the base of doors. Caulk up any seams or openings. Use expanding foam to seal around pipes, dryer vents, and openings in the wall where they might enter. 

REPELLANTS
There are a number of mouse repellants on the market that claim to repel mice. None that I am aware of are scientifically proven effective, especially long term, but we have had some good success with a castor oil based repellent. Time will tell if it is 100% effective, but the initial results look promising. 

POISON
Predator Impact does not use mouse poison except under very specific circumstances. Rodenticides in general are very difficult to use without risk of secondary poisoning of hawks, owls, dogs and cats. Once a mouse has eaten mouse poison, they stagger out in the open as though they were drunk and are easy prey for any predator in the area. Newer rodenticides are better than the older ones, but there is still a high risk of secondary poisoning. 
If the mouse dies in your house, you then have weeks of "dead mouse" smell until the body mummifies. 
All in all, poisons are not worth the risks and complications. 

TRAPS
Traps are by far the best method of controlling mice. Whether you choose glue boards, traditional "snap traps", or live traps makes little difference.
​The mice are attracted to peanut butter, or a flour and water dough. The best bait we use is flour with small bird seed and peanut butter mixed in. Add just a little water to make a dough and bait the traps with this. The dough hardens like a rock and the mice cannot steal the bait. 
Contrary to the wisdom imparted upon us by Saturday morning cartoons, mice do not eat cheese. They will eat it if they are hungry enough, but it is not their first choice by far. 

LIVE TRAPS 
For those that wish to trap the mice and release them ( a long way away!) alive, there are several options. 
Victor® makes a product called a "Tin Cat". 

Baited with peanut butter it will catch multiple live mice. Set it with the opening along the baseboard. Mice hug the wall when the move from place to place and this will lead them right to the trap. 

Once a mouse, or mice, are caught, you can simply carry the Tin Cat to a field 3-5 miles away and release them. 
Another option is the bucket trap. It is designed to have water in the bottom to drown the mice, but you can use it dry as a live trap as well. 

Again, bait it with peanut butter and transport the bucket 3-5 miles and open the bucket to release them. 

LONG TERM PROTECTION
The best way to head off a new mouse infestation is to have traps waiting for them when the first ones arrive. Predator Impact tries to determine where they are most likely coming from and places Tin Cat traps in their path. It may be weeks or months before a new mouse arrives. Peanut butter and other baits typically used for mice will mold or spoil by then. This is the one instance where Predator Impact advocates the use of rodenticides. Not only will mouse poison stay fresh for 6 months or more, but it also kills the mouse quickly and humanely rather than letting him slowly starve to death. 

Scientists who study these things tell is that mice have been living with humans for about 15,000 years. They quickly adapted to depend on humans for food and it is unlikely that we will ever live in a world without mice. 
Mice reproduce quickly. They can reproduce by 8 weeks old. A typical female can have up to 10 pups in a litter and she can get pregnant again 24 hours after giving birth. She can have up to 15 litters a year and can breed year 'round. One pair of mice could potentially result in a population of over 5,000 mice per year! As you can see, it is easy to have a population explosion very quickly! It is important to take action when you first notice signs of mice. 

GOT MICE? 
Predator Impact is your complete mouse solution. We will trap the mice present, lay down a repellant barrier and install Tin Cat style traps to intercept any new mice that show up. 
Call today for a free, no obligation inspection and to discuss treatment options! 

​(918) 397-4091

The calls are rolling in! All summer people have walked around their ponds and lakes and have been amazed how the beavers have "disappeared". Now that it is fall, they seem to have appeared from nowhere! Dams are showing up flooding yards and fields, trees are being cut down. Where did all these beavers suddenly come from? 

The truth is.... they have been there all along. 
In the summer, the beavers live pretty light on the land. When there isn't much rainfall (like this past summer) there isn't any water running, so there is no point in building dams. In the spring and summer, the beavers live off of pond weeds, cattails, and lilypads. They seldom cut trees of any size until the fall when they are ready to start storing food for winter. 
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​In the ;ate summer and early fall, the beavers switch to eating trees. Actually, that isn't exactly true. Beavers do cut down trees, but they only eat the cambium layer. That is the layer between the rough outer bark and sapwood. This is where all the sugary sap is stored.  

The beavers fell the trees, and trim the branches down to a size they can handle. The branches are then shoved into the mud in front of the den entrance where they will be accessible all winter, even under the ice. The pile of sticks and branches can be huge and easily seen from the shore. 
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Of course, it takes a lot of trees to get a beaver colony through the winter. 
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This tree damage is often the first and and most noticeable sign that there is a beaver problem. 

Beavers love HOA ponds, golf course water traps, and ornamental water features, and they can do a LOT of damage in just a few nights. Trapping beavers in neighborhoods and urban settings in close proximity to children and pets poses a special challenge. Predator Impact will only use live catch traps anywhere there is a risk of encountering kids or pets. 

One of our favorite live catch traps for beavers is the Koro. 
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Traps for beavers are always set in the water, but we set them in such a manner that a dog or other pet can be easily released unharmed in the unlikely circumstance that one is caught by accident. 
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There are several different styles of traps we use depending on the situation and the location. 
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Regardless of the style of trap. they are all designed to capture the beavers alive and unharmed. 
Under special circumstances, or in rural settings, there are other traps we can use that are less kid and pet friendly. 

It is rare that anyone in Oklahoma wants more beavers, and given that they can travel as much as 50 miles once released, the Oklahoma Dept of Wildlife has decreed that there will be no beavers relocated within Oklahoma. Unfortunately, beavers are one of the few exceptions to Predator Impact's "No-Kill" policy. While almost all are euthanized, it is done humanely and the animal is fully utilized. The glands are harvested for use in making beaver lure; the meat is excellent table fare; and the pelts and tails are donated to the local Native craftsmen for use in making traditional items. Nothing goes to waste! 

Contact Predator Impact, LLC at (918) 397-4091. We will be happy to come to your site and discuss the situation and options for dealing with the issue. There is never any cost or obligation for consultation! 

Foxes are one of my favorite animals. If you don't raise chickens, and don't mind an occasional roadkill being left in your yard, they are kinda fun to have around.
They do NOT make good pets, and are a significant carrier of rabies, but watched from a distance, they can be a lot of fun.
This time of year, the foxes have kits. In urban settings, they can often be seen as a whole family playing in a yard. 

Unfortunately, there are times that they must be relocated. The adults are notoriously difficult to lure into a live trap, but there are ways to move them out of your area. 
Predator Impact will often trap and relocate the kits to a rural area and then treat the area with the scent of a large coyote, the fox's mortal enemy. 

The kits at this stage are able to fend for themselves and we release them in a protected area where they have the best chance of surviving. 
Once the mother (vixen) smells the presence of the coyote, she will gather up any remaining babies and move them to another location where there is less "threat" of coyotes. 
If you have foxes in your yard and don't have chickens, pigeons, or other small livestock, enjoy watching them grow up. If they need to be relocated, Predator Impact is here to help! 
Predator Impact, LLC
​(918) 397-4091 

Unfortunately, occasionally the "tree" they choose is the siding on your home!

If they are just drumming to attract a mate, it can be annoying, especially if you have metal siding, but the damage is fairly minor. If, however, they are excavating a nest cavity, they can do significant damage to your siding. 
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Woodpeckers present a special problem for wildlife management. The are Federally protected and it is a crime to touch them, or their eggs or young. Therefore, the first thing we have to do is inspect the inside of the nest with a snake camera to make sure that there aren't any eggs or young. If there are, it's hands off until the young have flown! 

If the nest is empty, the next step is to fill the cavity with a special expanding foam that has a chemical irritant in it that deters animals from coming back. 
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Then a metal plate is installed that is color matched to the house, and prevents the woodpeckers from doing more damage in that immediate area. 
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The metal plate is held in place with a professional construction grade adhesive and screwed into place. 
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A wind blown reflective frightening device is placed in front of the hole after it is repaired. It frightens the woodpeckers and prevents them from creating another hole in the immediate area. 
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Something about the reflective surface moving in the wind frightens the woodpeckers and convinces them to look elsewhere for a nesting site. 

In general, I don't like woodpecker jobs. I like to be able to assure the customer that the problem is solved once and for all. With woodpeckers, all I can guarantee is that they will not reenter at the same location and that they will create another cavity somewhere. Hopefully they will choose a dead tree where they don't cause any damage and we can all listen to them drumming, and enjoy the sound. 

So far, we are 100% successful at eliminating woodpecker problems. Here's to keeping it that way! 

If you have a problem with woodpeckers, call Predator Impact at (918) 397-4091 for a free, no obligation inspection and to discuss options to resolve your woodpecker issues! 

Mark Runnels
Predator Impact, LLC
(918) 397-4091

Had a customer with a squirrel in the attic. OK.,,,not that unusual. We get lots of squirrel in the attic calls, but this one was a little unusual. 
The squirrel had torn open the screen on one of the cable vents to get into the attic to make a nest. 

Again, nothing really unusual about squirrels tearing open the screens, even if this was three stories up! 

What was unusual was what was directly under the vent. 

Below the vent was a dense pile of grass and insulation. Remember, this is three stories in the air! 
Having seen similar nests before, I assumed that this was the work of European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), and sure enough, we witnessed one coming and going though the vent. They had made the nest and lined it with insulation, but there were not any eggs yet. 

We trapped the squirrel and released it on the wildlife preserve, and made sure the starling(s) were out of the building before starting exclusion. 
The old rusty screen wire that the squirrels had torn though was replaced with high quality black stainless steel screen wire, and a panel of heavy duty expanded metal fitted over the screen. 

If squirrels or starlings make it back into this attic, I am not sure where they will get in, but I can guarantee to won't go through this vent! 

These iridescent speckled birds are not well loved in the US, but are very highly thought of in parts of Europe.
In the 1890s, a book club in New York noted that Central Park had all of the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's plays except starlings. They imported 100 starlings from Europe and the estimated 200+ million starlings currently in North America are all descended from those imported birds. 
Starlings are strong fliers that can reach speeds of up to 48 mph. 
Starlings are vocal mimics. They can learn the songs and sounds of a dozen or more different common birds. 
The oldest recorded starling was banded in Tennessee in 1958 and died in the same state just over 15 years later in 1972.  
Starlings are cavity nesters. If they nest in a woodpecker hole, or similar size cavity, the just build a simple nest. 

Bit if they choose a larger cavity, they try their best to fill it completely with dry grass, twigs, papers craps, etc. Here is a much bigger nest, also in an attic. 
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I suppose that, given enough time, the starling's goal may be to fill the entire cavity (attic)! 

We had a project with a local hospital a couple of years ago where the starlings had build a nest that occupied a hollow section of wall that was about four feet square, and reached from the third floor to the fourth floor. That nest was huge and we hauled approximately 10 trash bags of dry grass out of that wall. 

If you have a problem with starlings, or other nuisance birds, please contact Predator Impact. There is never a fee for initial consultations or inspections. 

Predator Impact, LLC
Mark Runnels
​(918) 397-4091

The phones are ringing off the hook! Momma squirrels are ready to have pups and they are looking for a nice safe place to have and raise them. All too often that safe place is your attic. Once they make a way in, they will tear up insulation to make a nest, chew through electrical wires and generally make a mess of things. 

At the top of the list of things NOT to do... don't block the hole once she has made it in. Don't cover the hole, and don't put up a one way door.  Nothing will keep momma squirrel from getting back to he nest. In the pictures below, you will see a hole that the homeowner covered with black tape and then nailed a metal plate over the hole. The squirrel simply chewed another hole right next to the first one. (Note: The metal plate is off in this picture, but you can see it in some of the later ones.) 
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The correct approach is to block all the holes but one and then place a specially designed live trap over the entrance. 
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​When the squirrel comes out the opening, it is safely caught in the live trap.

In this case, the squirrel had not had her babies yet, so we relocated her to the woods with plenty of time to make a new nest to raise them in. 

Squirrels in your attic? Call Predator Impact. We will be happy to come to your home and discuss options. There is never any cost or obligation for consultations. 

We look forward to hearing from you! 

Predator Impact, LLC
Mark Runnels
​(918) 397-4091 

Many of you will notice an uptick in animal activity. It is breeding season for skunks, squirrels, and a host of other animals. The males are wandering far outside their normal territories looking for partners, females are starting to search for comfortable den sites. 
If you suddenly have unwelcome houseguests, contact Predator Impact. We can quickly and easily find them a new home! 
Predator Impact. LLC
Mark Runnels 
​(918) 397-4091

Few creatures are hated by homeowners and agriculturists as much as moles and gophers. Their underground excavations create mounds of excess dirt that has to go somewhere, so they push it out of the burrow and make unsightly mounds in the middle of the lawn or landscaping. 

Moles and gophers are often lumped together, but in reality, they are very different animals. Other than they both dig in the yard or garden where we don't want them to, they really have very little in common. 
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There are 13 species of gophers in the US, but the one most commonly found in Oklahoma is the Plains Pocket Gopher (Geomys bursarius). There is, however, a localized population of Mexican Pocket Gophers (Cratogeomys castanops) found in the Oklahoma panhandle region.

Gophers are strictly vegetarians. The eat the roots and young shoots of plants chewing them off at the surface from below. They can cause a lot of damage in a garden and are hated by gardeners. 
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Gophers dig deep tunnels. The only evidence that they are present is the unsightly, crescent shaped mounds of dirt that push up out of their tunnels. Below the surface is a complex network of connected chambers, storerooms, and a drainage system that would be the envy of any engineer. ​

Gophers also have another unique adaption in that their skin closes BEHIND their teeth. This allows them to chew through the dirt without getting dirt in their mouth! 

Moles are strictly carnivores. They dig long tunnels just below the surface in search of earthworms, grubs, etc. The do not damage the grass or plants by eating their roots as gophers do, but rather dislodge them while digging tunnels in search of food. 

On an average day, a mole will eat 60-90% of its own bodyweight in earthworms, grubs and insects. 

Moles create a nest under a sidewalk, tree, driveway, or other hard surface. They make deep tunnels that they use to move from place to place, especially from the nest to the feeding grounds. These tunnels are 6-12" deep and usually run along a hard surface such as a retaining wall or sidewalk. These deep tunnels are used daily and may be used for years. However, once they get to their feeding grounds, they move up to just below the surface and create shallow tunnels. Rather than digging the dirt out of a feeding tunnel, they simply push the dirt upwards to create the classic "mole tunnel". 

Shallow mole runs may be used once and never used again, or if the hunting is good, may be reused several times as long as they are finding food. 
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​Predator Impact has a policy of live trapping and relocating animals whenever possible, but moles and gophers are one of the few exceptions to this rule. There simply isn't an effective live trap for either animal. 

The most successful approach to controlling moles and gophers is a comprehensive one. A combination of gas fumigation and mechanical traps. 

The traps we use varies a lot by location, the basically the principal is the same. We excavate a small area of the tunnel and place a trap in the tunnel. When the mole of gopher uses the tunnel, it is caught. 

Traps work well, but are not 100% successful. Predator Impact follows trapping up with an EPA approved treatment that fills the network of tunnels with a gas that is toxic when concentrated, but which dissipates harmlessly into the soil or atmosphere. The combination of the two methods results in an more effective treatment than either one alone. 

I wish I could say that after one treatment, you would never have moles or gophers ever again, but there currently are no effective barriers or repellants. Sooner or later, new moles or gophers will move in. I like the analogy of having your apartment exterminated for cockroaches, but the apartment next door is still infested. We can eliminate all the moles and gophers on your property, but as long as the neighbors have moles or gophers, they are likely to recolonize your yard as well. Often a group of neighbors will band together and all have their properties treated at the same time. This approach slows the spread, especially for those neighbor in the middle of the "clean zone". 
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Another alternative is a lower cost monthly contract where, for a set fee per month, we inspect and treat your yard or property as needed. 

Predator Impact, LLC can solve your mole or gopher problem. 
Call today to discuss your situation and alternatives for eradicating them. 
There is never a fee for consultations, and we are licensed and insured for your protection. 
Mark Runnels
Predator Impact, LLC
​(918) 397-4091