Before & After Photos

After finding a number of ants crawling all over his desk, this business owner in Brick, NJ called Cowleys for help and we were sent out. After finding them crawling over the carpet in the basement level office, we followed their trail to a window that was above the owner's desk. We examined the area and, sure enough, found the ants crawling all over the window and discovered that they were coming from the mulch bed. 

The natural decomposition of mulch creates a cool and moist environment that is the perfect breeding ground for ants and other pests. Additionally, the organic materials found in mulch are a natural food source for many ants and can aid in the development of larvae and eggs. We treated this area, the other mulch beds, and the entire landscape with a granular bait.

Once we finished with that, we applied a liquid non-repellant along the exterior of the building and, at the owners request, the baseboards and crevices around the inside of the office. The worker ants will bring these treatments back to their nest and then share them with the other ants in their colony and their queen. A short while later, the ants will be exterminated.

This homeowner in Belford, NJ, had an infestation of squirrels in her attic. How did they get in? They ripped a portion of the gable vent off and entered that way. Nuisance wildlife infesting a home through the gable vents is very common. Over time, the gable vents get weathered so nuisance wildlife like raccoons, squirrels, birds, and bats have no problem ripping away these vents to find shelter inside a home.

A short while ago, we successfully retrieved all the squirrels and relocated them to a new, humane location. All that's left is exclude the main access in order to prevent future intrusions! First, we disinfected the attic area, went back to our trucks to fashion a louvered gable vent, and then installed it over the gable vent. This material is made out of heavy-duty Galvannealed steel (which means it won't rust) and is customized to accommodate vents of all shapes and sizes! Now the gable vent is properly protected from squirrels as well as all nuisance wildlife!

Recently, homeowners in Manasquan, NJ had contacted Cowleys after observing mouse droppings in their home. They were especially concerned with contamination issues because they had three young children. Mice can contaminate food, countertops, and flooring with their droppings and pose a serious health hazard. Their droppings can contain many dangerous pathogens, including hantavirus. 

For any mouse infestation, it is critical to determine their entry points into the home and how they are moving about once inside. Invariably, mice will wind their way to the kitchen when they are foraging for food and water. Here, I pulled the dishwasher and refrigerator away from the wall to look for entry points. Sure enough, there were large holes int he walls that went straight down into the crawl space. Mice are attracted to the warmth of motors in appliances and it is common to find them nesting underneath refrigerators and large kitchen appliances. I sealed the holes with chew-proof wire mesh to block direct kitchen access from the crawl space and keep the mice and the droppings away from the family.  

With the infestation contained in the crawl space, I set up RTU bait stations in the crawl space. These stations contain single-feeding bait that are magnets for mice. The mouse population should be drop quickly and with the kitchen entry points sealed, the mice will not be restricted from the living areas of the home.

We were sent out to a home in Manasquan, NJ to deter nuisance birds from the property. The nuisance birds were roosting and nesting above the girder on the rear porch and defecating all over the area. This presents a dangerous situation to the owner and his family as the bird droppings are a health hazard and the nesting debris could contain bird mites. Bird mites are tiny, semitransparent parasites that feed off the blood of birds. When birds leave their nest, the mites are left without a suitable host and will infest the home to feed on the blood of humans.

First, we carefully removed the birds' nesting materials and applied a product that specifically targets bird mites. Next, we installed optical gel along the beams throughout the porch to prevent the birds from roosting. The optical gel is a multi-sensory bird repellant that deters birds using sight, smell, and touch. As a visual deterrent, the birds see a UV spectrum that, to them, looks like fire or smoke (although there isn't any). As a smell deterrent, the optical gel gives off a cayenne pepper or peppermint odor that the birds hate; and as a touch deterrent, the optical gel has a tacky feel to it that the birds dislike. Now nuisance birds are properly deterred from the area. 

A new homeowner in Brielle, NJ, was having an issue with birds roosting in her home. She had another company come out and try to exclude the birds, but it didn't work, so he called Little Rascals for help. 

During our inspection, we discovered that the birds were actually roosting in a small gap behind the shutters. The previous company installed chicken wiring, but it was extremely loose and not secure. We removed the company's exclusion bird, disposed of it, and then carefully removed all the nesting debris.

In order to properly exclude the birds, we took a piece of metal flashing and scribe shaped it to the shutters. This contours the metal flashing to the shutters almost perfect and will not only exclude birds from the home, but bats, wasps, bees, and hornets as well!