Wildlife Removal in Brooklyn, NY

New York City has more urban wildlife than most people realize. Gray squirrels, raccoons, opossums, pigeons, starlings, and bats all thrive in the city's mix of parks, brownstone roofs, and older building stock. Most of the time they live outside and stay out of the way. But when they find a gap in your roofline, a soft spot in the soffit, or an uncapped chimney, they move in and turn attics, eaves, and wall voids into nesting sites.

Wildlife damage goes beyond the inconvenience. Squirrels chew through electrical wiring and insulation and can start fires. Raccoons tear open roofing and soffits. Pigeons deposit highly acidic droppings that damage masonry, clog drains, and create a slip hazard on sidewalks and fire escapes. Bats in an attic produce guano that accumulates quickly and carries health risks including histoplasmosis. Opossums in a crawl space often bring fleas, ticks, and mites with them.

DIY wildlife removal is rarely a good idea. Trapping regulations in New York are specific and strict. Capturing and relocating most species without the proper license is illegal. Bats are a protected species with defined exclusion windows. Raccoons require rabies vector handling protocols. Attempting to remove a mother animal without accounting for her young usually leaves orphans in the wall to die, which turns into a serious odor and decontamination problem.

A proper wildlife removal job handles the whole situation: identifying what animal is involved, removing them humanely, sealing every entry point with materials animals cannot chew through, and cleaning up the contamination they leave behind. Cutting any of those corners leaves you with a recurring problem.

Wildlife work is very different from insect work. It involves protected species, state regulations, humane handling requirements, and real structural repair. Done right, it solves the problem permanently. Done wrong, it makes things worse or gets you in legal trouble.

Full inspection. A licensed technician walks the roof, attic, and exterior. We identify the species, locate active entry points, and look for signs of young inside the structure. For pigeons and roof birds, we document the roosting surfaces and the spread of droppings. All findings are documented with photos.

Humane removal. Our default method is exclusion. We install a one way door over the main entry point. The animal leaves to forage, cannot get back in, and relocates on its own. This is the most humane option and it is also the most effective because it avoids trapping stress and the legal complications around relocating certain species. When exclusion is not possible, for example in chimney cases or with animals stuck in living spaces, we use direct capture or appropriate traps handled according to state law.

Handling young. Animals found in walls and attics are often mothers with babies. Removing the mother and leaving orphaned young creates a bad outcome for everyone. We time the work to account for young animals: waiting until they are old enough to follow the mother out, or manually removing and reuniting them outside so the mother can carry them to a new den.

Entry point sealing. This is the step most homeowners overlook and most fly-by-night removal companies skip. We seal every active and potential entry point with hardware cloth, metal flashing, and mortar. Foam and caulk do not work because animals chew through them. Sealing is what separates a temporary fix from a permanent one.

Cleanup and decontamination. Droppings, urine soaked insulation, and nesting material get removed. Contaminated areas are decontaminated with professional grade products. For heavier infestations, especially in attics, we often recommend insulation replacement to restore both sanitation and thermal performance.