Humane Wildlife Removal Service in Central Florida

What does humane wildlife removal actually mean?

Humane wildlife removal means getting an animal out of your home without needless harm and without orphaning its young. Instead of poison, a technician uses live traps, one-way exclusion doors, and hands-on removal, then checks for a nest of babies so the family is not sealed inside a wall to die. The entry points are sealed afterward so the animal cannot return.

Which animals does Dr. Critter remove in Central Florida?

Dr. Critter removes the full range of Central Florida wildlife, including raccoons, squirrels, rats, mice, opossums, bats, snakes, and skunks. Raccoons and squirrels are the most common attic invaders, bats require exclusion under state law, and snakes turn up in garages and pool cages. Each species needs a different removal method, which is why an on-site inspection comes first. Timing matters as much as species: our Central Florida wildlife activity calendar shows when each animal is most likely to get in, and when state law blocks the work.

Most of that work happens inside the metro. If you are in the city itself, our page on animal control in Orlando covers response times, the species we see most often there, and how the older neighborhoods around Winter Park and College Park tend to let animals in.

West of the metro the mix shifts. Pasture edges and citrus land put armadillos and snakes in front of houses far more often than attic squirrels, so animal control across Polk County tends to start in the yard rather than on the roof.

How does wildlife removal work, step by step?

The same six steps run on every job, whatever the animal. The species decides the method inside each step, and the law decides the timing.

1. Inspect. A free on-site inspection, often the same day you call, that maps every entry point on the building, not only the one you noticed.
2. Identify. Time of day, the sound, the droppings and where the entry sits usually name the animal on the first visit. That matters because the method and the law both depend on the species.
3. Remove. Live trapping or a one-way door, plus a check for a nest of young before anything is closed. Removal usually runs three to ten days. Bats are exclusion only, and only from August 15 through April 15, the window the FWC’s bats-in-buildings guidance allows.
4. Seal. Once the structure is confirmed empty, every gap is closed with material the species cannot chew or pull through. Sealed entry points carry a lifetime warranty.
5. Clean. Contaminated insulation, droppings and odor are dealt with after sealing, through attic restoration and critter waste cleaning where the contamination calls for it.
6. Repair. The damage the animal did is photographed and repaired as part of the same job, with the scope written line by line so it can go to an insurance adjuster.

Who handles wildlife in my county?

In most of Central Florida, not the county. County animal services handle dogs, cats and other domestic animals, and several of them say on their own websites that they do not trap nuisance wildlife. FWC writes the rules but does not send anyone out. We read all fourteen county agencies in our area on the same day and set out what each one handles in who to call for wildlife in Central Florida.

Do I need wildlife control or pest control?

Pest control treats insects, and the working tool is a chemical. Wildlife control gets a mammal, a bird or a reptile out of a building, and the working tools are a live trap, a one-way door and hardware cloth. That difference is not marketing language. A raccoon in an attic is nuisance wildlife under Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rules, and what may legally be done with it is set by the state, not by whoever answers the phone. Under rule 68A-9.010, F.A.C., a trapped native animal must be released or euthanized within 24 hours, and it may only be released off the property in the same county, on at least 40 contiguous acres, with the landowner’s written permission. The FWC sets this out on its relocating nuisance wildlife page, and our Florida wildlife laws by species table shows how the rules differ for each animal.

It is also why a standing pest control contract usually does not cover whatever is walking around above your ceiling. The two jobs need different equipment and a different repair afterward. We wrote a longer comparison of what each trade actually handles in Florida if you are trying to work out which one to call.

How a one-way door works

A one-way door is a cone or a hinged flap fitted over the hole the animal is already using. The animal pushes through it on its next trip out and cannot push back in. It does not get trapped, it does not get driven across the county, and it does not have to be killed. Once the attic is confirmed empty, the door comes off and the gap is closed with material the species cannot chew through.

Exclusion is how most attic work ends, and for bats it is the only lawful method. Florida Administrative Code rule 68A-9.010 prohibits bat exclusion between April 16 and August 14, and the FWC’s guidance on bats in buildings adds that bats may not be captured or relocated at all. Our trapping-law guide, species by species covers the detail for each animal. During those months the pups cannot fly, and sealing the roost would leave them to starve inside the wall. If you call us about bats in June, we will tell you exactly that, and we will book the work for the other side of August 14.

The nesting check is the step that gets skipped

A spring or early summer call is usually a mother and a litter rather than one animal. Trap the adult, take it away on its own, and the young stay behind. Within about a week you have an odor coming out of a wall cavity and a second job that costs more than the first one would have.

So the inspection looks for a nest before anything gets set. Where there are young, they come out by hand and go back to the mother outside the structure, which is also what stops her tearing a fresh hole in the roof trying to reach them. It adds time to the visit. It is also the whole difference between an animal that leaves and an animal that gets sealed in.

Why we do not use poison

Poison kills the animal wherever it happens to be when it dies. On an attic job that means inside your insulation or behind your drywall, and you are left with the smell, the flies, the cleanup and the same open gap that let the first one in. There is also a real risk to a dog, a cat, a hawk or an owl that finds the carcass first.

Live trapping and exclusion cost more up front than a bait station. They also finish the problem instead of moving it into your ceiling.

What the work costs and how long it takes

The phone estimate and the on-site inspection are both free, and we quote after the inspection rather than off a price list. The number depends on the species, how many entry points there are and how much of the attic needs cleaning. We photograph the damage and write the scope out line by line, so it can go straight to an insurance adjuster where a claim applies.

Most Central Florida attic calls get a same-day inspection. Removal usually runs three to ten days depending on the species and the method, sealing follows once the structure is confirmed empty, and cleanup is scheduled after that. Sealed entry points carry a lifetime warranty, so if one fails we come back at no charge. The phone is staffed 7 AM to 11 PM, seven days a week, and an animal loose in the living space goes to the front of the queue.

Wildlife removal near you in Central Florida

Dr. Critter responds to wildlife calls across Central Florida. Pick your city for local response times, common species, and direct booking:

• Wildlife Removal in Apopka, FL
• Wildlife Removal in Brevard County, FL
• Wildlife Removal in Cocoa, FL
• Wildlife Removal in Casselberry, FL
• Raccoon Removal in Altamonte Springs, FL
• Raccoon Removal in The Villages, FL
• Raccoon Removal in Windermere, FL
• Bat Exclusion in Lake Mary, FL
• Bat Exclusion in Volusia County, FL
• Squirrel Control in Orange County, FL
• Rat Extermination in Orange County, FL

Or start from your county. Each county page lists the towns it covers and what that county’s own animal services will and will not handle:

• Wildlife removal in Brevard County
• Wildlife removal in DeSoto County
• Wildlife removal in Hardee County
• Wildlife removal in Highlands County
• Wildlife removal in Indian River County
• Wildlife removal in Lake County
• Wildlife removal in Marion County
• Wildlife removal in Orange County
• Wildlife removal in Osceola County
• Wildlife removal in Polk County
• Wildlife removal in Seminole County
• Wildlife removal in St. Lucie County
• Wildlife removal in Sumter County
• Wildlife removal in Volusia County

Working out what's in your attic? Start with our species guides: raccoons, bats, squirrels, rats, snakes, opossums, and skunks. Once you know what you are dealing with, our attic animal removal service gets it out and keeps it out.

Don't let wildlife problems disrupt your life. Click here to schedule an inspection.