New animal-control company opens in Tumwater

The newest Critter Control service company recently opened in Tumwater, offering humane ways of capturing and removing animals from residential and office spaces.

Critter Control is a wildlife and pest control company with more than 100 franchises in the United States and Canada. The independent operators address problems with wild animals and wild finding their way into developed areas.

The new Thurston County branch is headquartered at 627 Durell Road SE, Tumwater and services the area from Lacey in the north to as far south as Kelso.

“We specialize in wildlife,” said Critter Control’s local expert and Olympia franchise owner Josh Anderson in an interview with The JOLT.  Critter Control removes “rodents, mice, rats and squirrels; all the way up to possums, raccoons, and even beavers.” He also clarified that they don’t deal with invertebrate pests such as bugs.

The franchise website also included skunks in their list of animals they can remove. Anderson said that they can also remove birds and their nests.

Aside from animal removal, Critter Control can also make modifications to customers’ homes and commercial buildings to prevent animals from invading again.

“That's really our competitive advantage,” Anderson explained. “We cover everything from identifying what species is coming, removal of whatever wildlife species that is, and then repairing and sealing up the structure so that it never happens again.

Anderson asserted they have a general contractor’s license for making house repairs on damage made by the animals.

Humane treatment

Concerning the captured creatures, Anderson said his company adheres “to the strict Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife guidelines,” conceding that they euthanize the animals.

“We have two options that the state recommends for any animal has been live-trapped,” explained Anderson.

“The first is releasing on site which doesn't make a whole lot of sense because you're just releasing an animal it's going to go right back into the home that you trapped it from. So, we go with the second option which is humane euthanasia of the animal.”

Asked if they could release the animal in another location according to a client’s wishes, Anderson answered:  “I completely understand that. Unfortunately, the state does not allow for that. We'd be  in violation of state law.”

According to Anderson, studies reveal that relocating an animal may be dangerous for the environment because the area may already be already at capacity for maintaining its fauna. Adding another animal may make it harder for animals already competing for food.

“That animal could be bringing different parasites or diseases,” Anderson added. “It's just it's not necessarily a good thing even though we think it should be.”

However, in the case of captured birds, Anderson assured that they simply release and prevent them from returning to the building they infiltrated.