Before & After Photos

Recently, a homeowner in Spring Lake, NJ, contacted Cowleys because a hornet nest had formed on the soffit of her home. It was built fairly high up, so it wasn’t a major threat. Hornets can be aggressive and territorial and will attack if their nest is threatened. Here, there wasn’t much traffic around the nest and everyone was a safe distance away. The homeowner’s concern was that the hornets would gain access inside the home through the attic. To avoid this and any other issue with these stinging insects, I proceeded to remove the nest.

Hornet nests have an entry hole where the foraging wasps enter and exit. I watched their flight pattern in and out of the nest and set up my extension ladder on the opposite side of their activity. I had no interest in meeting these wasps head-on! I climbed the ladder and treated the nest with an aerosol that quickly knocks down the population. I then waited until the wasp activity dramatically slowed down. I reached by nest with the bee pole and gave it a good wack to knock it to the ground so that I could bag it and take it with me off the property. The homeowner was relieved that this nest was removed off her property. There are some people that have no tolerance for stinging insects, and this homeowner was one of them! I was glad to help.

Recently, I was sent to a home in Spring Lake, NJ, to resolve a mouse issue in the kitchen. This was an older home that had an old-fashioned bread drawer (breadbox) with a tin cover. For those of us who have been around awhile, they were once commonly found in kitchens. Now, with breads being made commercially with food preservatives and wrapped in plastic, we rarely see them installed in modern kitchens. 

According to the homeowner, the bread drawer cover had rusted away, giving mice easy access to the bread. There were holes chewed through the dread bag and mouse droppings in the drawer. Any time there is a mice infestation in the kitchen, there is a risk of food contamination from their waste, and it is important to resolve this health hazard quickly. I inspected the other parts of the kitchen cabinet, but mouse activity was limited to the bread drawer. Apparently, with a ready and accessible supply of food in that drawer, there was no need for them to forage elsewhere. 

Usually, rodents enter a home around the foundation.They find gaps and cracks, often around gas or water pipes entering the home where the sealant has deteriorated. Once inside the basement or crawl space, the wall run along the sill plate (the wood closest to the ground on the top of the foundation walls) until they find a way to gain access to the living spaces of the home up above. Here, I found a gap around the sink drain under the cover plate (escutcheon plate), the base plate disc around water pipe at the wall penetration. These plates are visible around faucets and tub or shower fixtures, but plumbers also use them around sink drains. I sealed the gap with a chew-proof copper mesh. I also found mouse droppings on a ceiling tile.

I set up mouse bait stations under the kitchen sink as well as several points on the basement sill plate where there were signs on rodent activity. I scheduled a two-week follow-up inspection in two weeks to re-inspect and determine additional treatments as needed to get this mouse problem resolved.

This homeowner in Spring Lake, NJ had a problem with several squirrels nesting in his chimney. A short while after setting up our retrieval devices, we safely retrieved the squirrels, disinfected the area, and relocated them to a new, humane location. Now, in order to prevent any future infestation from squirrels, nuisance birds, and other nuisance wildlife we're going to install a Chimney cap. 

A chimney cap is a heavy-duty material that is constructed out of 24 Gauge Top and Flange, and 18 Gauge Galvanized Mesh! It is designed to prevent access to the chimney from all nuisance wildlife and birds.

This homeowner in Spring Lake, NJ was getting her roof repaired and as the roofer was moving to one side of the home, he got attacked by several angry bald-faced hornets! The roofer ran inside and the homeowner called us for help.

When we inspected the home, we found the hornets nest tucked underneath the soffit. No wonder the roofer never saw it!  Bald-faced hornets have white markings on their face and have smooth stingers, which means they can sting an unsuspecting victim over and over again. We grabbed our extendable pole, attached a knockdown aerosol product to it, and then injected it into the nest. We then waited several moments and treated the nest with a knockdown liquid application. Both of these treatments rapidly exterminate the bald-faced hornets.

After a short amount of time we removed the nest, disposed of it, and then treated the area with a residual application to eliminate any returning hornets as well as prevent them from building another nest. 

After safely and successfully removing squirrels from this home in Oakhurst, NJ, we began to repair the severely damaged fascia board and soffit area.

First, we removed the old, damaged fascia board and replaced it with new water-resistant pressure-treated lumber. Next, we capped the newly installed fascia board with metal flashing in order to cover and protect it from pests and nuisance wildlife. Lastly, we closed up the access point in the soffit area made by the squirrels with metal flashing.