You likely understand it when someone mentions basement smell. It’s that damp, musty, stale odor that seems to hang in many basements. There’s nothing quite as unpleasant as having that musty smell permeate your home. It can settle into your clothes, blankets, curtains, carpets, and just about everything else you own. Besides being unpleasant, musty […]

As the summer heat starts to fade and the leaves begin to change colors, it’s time to think about completing some fall projects. You’ll likely be putting away the summer toys, cleaning up debris around the yard, and sprucing up your home’s exterior. Another task that you may want to undertake is preventing animals seeking […]

Bats are among the most unique creatures on the planet. They’ve long been associated with dark, scary nights, horror films, Halloween, and vampires, but that’s all Hollywood myth. The real story about bats is much more positive. These amazing animals are quite beneficial because they feed on insects, pollinate plants, and disperse seeds. There’s a […]

CREATURES IN YOUR CRAWLSPACE! While this sounds like the title of a cheesy horror movie, the safety of your home and its occupants can be threatened by unwanted invaders in the crawlspace under your feet. From opossums, to rodents, to insects, to feral cats, a wide variety of creatures see a crawlspace as an idyllic […]

Left, right, left, right, left, right. A line of ants, as adorable as they can seem to a child, can mean horror to the parent. This is especially true in the kitchen, where clean and healthy surfaces are necessary for proper food preparation. Unfortunately, even the most sanitized kitchens can still attract ants, and, depending […]

Problems caused by opossums Many homeowners in the Triangle area of North Carolina have woken up to the frustrating sight of their trash cans being knocked over and the contents spread out and scavenged through by opossums. And if you’re up early enough in the morning, you may even catch sight of these nocturnal creatures […]

It’s that time of year again. Spring is just around the corner and North Carolina’s state mammal, the eastern gray squirrel, has started to have offspring.  Gray squirrels are one of the most commonly seen mammals in our state. This grayish-brown rodent is conspicuous and found in rural, suburban and urban areas, like Raleigh and […]

North Carolina’s Adorable Nuisance There are two types of flying squirrels in North Carolina: the southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) and the Carolina northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus coloratus). Between the two, the only species considered a pest is the southern flying squirrel, which is found in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, and surrounding cities in […]

What are bats?  Bats are a special type of mammal – they are the only mammal that can truly fly! No, they are not rodents with wings. Bats are actually part of a different order than rodents called Chiroptera. Bats are extremely important to the environment and North Carolina’s agriculture. Bats are pollinators, seed-dispersers and […]

Raleigh, Durham and the surrounding areas of the Triangle have many, many species of spiders. It can be very difficult for a non-expert to have any idea what to think of some of these scary-looking, but mostly harmless eight-legged creatures.  The North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation’s clear diagram that lays out many of […]