Will a Pest Control Company Help me with My Groundhog Issue?

Many people confuse rodent control, animal control and pest control. While animal control officers handle all animals including rodents, pest control officers only offer pest control services. In order to get rid of any confusion, we need to understand what pest control is and how it relates to animal control.



Pest control is the regulation, management or extermination of any species that is considered as a pest. Some examples of organisms that are considered as pests include ants, termites, worms, insects, bugs spiders and ticks. Did you note that rodents like rats and groundhogs were not mentioned in the list? That is because they are not considered to be pests.

When you research on the different methods of pest control, you will also note that the devices and chemicals used are very different from the ones used in groundhog control. While they may use net traps to capture insects, they need baited steel traps to capture groundhogs. The equipment used in pest control is not effective in capturing groundhog since any groundhog can bite its way through a net trap.

Find out more: What is the best bait to trap a groundhog?

Apart from the equipment used, there are also very big differences between the type of training that pest and groundhog control officers need. While a pest control officer needs to know how to capture small animals like insects and ticks, a groundhog control expert will need to capture a groundhog that is almost a thousand times bigger. Picture trying to capture a groundhog the same way that you would a grasshopper- it is not possible.

Even what you do with a captured insect is not the same as a captured groundhog. Infarct, most pest control officers don’t use chemicals that chase away or paralyze pests, they use chemicals that drain the life out of their bodies. This is because getting rid of a thousand dead flies is easier than getting rid of a whole groundhog. When it comes to groundhogs, most control services will paralyze the animal and then carry it with them. The disposal of this animal is harder than the disposal of insects. This is coupled with the fact that not many dead insects smell, but with groundhogs, the stench is simply evil.

The difference between these two jobs is very clear. So when it comes to answering the question, of whether a pest control service will help you with your groundhogs problem, then the answer is simply ‘no’. If you need some help with your groundhog issue, you should consider calling a wildlife control office and not a pest control office. Alternatively, there are many groundhog control services that you can call and they will be very willing to help you out.

Go back to the How to get rid of groundhogs home page.

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