Wild animals only. For stray dogs & cats, call your municipal animal control
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Every Question We Get Asked, Answered

These are the questions South Jersey homeowners actually ask us on the phone, answered the way Brandon answers them: directly, with real numbers where we have them, and with links to the deeper pages when a short answer is not enough.

Short answer: This page answers the 30 questions Acorn Wildlife hears most, grouped by topic: cost and quotes, identifying the animal, how humane removal works, exclusion and our warranty, scheduling and service area, and the dogs-and-cats question. Every answer links to a full page if you want the long version.

Every Question We Get Asked, Answered

The Animals

Identifying the animal correctly is the whole first step, because the law, the method, and the price all depend on which species you have. A squirrel job and a bat job in the same attic are two different projects under two different sets of New Jersey rules. Start with the sounds if that is all you have; timing and location narrow it fast.

Animal Identification Questions

What animal is making noise in my attic?
Timing is the best clue. Light, fast scampering at dawn and dusk is usually squirrels. Slow, heavy thumping after dark points to a raccoon. Scratching or gnawing in walls at night suggests rats or mice, and light chirping or fluttering in summer can mean bats. Our attic guide has the full sound table.
What animals do you remove?
Acorn Wildlife removes raccoons, squirrels, flying squirrels, bats, rats, mice, opossums, skunks, groundhogs, snakes, birds, and moles from South Jersey homes and yards. Wild animals only, never dogs or cats. Each species has its own page under wildlife removal with signs, methods, laws, and prices.
Are the snakes in South Jersey dangerous?
Almost never. The snakes we remove from Camden, Burlington, Gloucester, and Mercer county homes are overwhelmingly harmless garter snakes, rat snakes, and water snakes. Venomous timber rattlesnakes exist in New Jersey but are rare and protected. Do not kill a snake to identify it; send us a photo instead. Our snake page covers identification.
Do raccoons in my attic mean rabies?
Not usually. Raccoons are New Jersey's most common rabies-vector species, which is why the state restricts handling and relocation, but an attic raccoon is almost always a healthy animal that found a warm den. The everyday risks are raccoon roundworm in the droppings and structural damage. Treat any raccoon acting sick or fearless as an emergency and keep pets away.
Why do I smell something dead in my wall?
An animal died in the wall cavity, ductwork, or crawl space, often a poisoned rodent. The smell peaks for one to three weeks and can linger longer in summer. We locate the carcass by odor pattern and access points, remove it, and sanitize the cavity. Details on our dead animal removal page.

How Removal Works

Humane removal is a process, not a trap in a truck. The method depends on the species, the season, and whether young are present, and New Jersey law has a say in all three. These answers cover the middle of the job: what actually happens between the day you call Acorn Wildlife and the day the noises stop for good.

Removal Process Questions

How does humane wildlife removal actually work?
Inspection first: we find every entry point and confirm the species and whether young are present. Then we choose the gentlest method that works: one-way doors that let the animal leave and not return, live traps where the law requires, or hand removal for litters. Sealing follows removal. The full walkthrough is on our wildlife removal page.
What is a one-way door?
A one-way door is a spring-loaded or funnel-style device mounted over the animal's entry hole after every other gap is sealed. The animal pushes out on its normal foraging run and cannot get back in. No trap stress, no relocation questions, no orphaned litters when used correctly, which is why it is our preferred tool for most squirrel and raccoon jobs.
What happens to the animal after removal?
We answer this honestly instead of comfortably: New Jersey law decides. Relocation is restricted for rabies-vector species like raccoons, and we walk you through the legal options during the inspection. What we never do is strand dependent young, dump an animal where it cannot survive, or tell you a pleasant story that is not true.
What about baby season?
From roughly March through June, most attic raccoons and many squirrels are mothers with young. We remove kits by hand and stage them so the mother relocates them herself to a backup den. It adds days to the job and we will tell you so up front. Excluding a nursing mother strands the litter in your insulation, which is the worst outcome for everyone.
Why can't you remove bats in summer?
New Jersey enforces a maternity-season blackout on bat exclusion in the summer months, because flightless pups would be sealed inside to die. During the blackout, Acorn Wildlife can inspect, seal secondary gaps, and schedule the exclusion for the day it becomes legal. Any company offering a mid-summer bat eviction is cutting an illegal corner. Details on our bat removal page.

Exclusion & Warranty

Exclusion is the product. Removal without it is a revolving door: the scent, the droppings, and the open hole all advertise your attic to the next animal that passes through the yard. That is why every Acorn Wildlife quote includes the repairs, why we build them from steel and hardware cloth instead of foam, and why the Seal-Tight Warranty stands behind every one.

Exclusion and Warranty Questions

What is wildlife exclusion?
Exclusion means permanently sealing every opening an animal could use to enter your home: roofline gaps, soffit returns, vents, chimney flues, and foundation gaps, using steel, hardware cloth, and proper flashing rather than foam and hope. It is the difference between removing this animal and ending the problem. Our exclusion page shows how we seal each entry point.
Why do you quote exclusion with every removal?
Because an animal that lived in your house leaves scent and an open door that advertise the den to the next one. Trapping alone treats the symptom. We separate the two scopes on your written quote so you see what each costs and choose with real information, but we will always tell you which openings worry us and why.
What does the Seal-Tight Warranty cover?
If an animal re-enters through a repair Acorn Wildlife made, we come back, remove it, and redo the repair at no charge for the warranty term. It covers our workmanship and materials on every repair in your quote. It does not cover new damage in untouched areas, openings you declined to repair, or storm damage. The plain-English terms are on our warranty page.
Will animals just chew a new hole somewhere else?
Sometimes they try, which is why the inspection maps the whole house, not just the hole you found. We repair with materials rodents cannot chew through (steel and hardware cloth, not foam or plastic) and flag every vulnerable spot on your report. Determined squirrels occasionally open new territory; when that happens we say so honestly and quote it fairly.
Do I need attic cleanup after the animal is gone?
Often, yes. Droppings carry raccoon roundworm and histoplasmosis risk, soiled insulation loses its value, and leftover scent invites the next animal. Cleanup and sanitization, up to full restoration with new insulation, is quoted as its own scope so you decide. See attic cleanup and sanitization.

Scheduling & Service Area

Two offices, four counties, one simple rule: an animal loose in your living space jumps the line. We run Camden, Burlington, and Gloucester county work from Cherry Hill and Mercer County work from Trenton, so nobody waits on a technician driving in from an hour away. Here is how scheduling, coverage, and the first visit actually work.

Scheduling and Service Area Questions

How fast can you get here?
An animal loose in your living space is our top priority and often gets a same-day response. Standard inspections book within the week. We run from 600 Deer Road in Cherry Hill for Camden, Burlington, and Gloucester counties, and from Riverview Plaza in Trenton for Mercer County, so most homes are a short drive from one office or the other. Call or Text (856) 398-1028.
What areas do you serve?
Acorn Wildlife serves Camden, Burlington, Gloucester, and Mercer counties in South Jersey, with offices in Cherry Hill and Trenton. Start from your county page: Camden, Burlington, Gloucester, or Mercer, or find your town on our wildlife removal hub. Near the edge of the map? Call anyway and we will tell you honestly.
What are your hours?
Mon–Fri 8am–5pm, with Saturday and Sunday visits by appointment. Texting works around the clock: send photos of the animal, the droppings, or the damage to (856) 398-1028 any time and we will respond when the office opens, or sooner for a living-space emergency. The phone reaches our Cherry Hill office, not a call center.
Who actually shows up at my house?
Brandon Stein, the owner, or a technician working directly under his NJDEP license (#92411B). Acorn Wildlife is owner-operated: no subcontracted lead-buyers, no rotating crew of strangers. The person who inspects your home is accountable for the quote, and the company that quotes it is the one that warranties the work. Meet him on our about page.
Do I need to be home for the inspection?
For the first visit, yes, at least at the start. We need attic or crawl space access and fifteen minutes to walk you through what we found, photo by photo. Follow-up visits like trap checks and one-way door removal usually do not require you, as long as we can reach the equipment safely from outside.

Dogs, Cats & What We Don't Do

Wild animals only. It is on our topbar, our footer, and our contact form, and it is still the call we get every week. We answer it gladly, because pointing you to the agency that can actually help beats taking your money for a job that is not ours. The same honesty applies to the services we deliberately do not offer, like insect spraying and poison-first rodent programs.

What We Don't Handle

Can you remove a stray dog or cat?
No. Acorn Wildlife handles wild animals only, and New Jersey routes domestic strays through municipal animal control. Call your county shelter: Camden County Animal Shelter in Blackwood, Burlington County Animal Shelter in Westampton, Gloucester County Animal Shelter in Clayton, or Trenton Animal Control in Mercer County. They have the legal authority and the holding facilities we do not.
A feral cat is living under my porch. Who do I call?
Your municipal animal control or county shelter, not a wildlife company. Many South Jersey towns also work with trap-neuter-return groups for feral cat colonies, and the shelter can point you to the right one. If a wild animal moves in under the same porch (skunk, groundhog, opossum), that half of the problem is ours: see animals under decks and sheds.
Do you spray for insects or treat for termites?
No. We are a wildlife removal and exclusion company, not a general pest control company. No insect sprays, no termite contracts, no quarterly treatments. The trade-off is depth: wildlife entry points, humane removal law, and exclusion carpentry are all we do. For insects, hire a dedicated pest control operator; for anything with fur, feathers, or scales, call us.
Do you use poison for rats and mice?
Not as a first move, and never as the whole plan. Poison creates carcasses in your walls, risks secondary poisoning of owls, hawks, and pets, and does nothing about the gaps rodents use. Acorn Wildlife seals first, then traps what remains inside. The honest comparison between the two approaches is on our rodent control page.
Will you kill the animal?
Our default is humane removal and exclusion, and for most jobs (squirrels, raccoons, bats, opossums, skunks) no animal is harmed. We are honest that New Jersey law limits relocation for some species and that rodent control involves lethal trapping. What we never do is poison-first programs, glue boards for wildlife, or drowning. If humane matters to you, ask us anything; we will answer straight.

Did not find your question? Ask it directly. Call or Text (856) 398-1028, or send photos of whatever you are seeing and hearing. The blog holds the longer answers: costs, seasonal patterns, and species deep dives.

Still Have a Question?

Ask Brandon directly. Same-week inspections across South Jersey. Call or Text (856) 398-1028.