SCRAM! Wildlife Control

I consulted with Scram about a raccoon problem. They don't trap wildlife; instead they repair wildlife damage and help you to encourage wildlife to move along to a new home. This might be a great strategy if you live in a rural or exurban area, not so much if you live in a central city location where the problem wildlife would probably just move along to a neighbor's home on the same block. For that reason alone, I didn't hire them.

Perfect. Adam was very professional. A cannot recommend highly enough.

Scram inspected my entire house for all possible entry by squirrels including crawling all around my attic. Screens were installed over the hole the squirrels made and a fan vent. They used a camera to view inside the hole in the siding. Luckily there were no babies or squirrels present at the time. scram was half the price of other service providers.

I found SCRAM on the Wildlife Rehabilitation website and they were exactly what I was looking for. They inspected my house and attic and discovered a raccoon living there. They installed a one-way door at the point of entry so that when the raccoon left, she couldn't return. Then they returned about a week or two later and installed a permanent fix so that other wildlife could not get into my attic. They were so awesome and I was thrilled that I could sleep peacefully again without harming the raccoon.

Fast scheduling and I didn't even need to be there since the bats weren't in the attic - just an exterior vent. Adam called to keep me posted on what he found and his plan for eviction. Very thorough and cleaned up all bat feces from garage roof & driveway. Would hire again!

I spoke with Adam, who informed me that the animal would be trapped but it was illegal to relocate so the animal would be killed. In fact I said, so I should just kill the animal. His response was yes.

We called about a strange animal noise in the chimney. Ben came out the same day. He was very thorough, searched the flue, climbed to the top of our (high) chimney, checked the cap, sealed some flashing, but didn't find an animal. The next morning, noise was back, turned out it was a woodpecker on top of the chimney cap. Very responsive, economical and professional company.

I called three companies and decided to go with this one. This company had the most reasonable approach, in my opinion. I called all companies on Saturday October 31. SCRAM was not open and I left a message. They returned my call first thing Monday morning 11/2/15. The company was able to send out a technician (Ben) that afternoon. He was extremely knowledgeable. He assessed the perimeter of the home and the suspected spot of the potential habitat. He did not think a skunk was using the spot as a residence but a possible hide out as needed. He provided me a quote that included creating a perimeter barrier around the spot and a one way door. I decided to hold off on the perimeter barrier based upon his information. The inspection was $89.00. Well worth it. He was VERY knowledgeable about skunk behavior and assessing the situation. SCRAM doesn't kill/trap - it ensures the animal does not create a habitat near/in your house. I liked this approach. Other companies may use traps - Ben advised that if a company traps a wild animal, by law it must be euthanized. Highly recommend them.

He was on time, professional and answered all my questions. Nice guy, did not push me to do the permanent solution, which I thought was a very good solution, but too good for an old shed. He left a pamphlet and said to call if I had any future problems.

Came out to the house, was on time, and went through steps to prevent wild animals from taking up residency under our deck. One option was to add heavy gauge fencing along the bottom of our deck, but we plan to expand our deck and didn't proceed. He gave us other options we can do on our own and grateful for the knowledge he shared.

Although there was no evidence of animal intrusion, the inspector did note that one of the attic vents was not secure. This had come up in the home inspection when I bought the house, so I knew that this was an issue. He said that eventually something (mostly likely birds) would find their way in. I elected to have him install a metal screen on the inside so future problems would be prevented. The inspection was $89 and the screen installation was $50. I was satisfied with the service especially considering getting into my attics is difficult because the entries are through small openings inside closets. I was happy to support SCRAM the Ohio Wildlife Center with which they are affiliated.

We've had a problem with groundhogs digging against the foundation of the back of the house for several years. When I called SCRAM! to request inspection, Adam said that he and his helper were actually leaving a job in the area and could come right over. They were at the house within 20 minutes. They inspected the area and Adam wrote up a proposal. We accepted the proposal, and we scheduled a date for SCRAM! to come and install wire mesh along the foundation to expel any resident groundhogs and prevent their return. They came the very next week and completed 95% of the work over the course of 2 days. The last step was finished the week after, when the one-way escape door was removed and the area filled in. We are very pleased with the work that was done. Adam and crew were professional and courteous, as well as competent and efficient. They were quiet, and they left the area clean and neat. They were a pleasure to work with, and we would definitely use them again should the need arise.

Did a great job. Installed a special cover over the vent line to prevent this from occurring again.

I hired SCRAM! to help get rid of a family of squirrels that had gotten into my attic through a missing board on a dormer. SCRAM! came out to inspected my property by looking in the attic. They told me that I do indeed have squirrels but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. I then asked what their next steps were for removing the squirrels now that the babies were mobile and running around on the roof. Their response was that I should just wait a few weeks to see if the babies leave on their own. Then, if after several weeks of waiting, with additional damage to my house, if the squirrels don't leave, SCRAM! would come back and install a one way door. I wish I would have thought of that on my own.

We discovered an injured Red-tailed Hawk in our yard. A call to SCRAM resulted in a quick response. The hawk was safely captured and transported to Ohio Wildlife Center. We were given an update on her condition a few days later . . . broken wing, no other injuries, surgery probably would not be needed. We received a call five months later. The hawk was ready for her return to the wild. We were allowed to pick her up (they put her in a box) and bring her "home." With expert instructions on the release (an open field with trees hearby), out two young boys let her go with much celebration! Overall an wonderful educational experience!!!!

It went extremely well. He is a former park ranger with degrees in wildlife management and really knew what he was talking about. It was an educational encounter. Although I was familiar with animal management regarding stray/feral cats, I had never thought out how that might apply to wild animals. He convinced me that you can't just relocate an animal; I knew it was true for trapped and neutered cats, but never realized other animals wouldn't be any better equipped to survive in an unknown location. He said survival rates are only about 30 percent. In addition, I know from past experience that if an animals is removed (via trap release or kill), another animal moves into the space. It's like removing your hand from a bucket of water. Therefore, I know SCRAM's position is correct: the only way to not have animals around is to remove food, shelter and water. The cost of hardening structures varies; however SCRAM is willing to work with homeowners to mitigate the cost by having the homeowner perform some of the work themselves, but with SCRAM's professional instructions. I learned so much from the consultation.

After talking to three companies, I hired Scram to get rid of a raccoon who had taken up residence in my chimney. They seemed nicest and were affiliated with The Ohio Wildlife Center. An apprentice worker came out on time on the scheduled day and did a thorough inspection of the attic, chimney, roof, eaves, and yard. He was pleasant. He pointed out some areas on the eaves to monitor and checked a hole under the porch so he could tell the next day if an animal had used it. He put plastic over the two clay chimney pots where the wire screening had been pulled off, in order to see where the animal came out (though I already knew). He also checked the fireplace in the house and heard the raccoon inside. I paid $89 for the inspection fee and the work that was done that day. Although the two an one-half hour inspection was very thorough, I thought it could have been done in less time. It was tiring. A price of $90 was quoted to me for the one-way door which would be installed the next day to get the animal out. The apprentice explained that once the raccoon was out, Scram could install an inexpensive chimney "cap" made of wire cage material for $114. It was optional, but something had to be in place or the animal would return. I asked about securing my original wire mesh back down with wire wrapped around the circumference of the chimney pots. This method had worked for a long time. He said that he thought they could do that but didn't know and it was not up to code. Older houses do not have to be up to code, however. I asked whether the one way door or the wire chimney cap would impact the clay chimney pots and he said they would not. I did not want the clay chimney pots drilled into or nailed into and I told him this several times. He assured me the chimney cap would be attached by tension only, and agreed that it was not a good idea to drill into the terra cotta. He wrote up a price list for the recommended work and said he would come out the next day at 11 a.m. and his boss would accompany him. The fee to screen out the animals under the porch was about $600 so I declined this part of the work. The next day the apprentice and then the owner came out, both late. I had not decided on the chimney cap type. I still wanted the wire screening reattached. After the owner arrived the apprentice changed the pricing which he had quoted the day before and now said it would cost $114 to secure the original wire screening back down whether I got the wire cage chimney cap or not. Then he said that the $114 was the labor cost just to put the one way door up (in addition to the $90 for the one-way door) even if I didn't have the screening reattached or a wire cap. A regular chimney cap would cost upwards of $600. The apprentice and the owner were standing on either side of me. I felt confused and pressured. I believed this was intentional and resented it. I had decided to go ahead and take the wire cage chimney cap so I okayed the work despite my misgivings. The apprentice said he was sorry I had misunderstood the day before, but I don't think I had misunderstood; he had changed the terms on me. The owner then said as a courtesy he would reattach the screens which had been pulled up on the other chimney pots as a "band-aid" solution, but they could not be guaranteed. He did not specify what this band-aid solution would be, but I assumed it would be with wire as had been done before and that was discussed the day before. The owner got up on the roof to install the one-way door and I heard a power tool starting up. I was concerned about this and questioned the apprentice, who assured me the owner was not drilling into the chimney pots, but rather he was putting cement screws into the cement surround of the chimney. This was not what I understood as a "band-aid" solution. I went up the ladder to look but could not see and was told their insurance didn't cover my getting on the roof. The next day I discovered, after a neighbor went up to check, that Scram had attached the screens and the one way door by drilling into the terra cotta chimney pots and putting in screws, despite the apprentice's repeated assurances that they would not do this. I was very angry. This puts the chimney pots at risk of cracking during freeze/thaw cycles. I later called the owner and refused to pay for the work of installing the chimney caps which damaged the chimney. I felt that he was responsible for the assurances given me by his apprentice, whether he had been informed of them or not. Amazingly, he didn't seem to think he was at first. He used the expression "he said, she said" referring to the apprentice and me, which I found highly inappropriate in a business setting where gender should have nothing to do with it. He finally agreed to write it off. He was very angry about it and said so. He asked why I hadn't come up on the roof and stopped him. He offered to take the screws out, but I felt he did not know enough about masonry to repair the damage and might do more harm. The apprentice came out a few days later to retrieve the one-way door and complete the cap. I had asked for a detailed write-up of exactly what he was going to do so there would be no more surprises and he furnished one. The lack of professionalism of this company turned out to be a serious drawback. A company which damages my house will always get an "F" for quality. This company states that they are the only no-kill animal removal service. However, two other animal removal companies I talked to, when asked, said that they would release the animal on my property if I wanted. Wild animals cannot be relocated off the property by state law.

Company sent me an email informing me that Angie's List posted this Big Deal with out their consent. Advised me to contact Angie's List about a refund and pay them directly.

They had good service. They were responsive. So far it seems to be doing what it is supposed to do.

We first called SCRAM after watching 2 young raccoons scramble up our roof and down our chimney. Since our chimney is internal and leads only to our ventilation system instead of a fireplace, we weren't sure how hazardous this could be. We called first on a Thursday and no one was going to be able to come out until early the next week. So, Adam recommended ways to discourage the raccoons from being in the chimney and then how we could check on our own if we wanted to see if they were out. He gave us all the details about where exactly they might be and why. We did what he said except we weren't able to get the chimney access open. So we had him come out the next week. He was able to determine that the chimney was in fact the only way for any critters to get into our house (our detached garage was another story---which we knew) and he discovered that there wasn't enough debris to indicate a full time nest. They probably used our chimney just as a hideout when needed. Luckily they weren't there. So he only had to put a permanent cap/grate on instead of a one-way door. SCRAM can tell you everything you need to know about common critters and make sure they can't get in your house. Plus they do it humanely without killing the animals, instead they exclude them. No need to hurt/kill animals for doing what they're meant to do.

He did a thorough evaluation of our house. He told us where all the entry points were and explained to us what we could do if we wanted to. He also laid out what they could do for us. He let us know that it was not an immediate need; that it was not a massive problem. He actually suggested that if we were to work on the house we could have a finish carpenter do the work, which might be a little more appealing from the curb. I appreciated his honesty. He told us about some other things that he saw that we might not be aware of since we had not been on the roof often. We are actually going to have them come back and do some things. I really appreciated his professionalism. The quote amount was $400. It was $85 to do the full inspection which I thought was well worth it. We live in a house that was built in 1875 and so there are lots of holes and spaces that little critters can get in. He did an excellent job.

Adam was super friendly, fully going over all of the options for evicting and excluding the racoon under our front porch. What was so great about SCRAM is that their goal is the same as the customer, to preserve wildlife. This is regardless of whether SCRAM makes a profit or not. They worked with us and told us exactly how to perform the work ourselves so that we could save money and safely evict the racoon. The total service was completely sucessful and we are extremely happy with the service provided. We would highly recommend SCRAM as an alternative to every other service that traps and kills wildlife.

Excellent service at a reasonable price.

Went well. DO: Keep in mind that this is not a REMOVAL service, at least not for squirrels. I can imagine that with some animals removal might be a better option, and I do not know if Scram offers such a service. We have skunks in this neighborhood. If I thought a skunk was nesting under my porch, I'd want it taken to the far end of the county, not hanging around looking frustrated!! I can't say whether Scram would do this, so it's a good idea to decide in advance what kind of service you want and ask questions. I recommend Adam. He was thorough and responsive.

Came on time were polite &efficient accurate estimate worked hard.