Critter removal...

[Bogie]

So, I have an apartment-dweller friend, and they aren't on the best of terms with their landlord... I suspect that both are a bit... difficult to deal with, and that compounds. Doesn't help that my friend wants a few things about the apartment actually fixed, rather than ignored...
 
The apartment building seems to have developed some squirrels in the attic... Well, we could look at that several ways, but... The ones I'm referring to are the ones with bushy tails. And teeth to possibly gnaw on things that shouldn't be gnawed  upon... Landlord basically told them to go pound sand.
 
Would bad things happen if my friend calls something like the city animal control people?

[Bogie]

No, I am not going to go up in the building's attic with .22 and a can...  Friendship only goes so far.

[RoadKingLarry]

Might be worth a call to the local health department.

[230RN]

I caught a flea, an actual identified flea, the other day. I'm on the top floor and I've been hearing things going on the attic.  Two plus two?

That four, plus the fact that a relatively new first floor neighbor has been feeding wildlife makes five.

That five, plus the fact that I saw some coyotes wandering around the pastures lately makes six.

That six plus the fact that I found one around my car and I had to whoop and holler and arm-wave to make it go away makes seven. It stopped about halfway out in the pasture, hiding behind a bush looking back. 

Yes, I was armed and this is some kind of special-use-multi-family-agricultural property, but I was not about to dump one in the dirt for the noise factor for fear that too many of the residents would urinate.

The shot probably would have been legal, but legal or not, I've become distrustful of any D- controlled goobermink, and we (APS-ers) know of a few people who have been DA-massaged without a happy ending.

Anyhow,with respect to my domicile, I decided long ago that if a building problem was bad enough for me to complain about, someone else would complain first.

But I stlll don't like the idea of finding a flea. I sprayed around all possible entry points (telephone box, under sinks, near baseboard heating pipes...)

Terry, 230RN

[Bogie]

When I was living in the apartment about 25 years ago, a possum moved into the laundry room in the basement in the back of the building. Luckily, I was in the front.
 
It dropped a litter. The landlord tried to rent mostly to coeds from the major universities, and they thought the babies were just so cute...

And then people in the back of the building started getting fleas.

Suddenly, it was "make the bad vermin go away!"

Now, I wasn't the landlord, but I would do things for neighbors. Install better locks, etc... I think they thought I was some sort of "do anything" person. A couple of them had seen me carrying rifle cases, so when we had an urban outdoorsman move in to the boiler room, they asked me to get rid of him... I told them that that wasn't really what I did, called the cops, and then went downstairs and told him that they were on the way. He moved to a different building...
 
Anywho...
 
And some of the former possum supporters asked me how they could get rid of the things. So I told 'em to go to the hardware store, and buy traps...
 
I think they did one, and then took it a few blocks away to Forest Park, and let it loose.

So... I started looking for baby possums occasionally. Bam with a trenching tool (compact, easy to swing, carry outside, into the dumpster... Did it subtly, after I got home from work at night.

Coupla days later, about all that is left is Mama Possum, and one of the tenants knocks on my door, and says that they have her cornered in the laundry room ceiling. Okayfine. I go down to take a look. Yup, she's there, and she's going to be hard to get to. But I knew just the ticket. Went  upstairs, grabbed one of those 18" bayonets, stuck it on a Mauser, and went back downstairs. Well, by that time, there was a half-dozen tenants in the laundry room, including the gay guy couple. And when one of them saw the Mauser, eyes rolled up, and he fainted dead away... So I explain that I only mean to prod the critter toward the door, and they drag him upstairs...

At which point with no witnesses, I gigged Mama Possum, and put her in the dumpster.

[230RN]

Bogie said,
"
A couple of them had seen me carrying rifle cases, so when we had an urban outdoorsman move in to the boiler room, they asked me to get rid of him.
"


Like. Will steal. Problem? Have your intellectual property lawyer call my intellectual property lawyer.

Terry, 230RN

[K Frame]

Consult a professional?

Pansies.

DETCORD!

[Bogie]

"Urban Outdoorsman" is a term that has been around for quite a while... I think that Rush might have coined it...
 
This dude was generally called Rastaman, since he favored dreads, and hung out on a street corner near Forest Park...

[MechAg94]

You mentioned the one neighbor feeding wildlife.  I used to like to put a bird feeder in my apartment balcony years ago....until I saw a rat climb up to the bird feeder.  Took it down after that. 

[RoadKingLarry]

.until I saw a rat climb up to the bird feeder.

Hunting over bait! 

[Bogie]

Mice and rats LOVE coca-cola. The real thing, not the diet stuff. Pour some out in a shallow pan just before dark, with good fresh carbonation.
 
They can't burp.

[Angel Eyes]

My neighbor has a bird feeder . . . which doubles as a cat feeder.