Basic Fee Information

Regular service charge cost:

If you wish to set a local appointment for the Critter Guy to come out (usually in a day or two) for a non-emergency situation, we charge $125. This is our basic inspection fee which also covers setting our traps for animals like groundhogs and skunks (live traps set on the ground.)

If we are able to handle your problem in one trip and within approximately an hour, your actual cost will be the cost of a regular service charge ($125) For example, if you used your trap and you have a skunk you need removed out of it, or if you have a dead animal in your chimney. Either of these scenarios will only cost you the $125 regular service call. That’s it!

Pick-up fee (for jobs involving live-caught animals in our traps):

Cost to remove live animals from our traps is $60 per trip. We believe in a fair pricing system for the services we offer. Many companies that offer similar services charge “by the head”. We try to save you money in cases of removing litters of animals where infestations result in multiple catches at one time. By not charging for total animals trapped, days spent trapping, or number of traps set, we offer you the most efficient, cost-effective solution around.

Emergency service charge cost:

Emergency service charge is $250 – $350. The Critter Guy will come to your house ASAP, usually within an hour to most areas. Emergency calls are after regular business hours, weekends, and holidays. Please note call-in trapped animal pickups ongoing jobs are NOT emergencies and we expect you to call us on weekends and holidays if there is an animal caught in our traps set on your property.

Service cost for animals requiring ladder work or other complex jobs:

If your problem is complex (requiring multiple visits OR ladder work,) your inspection fee may cost a little more than the $125. During the initial appointment with the Critter Guy, he will make a thorough inspection and, in most cases, set up the job that day. If the Critter Guy can’t begin work on that day, you will not be charged another service charge.

We usually do not do free estimates if we have to set a ladder. If we did, we would have to pass that cost off to other customers, and we just don’t think that’s fair. We also know that the companies doing free estimates will recoup the cost of the estimate and then some on your final bill. Plus you are paying for our professional consultation, just the same as if you consulted with a lawyer or a doctor about a legal or health matter. If we tell you what’s going on up on your roof and you choose to fix it yourself, we respect that too. No high-pressure follow-up calls.

For more complex jobs because each problem/property/home/business is different.  Here are the most common examples of instances which would require a job quote:

  • Existing hive of bees living in a wall
  • Anything requiring special equipment to get to (example lift rental)
  • Bat infestations
  • Squirrels depending upon the problem you are having
  • Flying squirrels
  • Dig exclusions
  • Extensive animal waste cleanup
  • Removal and cleanup of very large dead animals like horses and cattle

Many factors go into determining what we charge in these cases, such as property and building size (acreage and number of stories) and number/species of problem animals we are dealing with.

What’s free:

Rebaiting and/or repositioning the traps at the Critter Guy’s discretion is free of charge. Please note some of our baits and lures are nearly invisible to humans, but the animals can still smell them. Also, we prefer to positive set over holes, which means lures and baits are not necessary and may just encourage non-target animals.

Release of non-target wildlife is free of charge the first occurrence.

Out-of-area Jobs:

If you are outside of the area shown in our service area map (on the right of this page), we encourage you to call us for a quote. Set-up/inspection fees for out-of-area calls are usually $175-$200.

Sound expensive? Consider this:

The Critter Guy knows how hard it can be for a business to make a profit or a family to pay their bills in these hard economic times. We do not like employing fear tactics in order to persuade customers to hire us, but please do take these things into consideration before trying to do the job yourself:

  • The Critter Guy has had preventative rabies shots
  • We have had extensive experience handing wildlife and use industry-specific protective equipment when we do so
  • We use professional-grade equipment, including (but not limited to) our lures and traps
  • We are very well versed in and follow all wildlife regulations, which are constantly changing
  • We know how to handle skunks without making them spray (most of the time), and if they do spray, we have professional-grade deodorizing spray
  • Wildlife can be very unpredictable and many times customer’s attempts at remedying the problem only make it destroy another area (we see this ALL the time)