Animal removal in Winter Garden, FL
Animal removal in Winter Garden, FL looks different on a 1920s bungalow off Plant Street than on a new build in Horizon West. We work both, humanely, and seal the house so the problem stays solved.
- Firm quote before work starts
- Old homes and new builds
- Mothers and young kept together
Tell us what you're hearing
Tell us what you are hearing or seeing. We will get back to you, set up a visit and give you a straight answer on what it takes.
- Firm quote before any work starts
- Call, text or email, your pick
- Licensed and insured in Florida
Quick answer. Critter Guys handles humane animal removal in Winter Garden, FL, from the historic streets near Lake Apopka to the newer neighborhoods south of SR 50. We trap or exclude raccoons, squirrels, rats, bats, opossums and snakes, then repair and seal the openings they used. We’re licensed and insured in Florida, and you can call or text (321) 203-6963 to book a visit.
Two very different Winter Gardens
North of SR 50, Winter Garden is an old citrus town. The streets around Plant Street and down toward Newton Park on Lake Apopka are full of houses built generations ago, some of them wood frame homes raised a couple of feet off the ground. Those houses settle, their eaves loosen and the space underneath stays dark and dry. Opossums and rats move in below, and raccoons and squirrels work on the roof line above.
South of SR 50 is a different place. Neighborhoods like Stoneybrook West and the subdivisions that run into Horizon West are mostly block and stucco with shingle or tile roofs, and many back onto retention ponds, wetlands or the woods around Johns Lake. The walls hold up fine there. The trouble spots are the roof returns, ridge vents and the gap where a garage roof meets a second floor. Same city, two sets of problems, and our wildlife removal plan changes depending on which side of the highway you live on.
What lives in the crawl space of an older Winter Garden house
If your home sits on piers or a crawl space, the area under the floor is the first place we check. Lattice skirting rots, foundation vents lose their screens and dryer vents pull away, and every gap is an open door to animals coming up from the lake shore. Once inside, they tear up ductwork insulation and leave droppings where the air handler can pull the smell into the house. We clear them out, then follow up with crawl space cleaning and an attic cleanup in Winter Garden when the mess reaches the upper level too.
- Opossums denning under the floor
- Roof rats running the sill plate
- Raccoons tearing out lattice skirting
- Snakes following rodents in
- Musky odor coming through floor vents
Lake Apopka, Johns Lake and the land in between
Winter Garden sits on the south shore of Lake Apopka, one of the largest lakes in Florida, with Oakland and its nature preserve just to the west. The marsh and restored farmland around that lake support a lot of wildlife, and raccoons in particular treat the lakeside neighborhoods as an extension of the shoreline. The West Orange Trail runs straight through downtown, and its green corridor gives animals a protected route from one side of town to the other.
To the south, Johns Lake and the city’s Tucker Ranch property on Avalon Road keep open water and woods close to the newer homes. Pair that with old citrus land being cleared for building, and animals that lost their cover tend to look for it in the nearest attic or shed. Florida’s Turnpike and SR 429 split the area up, but they don’t stop much of anything that can climb or dig. The same pattern carries east into Ocoee and west into the hills of Clermont.
Around Winter Garden
- Western Orange County
- South shore of Lake Apopka
- West Orange Trail runs downtown
- Johns Lake to the south
What we handle in Winter Garden
Raccoon Removal in Winter Garden
Raccoons from the Lake Apopka shore climb into garage soffits and attics. We remove them humanely and repair the damage.
Squirrel Removal in Winter Garden
Squirrels chew ridge vents and roof returns on two-story homes south of SR 50. We exclude them and seal.
Bat Removal in Winter Garden
Bats slip behind loose trim on older downtown homes. Exclusion waits until after maternity season ends August 14.
Rat Removal in Winter Garden
Roof rats nest in attics and crawl spaces of older houses. Trapping inside, bait station boxes outside, gaps sealed.
Wildlife Exclusion in Winter Garden
Rotted skirting, unscreened foundation vents and roof line gaps get sealed so lake-side animals stay outside.
Attic Cleanup & Remediation in Winter Garden
We clear droppings and nesting from attics and crawl spaces, then sanitize so the odor stops coming through vents.
Calls we get most from Winter Garden
These come up week after week in this part of west Orange.
- A raccoon mother in the soffit over a garage, usually in spring. Our Winter Garden raccoon removal keeps her and the kits together.
- Squirrels chewing a ridge vent on a two-story home near the ponds.
- Roof rats in the attic of an older house shaded by oaks and leftover citrus trees. Here’s how we handle rats in Winter Garden.
- An opossum living under a deck or shed.
- Bats roosting behind a loose fascia board downtown.
- A snake in the garage or pool cage, especially near wetland edges.
Our animal removal visit, start to finish
Here’s what happens after you call or text.
We look at everything
The inspection covers the yard, the crawl space or slab edge, every vent and the full roof line. We tell you what we found and show you the entry points.
You get the plan and the quote
We explain the removal method, the repairs and what prevention would cost. Full prevention is always what we recommend, but you decide.
The animal comes out humanely
One-way doors, live traps or exclusion devices, chosen for the animal and the house. We follow FWC rules for trapping and relocation.
We close it up
Holes get sealed and damaged soffit, vent screen or skirting gets repaired, so the next animal coming up from the lake finds nothing to use.
Reviews from homeowners around west Orange
4.9
141 reviews on Google
★★★★★
Craig from critter guys was absolutely wonderful!!! He was so kind and most important very honest about what he found and DIDN’T FIND in our attic. He took pictures to show trouble areas that should be addressed to prevent any future problems and didn’t try to sell us on a bunch of stuff that didn’t need to be done by his company. THANK YOU CRAIG FOR BEING A HONEST and REPUTABLE COMPANY!!! ❤️
Linda WilliamsGoogle review
★★★★★
Josh is excellent, very humane, takes all the time to explain, is never upset in the middle of a situation, and always has a reassuring answer. I recommend him 100%.
Jaylene EstradaGoogle review
★★★★★
Craig is great! Always ready to go above and beyond!!
Orazio TartagliaGoogle review
Read every review on Google or see more Critter Guys reviews
Heard it once? Have it checked
An animal you heard one night is easier and cheaper to deal with than a family that’s been in the attic for a month. If you’re unsure, have us take a look. You get a firm quote before any work starts on your Winter Garden home, and our Orlando-area wildlife crew runs every job this way.
On the job
Nearby towns in west Orange and south Lake
Winter Garden is a short drive from these towns, and we bring the same humane methods to each one.
Winter Garden wildlife removal FAQ
Have a question that isn’t here? Call or text (321) 203-6963 and we’ll help.
What animals get under older homes in downtown Winter Garden?
Opossums and roof rats are the most common, with raccoons and snakes close behind. Older frame houses with crawl spaces have more openings low on the structure than slab homes do. We remove the animal, then close the vents and skirting so it can’t come back.
Is there a charge to come out and look at my Winter Garden home?
That depends on your Winter Garden property and what’s going on, and we’ll go over it on the phone before scheduling. After the inspection, we give you a quote based on the animal, the number of entry points, the size and pitch of the roof and whether any cleanup or repair is needed.
My Horizon West area home is only a few years old. How did an animal get in?
New homes still have gaps. Roof returns, ridge and soffit vents, and the joint where a lower roof meets a second-story wall are where we find most entry points on newer builds. A lot of these neighborhoods back onto ponds and woods, so there’s plenty of wildlife close by to test them.
Do you kill the raccoons and opossums you catch in Winter Garden?
No. Our approach is humane removal. We use one-way doors, live traps and exclusion devices, and we keep mothers and young together whenever possible. Critter Guys was started on the idea that the wildlife was here first, and we work that way.
Can a raccoon in my attic make my family sick?
It can, which is why you shouldn’t handle one or clean up after it yourself. In Florida, raccoons rank with bats and foxes as the usual rabies carriers, and the toilet areas they use in attics can hold roundworm eggs. We remove the animal and can clean and sanitize the area afterward.
Do you do animal control for businesses on Plant Street?
We work with businesses, property managers and HOAs as well as homeowners. Restaurants and shops downtown tend to see rats and the occasional raccoon around dumpsters and back doors. The process is the same: an inspection, then removal and sealing.
Book a Winter Garden inspection
Call or text (321) 203-6963. We’ll find out what’s living in your attic, crawl space or yard and give you a straight answer on fixing it.