Wildlife Removal in Tuscaloosa, Alabama

What is in your attic, what it costs to get out, and what Alabama law requires. Request a quote and we will pass it to a licensed local operator where one is available.

  • Sourced from Alabama WFF published rules
  • Independent; we do not perform removals
  • We refer only to licensed operators
  • You are never charged by us

Start with the animal

Different animals do different damage on different timetables, and the law treats them very differently. Pick what you are dealing with.

Raccoons

Raccoons tear their own way in, which is why they do more damage to a house than most animals that get inside one.

$300 – $600 for removal; far more if the attic needs restoring

Raccoon removal →

Squirrels

Squirrels in an attic gnaw constantly, and wiring is among the things they gnaw.

$300 – $550 typical

Squirrel removal →

Bats

Bats are the most legally constrained animal in this trade. Getting the timing wrong is not just inhumane, it is often illegal.

$400 – $600 small colony · $500 – $1,200 typical · $5,000 – $8,500 for a large colony

Bat removal →

Opossums

Opossums are less destructive than raccoons but they den in the same places, and they are much harder to smell out until the mess is substantial.

$250 – $500 typical

Opossum removal →

Armadillos

An armadillo can turn a good lawn over in a single night, and the burrows go under concrete.

$250 – $550 typical

Armadillo removal →

Snakes

Most snakes found around Tuscaloosa homes are harmless and beneficial. A few are not, and the difference matters.

$150 – $400 for removal of a single snake

Snake removal →

Skunks

Skunks den under porches, decks and sheds, and you usually know about it before you see one.

$300 – $550 typical

Skunk removal →

Birds

Almost every native bird is protected by federal law, active nests included, so what is legal depends on the species.

$200 – $600 depending on access

Bird removal →

Dead animals

Unpleasant, urgent, and almost always the consequence of an earlier problem that was sealed up instead of solved.

$200 – $600, more if drywall has to be opened

Dead animal removal →

How they actually get in

Almost every job starts at one of the same eight places. Knowing which one matters, because sealing the wrong gap just moves the problem.

Cross-section of a house showing the eight most common places animals enter A house in cross-section with numbered markers on the soffit gap, gable vent, roof-to-soffit junction, chimney, ridge vent, plumbing stack boot, fascia and gutter line, and crawlspace vent. ATTIC VOID LIVING SPACE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1 Soffit & eave gap · 2 Gable vent · 3 Roof-to-soffit junction · 4 Chimney · 5 Ridge vent · 6 Plumbing stack boot · 7 Fascia & gutter line · 8 Crawlspace vent. A raccoon needs about four inches; a bat needs less than one.

The part most people get wrong

An exterminator and a wildlife operator are not the same trade. Nuisance wildlife control requires a separate state licence, and bats and nearly all native birds are protected by law: a general pest company often cannot legally touch them. Nor will animal control: agencies decline this work and refer callers to private operators.

In Alabama specifically

Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators are permitted by the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries to remove nuisance wildlife at the landowner or tenant's expense. Alabama game and fish regulation 220-2-.27 provides for permits to take protected wildlife causing crop damage, property damage, or raising concern for human safety. Everything Alabama requires →

  • 9animals covered in depth, not listed
  • 8towns across Tuscaloosa County and around it
  • Alabamalaw cited from the published source
  • $0charged to you by this site, ever

What Tuscaloosa is actually like to work in

Tuscaloosa’s housing stock is split in two, and the line between the halves was drawn on 27 April 2011. The EF4 tornado that crossed the city that afternoon had winds around 190 mph and a path over half a mile wide, killed 53 people here, and destroyed more than 5,000 homes and businesses: better than 12% of the structures in the city.

What that leaves, fifteen years on, is two very different kinds of building sitting side by side. Inside the track, housing is largely post-2011: tighter, better sealed, harder for an animal to get into. Outside it, the stock is untouched and often much older, with the eaves, soffits and crawlspaces that go with it. Which side of that line a property sits on tells you a lot before anyone gets on the roof. The other thing worth knowing is that the majority of the homes destroyed in 2011 were rental property, in a city that was already rental-heavy.

In Alabama the bill lands on the landowner, or the tenant

Alabama’s wildlife division does not remove nuisance wildlife from private property unless public safety is at risk. It permits Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators to do it instead, and the state’s own wording is that they do so at the landowner’s or tenant’s expense. In a city where a very large share of the housing is rented, that last phrase is not academic; it is the argument that delays the job while the animal keeps chewing, so settle who is paying early. Outdoor Alabama, Nuisance Animal Control

Getting the animal out is half the job

By the time most people call, something has been living up there for weeks. The droppings, the flattened and soaked insulation, the chewed wiring and the smell all remain after the animal has gone, and on an insurance claim or a house sale, that is the part that gets inspected. What restoration involves →

Not sure what you have got up there?

Somebody has to look at the property to answer that. How many entry points or burrows there are, how hard they are to get at, and whether young are present is what sets the price, and none of it can be judged from a description. Send us your address and we will pass it to a licensed local operator where one is available. Request a quote →

Common questions

Who actually does wildlife removal: can I just call an exterminator?

Usually not. Nuisance wildlife work requires a state licence that a pesticide applicator’s licence does not cover, and bats and most native birds are protected by law. A general pest control company often cannot legally take the job.

Will the city or animal control come out for free?

Alabama’s wildlife division does not remove nuisance wildlife from private property unless public safety is at risk. It permits Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators to do it instead, and the state’s own wording is that they do so at the landowner’s or tenant’s expense. In a city where a very large share of the housing is rented, that last phrase is not academic; it is the argument that delays the job while the animal keeps chewing, so settle who is paying early.

What does it cost?

It depends entirely on the animal. Removing a single snake might be $150; a large bat colony with attic restoration can run past $8,000. The per-animal pages below give honest ranges.

Is it urgent?

Often yes, and not for the reason people expect. The animal itself is rarely the emergency: the damage compounds. Chewed wiring, soaked insulation and young born inside a wall all get worse and more expensive by the week.

Read the full FAQ →

Where we cover

Across Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa County and the surrounding towns:

Tuscaloosa · Northport · Cottondale · Duncanville · Moundville · Coaling · Vance · Brookwood. Service areas →

Request a quote

We read every request and pass it to a licensed wildlife operator covering Tuscaloosa where one is available. We are still building our list of operators here, so we cannot promise one is available or say how quickly they will respond.

We are an information and referral service, not a licensed wildlife control operator, and we may be paid for the introduction. You are never charged.

Request a quote from a licensed Alabama operator

Tell us what is in your house. We read every request and pass it to a licensed wildlife operator covering Tuscaloosa where one is available. We are still building our list of operators here, so we cannot promise one is available or say how quickly they will respond.