Actually most homeowners, at least in my area, are perfectly capable of trapping a skunk. It's what do they do with it, once they catch it, that's the problem. People are very afraid of getting sprayed.

When I tell a potential customer that it's going to be $75 to check out the area and set traps and then $50 for each animal I catch, they look at me like I'm nuts. "A hundred and twenty-five dollars to catch a skunk!!??" I always tell them that they can go down to the hardware store and buy a $35 trap and catch it themselves. "But then what are you going to do with it?"

Most times I can see the wheels turning in their head and after a minute or so $125 doesn't sound so bad. lol

city cops really help sell that deal, after they've answered calls and blasted a few with shotguns.lol nothing like some
fabreeze for the neighborhood.LOL

Inspection/set up fee and per animal for us. And depending on your service area you can make a profit on a per animal basis but for the most part we view the animals as a impediment to the real money which is repair/exclusion. Had a customer complain about the third squirrel this winter, when we make sure to let them know average is one to five in this area, I told him every time we are there we have to park at least two houses away, carry a 32 foot ladder up 27 steps (yes I counted) then around the back of his home and then climb up his roof to a trap that was less than a foot from the entry point and if I had a magic wand to make all the squirrels disappear I would of used it by now and had the repairs done. Looking at me with the ladder in my hands and standing in ten inches of snow I guess it clicked with him. Now on the other hand had a job yesterday where this elderly lady had squirrels a few years ago, company she had out did a good job, removed squirrels and did repairs. Hearing noises again, old company is no longer in business so found another, they came out and put two traps in yard one at base of tree and as this area of town is full of squirrels they caught SQUIRRELS!!! After husband complained about animal charges they said they were out and recommended they cut down small tree and removed traps, when contacted about noise still being there they said there were no more squirrels she must have rats. After inspection showed no possible squirrel entry and no sign of rats she took me to bathroom and made me listen to "animal noise" which turned out to be the tub enclosure popping when exhaust fan was used. Left them with a stack of cards and no invoice but lots of good will.

!!

I appreciate all the feed back

That seems to be the going rate around here. There's no shortage of ADC companies around. That might be the problem.

btw, Nick, what are you getting for skunk jobs?

Don't want to high-jack this thread, but I would like some suggestions on a job some folks want to hire me for.

I have a potential beaver job in a neighborhood subdivision, only it is 80+ miles aways from where I live.

I charge a set-up/consultation/inspection fee of $100 and then charge for the job. But this is my FIRST subdivision job and I know I'll have kids, dogs and cat roaming and most likely traps/sets fooled-with and possibly taken, stolen, etc.

I would only be able to work on this Friday-Sunday. How would you approach this type of set-up and especially with the 1.5 hr travel one way?

All recommendations/suggestions appreciated and please do not spare my feelings on this one.

You need to make sure you inform them they are liable for any and all stolen/damaged equipment.

Oh, that is written in my contract agreement already...

Looking for hourly charge since it's over 160 miles round trip and would any of you attempt this job with it being in a neighborhood with kiddos and pets...naturally plenty of teenagers up to no-good. All my past jobs have been rural and no problem with those, but this is a total different ball of wax.

160 miles is more than I would travel unless I had nothing else going.

But if it helps you Sullivan had a article not long ago where he charged a whole lotta money per beaver for a job away from home.

My memory isn't the greatest but I think he charged $1000 a beaver and was traveling 150+ miles for the job.

If it was me and only having 3 days to trap I would give them a set price for the 3 days. I would base it off miles driven round trip, time to set up, and an estimated # of beaver caught. And with not knowing anything about Texas beaver or the size of the pond, if it has inlets to a lake or river I can not guess how many beaver are in the pond.

Nothing else going on right now on the burners...

ChrisL2,
Here is a similar thread on the same subject-
http://www.trapperman.com/forum/ubbthrea...tml#Post1791275

In my area, yukon, Ok. the fee is $150 to come out and see what the deal is, and then it is $55 per animal.

Good story, Charles...Joe, I gotta laugh about the guy who wants fifty bucks off a hunnert-dollar job. Ask him if he'll buy your groceries for a week...

Not so much you get what you pay for as you DON'T get what you DON'T pay for.
Regarding the beaver job in the subdivision I suggest keeping it on the QT as much as possible...not because you are sneaking around or are ashamed of your activities, but people will be VERY interested in what you are doing, and the whole neighborhood will soon know about it, including kids who will mess with your sets. My plan of action when dealing with the local tenants is A. Don't advertise your presence. B. Don't speak to tenants unless spoken to. If they ask what you are doing, tell 'em "I'm doing some work for the management." Period. C. Keep people from seeing your traps as much as possible without seeming sneaky.

I seem to do better by doing the inspection and then giving a quote for the job at hand rather than a per animal fee. seems like i can figure in my overhead alot better. after the job of removal is done then i charge a per hour fee for animal damage repair,just about double the money right there and i'm already there anyway. seems to be a win win situation for both me and the customer, nobody ever complains i guess since my closest competition that i know of is billy the exterminator with vexcon about 100 miles west of me.

For a chance to be on TV I wouldn't doubt if people all over your State aren't calling Billy to see how far he will travel.

If Billy is your "competition", you should be doing quite well..... I can't even watch the show due to the constant footage of improper methods (animal handling, safety, no PPE's, etc). I know it's "only TV", but that show is doing more damage to our industry and image than can be measured.

yea, i think he's a joke too, and yea since his tv show i have gotten alot more calls. I think the only good thing he has done for this area is open peoples eyes to the wildlife control business.