Urban sprawl and the ADC business

We live in an area in West Knoxville that is experiencing enormous growth. People from all over the country are moving here and building/buying houses. Subdivisions are springing up like fleas on a dogs back. Personally, I hate it, but professionally, I believe it will amount to more business. There will always be skunks, raccoons, squirrels, etc that folks are not sure how to deal with.

I was curious to others opinions and if someone else has experienced anything similar.

Thanks, Wally

I see the same, Since 2020, Housing has really taken off, Seems any home for sale is sold as soon as it is up. Building has gone crazy, People put a lot up for sale & before ya know it, they start building. We are in a fairly rural area, Folks that have lived here take care of their own nuisance problems. It's the people from the city that always need nuisance wildlife help. In past years, Trapping helped keep the numbers down, But with fur prices down, So are the trappers. Calls for Fox ,Raccoon,Skunks, Woodchucks & Squrrels have boomed. I hate the influx of people, But it makes a lot more business.

Why do you think I'm in Atlanta? When I moved here 15+ years ago it was estimated that six acres of new raw dirt a day were being covered with asphalt.

Of course its good for business but it takes time for a new subdivision to "mature". On average it takes five years for new construction to develop "issues". Time for the shrubbery to reach the eaves.

The key is to get in the door first, partner with pest controls servicing those new clients. Trade leads while you can because eventually the pest controls will steal from you and get into wildlife.

Meanwhile, marketing at every available opportunity including daisy chaining your clients and hitting the realtors, has and management companies.

Pest control companies here seem to be getting away from Nuisance Wildlife work for some reason, Last year when I broke my leg, I referred two different companies that did pest & wildlife control, Folks would call me back and let me know they did not handle wildlife anymore. Don't know the reason why, less work. I'm not complaining at all, It's been all ground work as ladders are out till next spring, and I'm having trouble keeping up with that. My wife got her nuisance license in April & that has helped a lot, as I always worked alone.

I personally like to see open grass fields and actual ponds not RETENTION / DETENTION ponds but there is adc work when new construction looms. For me it is adc work for the older side of town with older structures and mature tree that bring in the majority of my work.

New developments tend to have the same flaws and structural repetition. In our work the bird calls start coming in after the first few years of completion. The vents attract sparrows and starlings. The ridge vents, dormer corners, gables and power vents get the bats, coons and squirrels.

Some designs with the cedar and T-111 siding bring the woodpeckers. Gotta love the contractors and the project designers, they keep us busy all the time. I thank many of them when we see them on job sites.

These developments will certainly give you work if you are skilled and have the ladders and knowledge to deal with those types of calls. Much of ADC work is ladder work. Most of the new construction of town houses etc. don't usually have chimneys however some do. Always good for coons and litter work.

Bird work with nest clean outs, new vents and covers etc. can be some good paying work once you get on to it. We at times get 6-8 jobs/calls per day in the spring. We are busy with old and and new buildings and single family structures. They all make up a solid versatile business collectively.

When I was young, I was told that when all of our farmland turned into subdivisions, we would have no more wildlife! That must be one of the biggest lies ever told! The faster the houses go up, the more wildlife there is! We have probably 10 times as many deer, squirrels, weasels, opossums, and raccoons as we had when I was a kid. Our muskrats must be thrilled that whenever you build a new subdivision, you must build them a pond first! We have added beaver, otter, coyote, red and flying squirrels, gray fox, and a bunch of birds in the last 30 years. We have even had black bear and cougar sightings! I don't know how our pest and wildlife business could get much better, but I'd like to stick around and see!

I guess what Wally is trying to say is that you can't have too many traps for all the new work that's coming in. No matter how many you have it's never enough so you really should get some more because you know you will need them. LOL. I say it jokingly, but can't tell you how many times we hear that businesses are growing, work is coming in and they need traps ASAP.

What I do remember as a kid, first there were no possums up here in the north country and second is that woodchucks were on the farms, great sport chuck hunting, but not in suburbia. Now there are far more in towns and cities. Have always wondered how that happened? I do know how a bunch ended up in a cemetery because the nuisance guy, still wanted by the law I believe, let a bunch go in back of his rental house. Wonder if home owners have transported and released some of them?

Being in Nashville I definitely hear what you’re saying. Can’t drive 5 miles without passing at least 2 new neighborhoods going in. The possums, groundhogs, and skunks will take over the crawlspace flaws immediately and in a few years when they have trees the other critters will follow. Moles right off the bat too.

I laugh when people say how the homes and new construction are taking away the animals homes. I just say no, we are building them much nicer homes! I’d rather live in attic or crawlspace during the cold months than a hollow tree.

I think that the animal population is way more dense in the city than the rural areas. Way more food at easy access. Animals don’t read books about how they can’t live in the city. They just adapt (and prosper) For most of them I’m sure it is all they have ever known.

Jim, the guy still wanted by the law…

Adirondack Dundee?

LOL - another reason I have you on speed dial. The 9x11s are crushing groundhogs and skunks. It is almost not fair. Thanks for a good product.

I guess when it comes to fairness with regards to catching... Just want it over with. Giterdone as they say. When I think back beyond 12 years ago I remember things not always going so smoothly with catching skunks with bait, lots of waiting. A joy to set for chucks and skunks now, easy and they surely are plentiful in suburbia, always a win.


I don't know if the law caught up with A.D. or if he ever came back to town? He made quite an impression around here while leaving some "loose ends" upon his exit. At one point he had $60,000 worth of ads in the yellow pages. They wouldn't sell him any more.

Wow, Forgot about Adirondack Dundee, Went on a few jobs that he charged up front for & never showed back up. That left a few people a little shaky about hiring another nwco. Thats a lot of ads, I have not spent the 6.00 in thirty years.