Alameda County Vector Control Services

I called and left a message saying I have either raccoons or opossums under my house and could they help to get them out.
They called back TWO WEEKS later. I needed the service immediately because I could hear the raccoons or opossums biting through some stuff under the house and who knows if they had rabbies or other diseases that could have infected us.
What kind of service is that? I don’t know why the other people who posted got what seemed like actual service, but I didn’t. If my tax dollars are being used for this, I want a refund. I ended up buying my own trap and catching them and relocated them. They say on their website I’m supposed to call a professional to do this but since I did and no one responded I had to do what I had to do. If vector control looks down on this then they should have done their jobs.

I cannot believe that I am cheer leading for a free county service but yes, here goes. Alameda County Vector Control came to my house and found the largest Norwegian Sewer Rat and removed it from my home this morning. I have spent the past month trying to find the varmint’s location which produced flies and the worst smell ever. Of course, they discovered it in five minutes of being in my basement. They were incredibly thorough and courteous, gave me free traps and the best part will come out again to retrieve any other rats that might fall prey to the peanut butter traps that I lay out. Oh and did I mention that they are FREE. Tine is the man and I found out that our property taxes do go to pay for this service so its not technically free:) But I have added it to my company (Red Oak Realty’s) resource guide.

This is the best example of good use of tax dollars. Tabe Gibson and his assistant Michael Heung came out with 1 day of scheduling. They were knowledgeable, friendly and helpful. Tabe showed us where the rodents’ accesses were, gave us advice on what to do for elimination and prevention in a humane way. Tabe came out again with traps and called to check on progress. What a great service and nice people!

So yesterday my hon of hons husband called me with the news that a large skunk is caught in our wire deer fence in the back forty. Somehow it wedged itself halfway through one of the openings, which measure about 4″ x 2″.
He called the City of Oakland’s main number, and they referred him to Vector Control, which referred him to Animal Control. AC told him they’d be out in a couple of hours to assess the situation.
Meanwhile, poor skunky was still trapped and in the hot sun, so my HOHH gave it some water. How nice is that? And the wonderful person came from Animal Control around 3PM, threw a blanket over the skunk’s rear, my HOHH cut the fence with some bolt cutters and skunky scampered off, none the worse for wear.
Yay to my HOHH and the City of Oakland’s fabulous Animal Control Department! And yeah, the blanket was to catch the spray. They both got mildly skunked anyway…

Raccoons terrorizing your outdoor kitties? Mice in your attic? Rats in your compost bin? Something creepy and unidentifiable lurking under your deck? These are the folks to call. I had a mysterious clicking/​scraping noise in my attic, and David came out right away to investigate. He examined the perimeter of my house, peered into the attic, climbed up a ladder to the roof, and couldn’t find any critters. He gave me his card and a pamphlet on local disease-​carrying pests (ie. «vectors») and how to prevent them. Well, a few days later, we solved the problem ourselves (it turned out that it was just some kind of book shelf rattling due to the trains rumbling across the bay, but I swear it sounded like a woodpecker). However, to David’s credit, he did call me a few weeks later to follow up and see if I needed any help or another visit. Hoping I’ll never need to use these guys again, I still recommend them highly for those who do, and now I know what a vector is!