If wildlife is loose inside your home, injured, acting aggressively, or trapped somewhere it can’t get out, that’s a same-day emergency. Call The Critter Guy and a real person answers, usually Dave or Roman. We’re based in Owen Sound, cover all of Grey-Bruce, and get to true emergencies same-day where we can, humanely.
What counts as a wildlife emergency — and what can wait until tomorrow?
Here’s the good news: most of what we get called about isn’t an emergency. Scratching in the attic, droppings near a vent, a skunk keeping to itself under the deck — those are next-day or by-appointment jobs, and treating them that way usually keeps the cost down. A true emergency is when an animal is loose in your living space, hurt, acting aggressively, or trapped somewhere it can’t get out on its own.
| Truly urgent — call now, same-day where we can | Usually next-day or by appointment |
|---|---|
| A raccoon, skunk, squirrel, or bat loose in your living space | Scratching or thumping coming from the attic or walls |
| An injured or visibly sick animal on your property | Droppings, a stale smell, or greasy stains near a soffit or vent |
| An animal cornering or threatening people or pets | A skunk denning under the deck but keeping to itself |
| An animal down the chimney or trapped and unable to leave | Squirrels you see coming and going from the roofline |
| A bat in a bedroom where someone was asleep (possible rabies exposure) | Planning exclusion or seal-up work ahead of the season |
One case sits in between: a mother raising babies in your attic or chimney during baby season (roughly March through August). She isn’t a danger tonight, but it’s time-sensitive — seal the wrong opening and you trap flightless young inside a wall. We prioritize those and handle them humanely rather than as a grab-and-go. There’s more on how kits change a job in our wildlife removal cost guide.
What should I do right now while I wait for us?
If something is loose inside, work through these in order. The whole idea is to keep everyone safe and give the animal a way out without anyone having to touch it.
- Keep people and pets back. Don’t chase or corner it — a scared animal is far more likely to bolt into another room or get hurt.
- Contain it to one room. Close the door and push a towel against the gap underneath so it stays put in one space.
- Give it a safe exit. If it’s ground-level and calm, open one exterior door or window, turn off ceiling fans, and dim the lights. Many animals will leave on their own within a few quiet minutes.
- Never handle it bare-handed. That goes double for bats, for any animal acting strangely, and for skunks — a cornered skunk sprays.
- Treat a possible bat exposure seriously. If a bat was in a room where someone was sleeping, near a young child, or with anyone who can’t say for sure they weren’t bitten, don’t release it. Contain it for testing and call your doctor or Grey Bruce Public Health. You can’t tell by looking whether a bat carries rabies — we’ve got a plain-English rundown on rabies and bats in Canada.
- Call us. If it won’t leave, it’s hurt or aggressive, or there’s any chance of contact, stop and phone a licensed remover — 519-783-1575.
How fast can you get to me in Owen Sound and Grey-Bruce?
Owen Sound is our home base, and most of our work is a short drive from there across Grey-Bruce. For a real emergency — an animal loose inside, injured, aggressive, or trapped — we treat it as a priority and get to you same-day where we can, and by the next available slot otherwise. When you call, a real person answers — usually Dave or Roman. The owners stay hands-on, and it’s been a family-run local business since 2005.
Being local is the whole point. You get shorter drives across Grey and Bruce, and a crew that already knows the harbour neighbourhoods and the cottages out toward Wiarton, Sauble Beach, and Meaford. We’re not a province-wide outfit dispatching a truck from the city hours away.
We’re happy to let the work speak for itself: The Critter Guy holds a 4.6-star rating from 36 Google reviews by homeowners around Owen Sound and Grey-Bruce. You can read the testimonials here.
Which animal is it — and where does it lead?
We handle the full range of Ontario wildlife. Here’s how each common emergency tends to play out, with a deeper guide for each if you want the detail.
Raccoons
A raccoon in the living space, down a chimney, or a mother with kits in the attic is our most common urgent call. Chimney and attic jobs almost always involve babies in spring and early summer, which we remove by hand and reunite with the mother — never sealed in. See our full raccoon removal service, the tell-tale signs of a raccoon in the attic, and what a job costs in our wildlife removal cost guide.
Skunks
Skunks rarely get loose indoors, but one trapped in a window well, stuck in a garage, or acting sick or aggressive is a same-day situation you shouldn’t approach yourself. A skunk simply denning under the deck usually isn’t an emergency — here’s how we handle skunks under a deck, plus our full skunk removal service.
Squirrels
A squirrel loose in the house is startling but usually harmless — contain the room, open a window, and let it find its way out. Call us if it won’t go, or if squirrels are nesting in the attic and chewing wiring. Start with how to get a squirrel out of the house and our squirrel removal service.
Bats
A single bat flapping around a room is the classic middle-of-the-night emergency. The steps and the exposure question deserve their own walkthrough, so we’ve written it up in full: what to do when a bat is flying in your house.
How do you handle an emergency — humanely?
Humane doesn’t mean slow. For a loose animal we get it out and help keep it from coming back; for a den or roost, we use methods that let animals leave on their own:
- One-way doors and exclusion devices on the active entry, so the animal crawls out to feed but can’t get back in — no poison, ever.
- Hand-removal and reuniting of babies when kits or pups are involved, so the whole family leaves together instead of getting sealed inside a wall.
- Live trapping only when a job truly calls for it. Ontario law limits relocation to one kilometre from where the animal was caught, so it stays in its home territory. (Bats aren’t trapped or relocated at all — they’re excluded.)
- Sealing the entry points once everyone’s out, so it’s much harder for the next animal to move in.
It’s the right way to do it, and for at-risk species like several Ontario bats, it’s also the legal way.
What does emergency wildlife removal cost?
Every situation is different, so we give an honest quote up front rather than a one-price-fits-all number — and we walk you through it before any work starts. What moves the price:
- What’s involved right now — getting one loose animal out is simpler than a den with babies and cleanup
- How many entry points need sealing so it’s far less likely to happen again
- Where the animal is — living space, attic, chimney, or under a deck
- Roof height and access — a steep, hard-to-reach roofline takes more time and gear
- Cleanup — droppings, soiled insulation, and disinfecting when it’s needed
There’s no flat rate — a straightforward call-out is a very different job from an established den with multiple entries or attic cleanup. For the fuller picture see our wildlife removal cost guide, and if there’s damage, it’s worth checking whether homeowners insurance covers wildlife removal.
Why call The Critter Guy for a wildlife emergency?
- Local to Owen Sound — home base here, short drive times across Grey-Bruce, same-day where we can for true emergencies
- A real person answers — usually Dave or Roman
- Family-run since 2005 — 20+ years of wildlife work behind us
- Licensed and insured for wildlife removal in Ontario
- Humane methods — one-way exclusion, hand-reuniting of babies, no poison
- Well-reviewed — a 4.6-star rating from 36 Google reviews by homeowners around Owen Sound and Grey-Bruce (read the testimonials)
Frequently asked questions
Can you really come out the same day?
Often, yes — for a genuine emergency like a loose, injured, aggressive, or trapped animal, we treat it as a priority and get there same-day where we can, and by the next available slot otherwise. Because we’re based in Owen Sound, drive times across Grey-Bruce are short. Call and a real person will tell you honestly when we can be there.
Is a skunk under my deck or scratching in my attic an emergency?
Usually not. A skunk keeping to itself under the deck, or scratching from the attic, is normally a next-day or scheduled job — and handling it that way keeps things calmer and often cheaper. It becomes urgent if the animal is loose in your living space, hurt, aggressive, or a mother is about to be sealed away from her babies.
Do you kill or relocate the animal?
We don’t use poison, ever. We use humane one-way exclusion so animals leave on their own, and we hand-remove and reunite any babies with the mother. When a job genuinely calls for live trapping, Ontario law limits relocation to one kilometre from where the animal was caught, so it stays in familiar territory.
What areas do you cover?
We’re based in Owen Sound and work across the surrounding Grey-Bruce region — from the harbour neighbourhoods out toward Wiarton, Sauble Beach, Meaford, and the surrounding towns and cottages. Not sure if you’re in range? Just reach out and ask.
Got wildlife loose in the house, or an animal that’s hurt or trapped right now in Owen Sound or Grey-Bruce? Keep people and pets back, contain the room if you can, and call 519-783-1575 — a real person answers, and we’ll get to you same-day where we can. Prefer to write it out? Reach us here and Dave or Roman will get right back to you.