Squirrel Removal in Arkansas

What's Driving Squirrel Removal Demand in Arkansas

The Ozark and Ouachita National Forests support large, healthy populations of fox squirrels and gray squirrels across northern and western Arkansas, and older rural homes and farmhouses built right at the edge of that forest cover often have exactly the kind of gaps at the roofline, damaged soffits, uncapped chimneys, that a squirrel looking for a nesting cavity can exploit. Once inside an attic, squirrels chew through wiring and insulation and are active enough during the day that homeowners usually hear them well before they see them. Because so much of Arkansas's older housing sits close to dense forest rather than in newly built suburban tracts, squirrel intrusion in the state tends to concentrate specifically in those forest edge and rural properties, a different pattern than the state's faster growing subdivisions, where newer construction and less mature tree cover mean squirrels have fewer easy paths inside.

Licensing in Arkansas: Arkansas licenses structural pest control through the Arkansas State Plant Board's Pesticide Division under the Arkansas Department of Agriculture. Individuals who want to perform commercial structural pest control work must qualify as a Commercial Applicator, which requires at least one year of hands on pest control experience or two years of college coursework in entomology, 40 hours of verifiable on the job training, and a passing score on a state administered exam, plus current EPA pesticide applicator certification. Businesses need a separate operator's license under one of several classifications, including Classification 1 for termites and other wood destroying pests and Classification 2 for household pest and rodent control, and must carry bond and insurance coverage before the state will issue that license. Wildlife and nuisance animal removal work is regulated separately: some nuisance species can be trapped or removed without a permit, but game and furbearing animals like raccoons generally require a Depredation Permit issued by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission rather than anything from the Plant Board.