Some pest problems can wait for an appointment on Thursday. A few genuinely cannot, and the difference is usually obvious once you are standing in it.
Call 619-277-4796. We are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
We would rather tell you this on the phone than charge you for it.
If you describe something and it belongs in this list, that is what we will say.
This is the one we get out for most often, and it is worth explaining because the sequence matters.
The smell is the symptom. The animal is the source, and it is almost never where the smell is strongest — odour travels along framing bays, through insulation and out of vents. Finding it means understanding how the structure is put together rather than cutting drywall where it smells worst.
Once it is out, three things follow: the material it was lying on comes out too, the area gets treated, and — the part people forget — the flies and the beetles that arrived with it have to be dealt with, or you get a second problem a fortnight later.
And then the question nobody wants at that moment but everybody needs: how did it get in? An animal that died in your wall got in somewhere. See Exclusion & Sealing.
It means the owner answers the phone. Legacy is owner-operated, so an out-of-hours call is not going to a national dispatch centre that logs a ticket for the morning.
It also means we will tell you honestly whether coming out tonight changes anything. Sometimes it does. Sometimes the useful thing is a set of instructions to get you through until daylight, when the work can be done properly and in better light. Charging for a night visit that achieves nothing is not a business we want.
That applies every day of the week, Sundays included.
Stinging insects: go inside, close windows and doors on that side, keep pets in. Do not spray it, do not knock it down, do not block the entrance — all three make it worse and all three are how people get stung.
An animal in the house: shut the door on the room, open an exterior door or window in it if you safely can, turn the lights down, and leave it alone. Most animals leave on their own given a route out and no audience. Do not corner it.
A snake: keep everyone and every dog well back and keep it in sight from a distance if you can, so we are not searching the whole yard on arrival. Do not try to move it. See Snake Removal.
A dead animal smell: ventilate, and note where the smell is strongest and at what time of day — it usually intensifies with heat, and that pattern helps locate it.
Ask when you call and you will get a straight number before anyone is dispatched. No surprises on the invoice.
Often, yes, and that is one of the practical advantages of a small owner-run company over a route schedule set two weeks out.
Yes, including out of hours, which for a restaurant is usually the only workable window anyway.
Call anyway. If it is alive there may still be time to get it out before it dies in there, which is a much smaller job.
Emergency calls most often lead to Wildlife Removal, Rodent Control, Bee, Wasp & Hornet Control or Snake Removal, and nearly always end with Exclusion & Sealing. Where there is a mess left behind, see Attic Insulation & Sanitation.
We take emergency calls across the county from both offices. See El Cajon or San Diego for the communities each covers, or browse the full list of service areas. You can also send us a request, or read more about Legacy Pest Management.
Call rather than filling in a form. Tell us what is happening, where in the property, and whether anyone is at risk right now.
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Tell us what you are seeing and where it is happening. You will get an honest assessment of the problem, what it takes to solve it, and whether your property needs ongoing service or a single visit. Pest, wildlife and termite work across San Diego County.