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Vinyl Siding is Noisy

Vinyl siding is a wonderful invention. It has saved countless homeowners, like myself, from the drudgery of painting their homes every few years. But did you know that sometimes vinyl siding is noisy? And for a few people, the noise can make them think that they have wildlife in their homes?

Characteristics of Vinyl Siding

It turns out that when vinyl siding heats up it can expand almost 1/2 an inch for every 12 feet of length.

Photo of vinyl siding on a home.
Vinyl siding on a house showing the number of breaks, edges and overlaps that can cause noise when expanding and contracting.

It’s the expansion that explains why there are seams in the siding. The installers have to ensure there is enough overlap so the siding doesn’t buckle when it heats up. What that means for you is sometimes when the vinyl is heating up, it can drag and scrap against other siding or in the track. The resulting noise may make you think that you have animals. Noises can also occur when the siding becomes loose as shown near the eave below the chimney in the picture at the right.

Bottom Line

So if you hear some squeaking sounds on a hot summer day and the noise is coming from the sunny side of the house, and you have vinyl siding, go outside and check. It might be that your vinyl siding is noisy.

Additional Inspection Resources

If you would like to improve your wildlife damage inspection skills, obtain a copy of the Wildlife Damage Inspection Handbook, 3rd ed. Stop guessing and start identifying.

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications (http://kingsdivinity.academia.edu/StephenMVantassel) along with several books (https://wildlifecontrolconsultant.com/store-2/). Listen to his podcast at PestGeek Podcast (https://pestgeekpodcast.com/). He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to wildlifecontrolconsultant@gmail.com. Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

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Pest Geek Podcast

One of the key benefits of the smartphone lies in its ability to open up a world of educational opportunities for their owners. If you are like me, you have a lot of alone time during the day where you are doing some easy task that doesn’t require a lot of mental energy. This means you have mental energy to do something else. Rather than listen to some silly song on the radio, why not put that time to good use by expanding your education? Podcasts are a great way to do that. I am proud to announce that I am one of the regular contributors to the Pest Geek Podcast. The Pest Geek Podcast is about all things related to pest control.

Pest Geek Podcast
Pest Geek Podcast

My podcast, “Living the Wildlife”, publishes once a week. I cover topics related to wildlife control, also known as vertebrate pest control or animal damage control. If you are interested in expanding your business into the wildlife control field or just want to hone your skills on wildlife control or insect control, then let me invite you to try a few episodes of the Pest Geek Podcast.

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications (http://kingsdivinity.academia.edu/StephenMVantassel) along with several books (https://wildlifecontrolconsultant.com/store-2/). Listen to his podcast at PestGeek Podcast (https://pestgeekpodcast.com/). He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to wildlifecontrolconsultant@gmail.com. Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

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Wildlife Carcass Disposal Publication

Vantassel, S.M. and M.A. King. 2018. Wildlife Carcass Disposal. Wildlife Damage Management Technical Series. USDA, APHIS, WS National Wildlife Research Center. Fort Collins, Colorado. 10p.
Vantassel, S.M. and M.A. King. 2018. Wildlife Carcass Disposal. Wildlife Damage Management Technical Series. USDA, APHIS, WS National Wildlife Research Center. Fort Collins, Colorado. 10p.

One of the frequently neglected topics in the area of wildlife control is the topic of animal disposition. Disposition is simply an umbrella term to discuss what one does with an animal that is in one’s control, such as a cage trap. Options for disposition include relocation, translocation, and dispatch. Unfortunately, in most wildlife control publications created by agencies and Extension agents, dispatch is rarely covered and if it is, it is discussed in only vague terms. I am proud to say that publications with my name are exceptions to that informational oversight. But even publications that discuss how to kill an animal, how often do they review wildlife carcass disposal? After all, once the animal is dead what do you do with the carcass? This educational neglect is often a reflection of a failure to recognize that wildlife control involves death, the death of animals as well as a lack of experience in the field.

The neglect of wildlife carcass disposal has taken another step back by the publication of Wildlife Carcass Disposal by the USDA, APHIS, WS National Wildlife Research Center.  Mr. King and I had originally wrote this publication for the 5th edition of the Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage. Unfortunately, the fifth edition never took place despite being on the agenda for over a decade. So the USDA-Wildlife Services decided to push ahead and publish chapters on its own. I am grateful because I had three chapters written over three years ago. I wondered if they would ever see the light of day. Now, one has and others will follow, but I digress.

The publication Wildlife Carcass Disposal covers all the main ways to handle carcasses including, single burial, mass burial, repurposing, composting and cremation. Issues concerning disease safety and protection of water sources are also covered. I hope you enjoy  the article. It’s available at no additional cost from the following link  https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/reports/Wildlife%20Damage%20Management%20Technical%20Series/Carcass%20Disposal_WDM%20Technical%20Series.pdf

 

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications (http://kingsdivinity.academia.edu/StephenMVantassel) along with several books (https://wildlifecontrolconsultant.com/store-2/). Listen to his podcast at PestGeek Podcast (https://pestgeekpodcast.com/). He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to wildlifecontrolconsultant@gmail.com. Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

 

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The MeatEater podcast

God, Nimrod and the World: Exploring Christian Perspectives on Sport Hunting.
God, Nimrod and the World: Exploring Christian Perspectives on Sport Hunting.

The MeatEater Podcast is a production by Steven Rinella of MeatEater.com. A quick look at the site shows that it is named correctly. As it is all about meat, eating meat, acquiring meat, etc. I had

Dominion over Wildlife? An Environmental-Theology of Human-Wildlife Relations, by Stephen M. Vantassel.
Dominion over Wildlife? An Environmental-Theology of Human-Wildlife Relations, by Stephen M. Vantassel.

the privilege of being mentioned on the June 4,2018 podcast episode 119 titled “Walking the Edge.” Mr. Rinella is interviewing Dr. Bracy V. Hill who is the editor, along with John B. White, of God, Nimrod, and the World: Exploring Christian Perspectives on Sport Hunting. Mercer University Press, Sports & Religion Series, 2017. Dr. Hill mentions me in the podcast at 1:36:44 which means at one hour, 36 minutes and 44 seconds. He doesn’t spend much time on my view, unfortunately as it should accord quite nicely with the position of the Meateater Podcast.

The reason why Dr. Hill mentions me is because I have a chapter in that book where I defend the traditional dominion view of humanity’s relationship with animals and the broader creation. That chapter flows from my dissertation which was published in expanded form in Dominion over Wildlife? An Environmental-Theology of Human-Wildlife Relations published by Wipf and Stock. That book explains why Christians should reject the animal rights protest industry views because they fail to account for scripture (both Old and New Testaments), ethics, and science. Yes, veganism is not as green as they purport it to be. In fact, I would suggest that veganism likely reduces the planet’s ability to feed a growing population. Of course, if you look deeper into the vegan movement and its so-called environmental supporters, you will see that there is a fundamental antagonism to humans. Thus they seek to diminish human numbers through voluntary celibacy, abortion, and contraception.

To listen to the podcast click http://www.themeateater.com/podcasts/theedge/

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACE, is the owner of Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. He helps people restore their balance with nature through publishing, training, consulting, and the internet. He has published numerous articles in trade and academic publications (http://kingsdivinity.academia.edu/StephenMVantassel) along with several books (https://wildlifecontrolconsultant.com/store-2/). Listen to his podcast at PestGeek Podcast (https://pestgeekpodcast.com/). He is a sought after speaker and trainer. If you would like to have Stephen speak at your event or use his consultation services, send an e-mail to wildlifecontrolconsultant@gmail.com. Copyright All postings are the property of Stephen M. Vantassel and Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC. Text (not images) may be reprinted in non-profit publications provided that the author and website URL is included. If images wish to be used, explicit and written permission must be obtained from Wildlife Control Consultant, LLC.

 

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Wildlife Damage Inspection Tips

Here is a brief video I did for Lorman providing some tips on wildlife damage inspection. I do have one typo in the piece. When I discuss the flashlight, it should be 800 lumens not 80,000. Oops.  Enjoy.

Stephen M. Vantassel

About Stephen M. Vantassel

Stephen M. Vantassel, MNI, CNI, CWCP, ACP, ACE Stephen M. Vantassel's Bio Stephen M. Vantassel is the Vertebrate Pest Specialist for the Montana Department of Agriculture (2015-present). Formerly, Stephen M. Vantassel was the Program Coordinator of Distance Education-Wildlife Damage Management for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Natural Resources from 2004-2014. Stephen filled … Learn More

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