What do you do when thousands of bats are living in the ceiling of a medical building — and the law says you can’t touch them?

Robert Weaver has the answer.

From removing birds in big-box stores to tracking raccoons through crawlspaces, Robert built a thriving wildlife control company out of situations most of us never want to think about.

In this episode, I sat down with the man behind Freedom Wildlife Solutions to ask:

What’s really living inside our homes? How do we stop it? And what happens when we don’t?

You won’t look at your attic the same way again.

What some of the things he did, one of his first jobs was how to get Birds Outta Walmarts and he tells us how he did that, and then how he, why and how he started his own business and the services they provide. We talk about how to get squirrels outta your attic. We talk about bats, we talk about snakes in your house, we talk about termites.

It is enough to make you not sleep at night, but it really was an interesting conversation. And we also talk a little bit about pest control. So if you're interested in how people get stuff out of your attic, how these animals get into your attic, what they can and can't do, listen in. I think you'll find it interesting.

Jonathan Breeden: Hello and welcome to another edition of The Best of Johnston County Podcast. I'm your host, Jonathan Breeden, and on today's episode we have Robert Weaver, the owner and founder of Freedom Wildlife Solutions, and Pest Control.

We're gonna talk a little bit to Robert about how he got into the pest control business and why he also offers animal removal services, including birds and squirrels and raccoons and bats, and who knows, maybe some alligators down the road he said he might get into. So that is a unique thing. You don't see many people offer that.

The Best of Johnston County Podcast comes out every single Monday and has now for over 18 months. We're well over 85 episodes now, so please go back and listen to our previous episodes. We've had lots of interesting community members, most of the county commissioners, state House members, Congressman Brad Knott other small business owners.

If you love Johnston County as much as I do. This is the podcast for you. Welcome, Robert.

Robert Weaver: Thank you. Thank you for having me here.

Jonathan Breeden: Well, no problem. We met through Launch JoCo and a couple chamber events. I wanted to have you come in. I find it fascinating that anybody that actually makes a living trapping things, but somebody has to do it.

So tell the audience what's your name, where you're from, what you do?

We can take care of it.

Jonathan Breeden: Oh man. So how did you get started? I know you were in the military at some point, I think. When were you in the military?

And kind of fell backwards into what I do. I worked for another company doing it.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Robert Weaver: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: So you got a job at, was it wildlife and pest or just Wildlife? And you added Pest as you started yours.

Robert Weaver: So it was actually just birds.

Jonathan Breeden: Birds.

All the residential type wildlife work, and they approved me for that. And then it kind of took off. It wasn't even six months to a year. It was going so fast for me that I had to have a conversation with my wife. Whether we are gonna just go down that path or if I was gonna keep trying to balance it out, but something had to give at that point.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. You were too busy.

Robert Weaver: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: So it's nice that you started as a side business.

Robert Weaver: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: And it became a full-time business. So how exactly do you get a bird out of a Walmart?

Jonathan Breeden: Huh. So do you have to have like a boom lift to get up to the, I mean, Walmarts are tall?

Robert Weaver: Yeah, no, we are using a specialized pole that was for the company. They have patented that product that they use over there.

Jonathan Breeden: Oh, okay.

Robert Weaver: But it was a special pole. It was a one man operation. I was able to put a net up and I would have a net up and running within 15, 20 minutes of being in the store.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay. And then the bird would fly into it and you'd get it.

Robert Weaver: Yep. And you would lower it down and then pull the it outta the net. The hardest part was getting 'em untangled outta the net and, but you'd get 'em outside and let 'em go.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay. I wonder if, well, what's the best way to get birds out of my garage? Because I have had a hell of a time with birds in my garage.

Robert Weaver: Daytime is a little bit more difficult as the evening hours come in. Well, you wanna try to keep the garage more dark and outside, more light. And that's the biggest thing is a lot of times you'll notice they'll fly out the window, stuff like that.

Jonathan Breeden: Right.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay? Okay.

Robert Weaver: If you can't get it, that's where we come in. 'Cause we can come in there and we're, my guys will go in and just catch it and get it outta your garage and figure out how to keep 'em out.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay? Alright. So. So like dusk, it'll fly out. Maybe if I just keep my garage door open.

Robert Weaver: Yeah. So putting lights out. That's why I say like right at those hours it's a little difficult on before they go to roost versus that and go to sleep.

Jonathan Breeden: Right?

Robert Weaver: But when they see that, that big light, obviously keeping the door open at all times, letting them

Jonathan Breeden: right

Robert Weaver: get that opportunity to go out.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Robert Weaver: But if they can see those brighter areas, they're gonna go for it.

Jonathan Breeden: Huh. That's interesting.

Robert Weaver: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: Yeah. I mean, I know they've flown into windows and that kind of stuff.

Robert Weaver: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: The so their eyesight, I guess bird's, eyesight is not good in general.

Robert Weaver: They don't,

Jonathan Breeden: Eagles do, but I'm talking about most birds,

Jonathan Breeden: right,

Robert Weaver: you understand that very well. But they just panic when they get in there. So they're just trying to figure out and hit everything and they don't know what's kind of going on. It's an unknown surrounding, you know,

Jonathan Breeden: right

Robert Weaver: for them. So they letting it open. You can try to harass 'em out. If you get like a bag on a, like a regular shopping bag on a pole

Jonathan Breeden: Right

Robert Weaver: will be enough to kind of guide them is what you're wanting to do.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. I gotcha you. Okay. Well that's interesting. So what other animals you do bats?

Robert Weaver: We do bats, we do well, we do it all. So bats are big right now. We're in the a season where we're not actually allowed to remove them unless they're in a living area of the house.

So if one got it in the middle of the night, we can come get that one out. But if you have 'em in your attic right now, it's the breeding seasons that are protected here in North Carolina.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Jonathan Breeden: okay

Robert Weaver: throughout a house. So we do really good inspections on the house. We go ahead and find anywhere they can kind of, they can get in, we can seal off any areas that they're not actively using in the meantime during this period. But then,

Jonathan Breeden: okay

Robert Weaver: once August 1st comes out, we are able to go ahead and put the valves in and kick 'em out.

Jonathan Breeden: What about squirrels?

Robert Weaver: Yeah, we handle squirrels. We have two big seasons for squirrels. One in the spring, one in the fall. Typically homeowners deal with them during those breeding periods when they're going at nesting. They'll find 'em in the attics. They, we actually, it's interesting 'cause you can see how long squirrels have been really growing up in houses, depending on the nest that they build within the attics.

So they have shifted completely from natural materials to manmade materials.

Jonathan Breeden: How about that?

Robert Weaver: Yeah,

Jonathan Breeden: that is unbelievable.

Robert Weaver: Yeah it's quite an interesting thing, seeing them do that.

Jonathan Breeden: So if as a homeowner, how can I prevent squirrels and bats from getting into my attic and my crawl spaces?

Robert Weaver: Yeah. So squirrels is gonna be the easier of the two to prevent it on your own. Squirrels be most most houses that we find squirrels in has a tree or a bush touching the roof line. It gives it that direct route onto the roof. Once it finds its way on the roof, it'll find a way in like the teeth on a squirrels like having a chainsaw built into you. They can get into areas.

They just need the opportunity. You take away the opportunity by removing trees and bushes from away from the house. You greatly reduce the risk of dealing with squirrels.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Robert Weaver: Bats on the other hand is a little bit more difficult if they move into a neighborhood. They're just gonna bounce from house to house.

They're made and built to keep the moisture, you know, away when it rains, but they are not built to keep wildlife or pests out. There's those between a crawl space or an attic. There's all kinds of gaps that allow for pests from the smallest, you know, ants all the way up to I've seen brand new houses with gaps big enough to let full-size raccoons in.

Jonathan Breeden: Oh man.

Robert Weaver: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Robert Weaver: Yep. It's incredible. We see it all the time that it's really just about how the houses are built that allows these animals to get in.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay. I got you. Raccoons. Those are pretty good size.

Jonathan Breeden: Oh my goodness. That is interesting. So the, I guess, what is the most interesting thing you've had to try to remove from a house or a business when you were doing commercial?

Robert Weaver: So bats has been the most surprising, I guess in numbers. We've dealt with a a medical facility here in Johnston County that had a couple thousand bats in it that we removed. Oh yeah, it, when it hit the thousand mark on us when we were videoing it in the evening, whether they were coming out, we were just kind of astonished to how many were in there.

Jonathan Breeden: Golly, that's a lot of bats

Jonathan Breeden: Oh my goodness. So do you try to capture all these animals alive?

Robert Weaver: So we follow all North Carolina state laws. So

Jonathan Breeden: okay

Robert Weaver: it really just depends on, you know, the sit situation and everything else. We try to do everything as humanely as possible. And I say that 'cause like putting a squirrel trap on a roof in the middle of the summertime's, not very humane if you're not gonna be able to get there within a couple minutes.

Jonathan Breeden: Right, right.

Robert Weaver: But we try to as much as possible, but we do have to follow NC State laws.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay. I gotcha man. That's interesting. Alright, so, and if you, as your business grows down east, you said you would probably, do you have to go to training? Like, like, I mean is there training, I mean, I know you had a job and they sort of taught you how to catch birds at Walmart, but like is there, like, are there courses for this? Is there online or certificates?

It's a pretty good course. You know, you're not gonna become an expert out of it, that's for sure though.

Jonathan Breeden: Right.

Robert Weaver: We pride ourselves on sending our guys to a lot of industry. Courses as well. We want to be the top-notch wildlife company in the area, so we send our guys to NWCOA, which is the National Wildlife Control Operators Association.

It's the Wildlife Association for us, and they have a lot of industry training and certi certifications that we get our guys to go through.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Robert Weaver: To try to stay on top of it.

Jonathan Breeden: What about foxes and bobcats?

Robert Weaver: So we do get calls.

Jonathan Breeden: There's Some in our neighborhood.

Robert Weaver: Yeah. We don't get so many calls for bobcats being that they try usually like to hide in like denser wooded areas.

They don't usually come out into you, into HOAs as much.

Jonathan Breeden: Right.

We do deal with 'em. We try to evict them if possible. First, meaning like, we'll put in one-way devices, kick 'em out of areas like secure areas around, like sheds, stuff like that to keep 'em out.

Jonathan Breeden: What's a one-way device? You've said that twice now? Yeah.

Robert Weaver: So it's different depending on the critter, but it is basically a one-way door. So when they come out of it the flap or whatever the device is, depending on the animal closes, so they can't get back in after they leave. So, we're able to let them go on, find a new home on their own, which is always the best case scenario for wildlife, and then we can seal it up and prevent them forever getting back in.

Robert Weaver: Yeah. They're definitely small and in most cases, the only time that we really see them being aggressive is when they're rabid on that side of it. They can become used or can get used to being around humans, which can always throw off. The natural demeanor on there or that natural fear that they should have. That's why you should never feed animals. You bring them in, we see raccoons being fed, they come up to the porches, all that, and then eventually they're not afraid of humans and they may bite you even though they're not sick.

And you, once that happens, they have to get tested. So they'll have to be euthanized and tested for, right? So I, foxes in general shouldn't be, you shouldn't be afraid of them, but you should respect all wildlife. Keep a good distance from 'em. Not try to feed them or handle 'em and they,

Jonathan Breeden: right

Robert Weaver: yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: Do you do snakes?

Robert Weaver: We do, yes.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay. Alright. Now I guess snakes get in crawl spaces too and get in attics.

Robert Weaver: Yeah. Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: I mean, they're quite resourceful, I think.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Robert Weaver: Mainly when we see snakes inside of a house, usually it indicates some type of other small problem going on.

A lot of times it's gonna be rodent problems. You have mice, snakes want an easy meal, they're gonna come in for it.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay?

Robert Weaver: So if you've ever had a mouse in your house, you can have a snake in your house and that's where people get a little freaked out when they have a snake lives going down their hallway.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay. That's a scary thought.

Robert Weaver: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: Hopefully that won't happen.

Robert Weaver: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: So, but if I have pest control, in theory, I shouldn't have mouse my mice or

Robert Weaver: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: Mouses is not, but anyway, shouldn't not have mice in my house. So I guess that's, that will transition to the second part of your business, which is pest control services.

And as much as we, love, education and learning as much as we can within our company. We knew that we could provide a little bit of a better service there. Showing them, you know, we've had situations where a pest control company was telling somebody that they had a mouse problem in their attic.

There was a pile of droppings in the middle of the attic. You know, they put a bait station up there. The droppings kept coming. They called us in to do an inspection. They said, well, my pest control company said it's a good sign that there's more and more droppings showing up means they're going to the bait station to eat it.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay. So, you spray for all types of pests?

Robert Weaver: We do, We do all the pests. Anything, like I said, from the ants all the way up to the roaches and we do bed bugs termite, all of it.

Jonathan Breeden: Right.

Have family law questions? Need guidance to navigate legal challenges? The compassionate team at Breeden Law Office is here to help. Visit us at www. breedenfirm. com for practical advice, resources, or to book a consultation. Remember, when life gets messy, you don't have to face it alone.

Jonathan Breeden: And do you, I guess like most pest control put people on a monthly or bimonthly subscription. You come by for 30 minutes. De web what's going on?

Robert Weaver: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: Look for signs of rodent and spray something, I guess.

House the way it needs to be treated. We look at it like if you were a doctor and just prescribed one medication across the board to every patient, no matter what they have. And that's what a lot of pest control companies will do out there. We wanna get out there, do a quick assessment of the house, have a conversation with the customer, and then use the chemical that's appropriate for what they're seeing or their neighborhood and all that.

And then we spray it and treat it as necessary.

Jonathan Breeden: What's the best way to get rid of Silverfish?

Robert Weaver: Silverfish? that,

Jonathan Breeden: That, that seems to be the thing that gets in my house more than anything else.

But they're breeding within the house somewhere. That perimeter treatment is never gonna do anything.

Jonathan Breeden: That's a good point. That's a good point. We haven't had as many lately. I know they like cardboard. They do. So, so if they can get into your attic where you got boxes, they're like happier in a pig and slop there.

Robert Weaver: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: So anyway I mean, they're not really harmful. They're just kind of there, you know what I'm saying?

Robert Weaver: They actually like the backside of wallboard or drywall. 'cause it has that cardboard or you know, that paper that's on the back of the same idea.

Jonathan Breeden: Right.

Robert Weaver: So they'll chew that off. As well.

Jonathan Breeden: Oh, that's interesting. The do y'all do termites?

Robert Weaver: We do, yes.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay. So what do y'all provide for termites?

Robert Weaver: So, I, it depends on the situation we want to get out there. There are bait stations that we use, and that's a proactive approach, and we are able to monitor on a regular basis. When we go out there, we can see if there's activity.

So that's the nice thing about the bait stations over that. And so if we're going in where somebody has active termites, we want to get in there with the liquid kill the termites that are on the house and then go from there.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. And do y'all provide a. I, I used try to use the word bond, but a termite, yeah, I don't know, a certificate that could pass when you sell the house and stuff like that.

Robert Weaver: So yes, we do warranty all our work on that side. So whenever we do have termite work, I mean, it's in our contract how it will go in whether it's like an we will do an annual reassessment of the house, making sure we're not seeing anything going on. If you're a regular pest control customer and you have the termite stations, we're probably gonna check them a little more frequently.

Just to stay on top and make sure that we won't see anything.

Robert Weaver: Okay

Jonathan Breeden: in Laurinburg. Not too far from here. Yeah. Just curious. Is that a problem in this area?

Robert Weaver: Oh yeah, absolutely. And I mean, it can do more damage than pretty much everything else that we deal with when it comes to your house. So it gets in there and goes unnoticed for years. You don't want to be the person that finds out you have a termite problem

Jonathan Breeden: right

Robert Weaver: by your house starting to fall apart.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. What are some things you can do to prevent a termite problem, other than hiring a pest control company, to have them regularly inspect, like, what are some things that your average homeowner can do?

Robert Weaver: So keeping termites away is gonna be a little bit of a problem, trying to do it by yourself on that side of it. But keeping wood off the ground as much as possible, making sure that you don't like leave boards underneath your crawl space and moisture problems in your crawl space are definitely gonna be conducive to bringing in those termites that are gonna want that moisture in the wood there.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. So, I don't know these things.

Robert Weaver: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: Where do termites come from? Do they come down the street? Like do they, Do they come? I mean, like, how do they get there?

Robert Weaver: So they're always in the ground. They're always out there foraging.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay. So they're in the ground.

Robert Weaver: They're in the ground.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Robert Weaver: So they're always out there. They're always far foraging though, so even when they find a food source, they're always looking for their next food source. 'cause they don't know when one's gonna end.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Robert Weaver: So when you have a colony on your yard and a typical yard will have a colony on it, it's just whether it comes down to your house or not.

Jonathan Breeden: Ah, okay.

Robert Weaver: So, I mean, they're out there all over the place, you know, and they're, they do great things and they break down your the debris in the forest, all that stuff. The problem is when they're trying to break down your house,

Jonathan Breeden: right? Right

Robert Weaver: it becomes a problem.

Robert Weaver: So they eat the cell, cellulose materials. So anything that's gonna be like that. So if you leave cardboard, like we were talking about on the ground, you'll find termites going and starting to attack that after a while. So if you put those types of things in your crawl space, we've seen it in garages too.

They'll come up in garages where people put cardboard boxes and they'll start eating the cardboard boxes within the garage coming from the crack.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay, well that explains why the termite company, I had one time drilled a hole in the. They drilled a hole in the garage floor.

Robert Weaver: Yep. The slab. Yep. To get a tree underneath the garage.

Jonathan Breeden: Yep. Okay. Well that would explain that. Yep. Okay. Well I find that all fascinating. I could talk to Robert Weaver all day about all these animals. Now I'm gonna go home and I'm not gonna be able to sleep because I'm gonna start thinking that I have squirrels and bats and snakes in my house, which I don't you. You know what I mean?

Robert Weaver: Absolutely.

Robert Weaver: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: Why did you choose to get involved with Launch Joco and what did it provide? It's a sort of a, for people listening we've talked about a lot on this podcast. It's a class for new businesses. It's almost like a little business incubator where they get some instruction and then they get placed with a mentor who works with them individually for six or nine months, and it helps get businesses.

You know, it helps 'em grow. Yeah. You know, these businesses already exist. They're not like starting, but it helps 'em grow. Why did you choose to get involved in it? Because, I mean, clearly you're already very successful.

Robert Weaver: Yeah, so I got out of the truck a little over a year ago now where I'm not out there running routes all the time or doing any of the hard labor that my guys are out there doing every day.

When I got outta the truck though, I didn't know what to do anymore. I knew how to catch things. I knew how to treat and find prob, figure out what problems were. But when you go back to diagnose what's going on with your business, I didn't know where to start. I knew I wanted to continue to grow my business.

Jonathan Breeden: Well, that's cool. That's cool. And yeah. You enjoyed it.

Robert Weaver: Absolutely.

Jonathan Breeden: You know, I've, you met people who are not meet me.

Robert Weaver: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: I've met you. Like I, I've found it to be fa I've, I've ly fascinating.

Robert Weaver: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: I wish I could have worked with every single person I met there.

Robert Weaver: Yeah.

Jonathan Breeden: Working with Houston Colson, who's a previous guest on the podcast of Roof Steppers, go back and listen to that episode. It's really good. All about roofing and mistakes homeowners make and choosing a roofer. We answered those questions on that podcast. So I guess the I mean, so I mean, how many employees do you have now and you know, what service areas do y'all service?

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Robert Weaver: Answering the phones and making sure we, we get out there as soon as possible when people have an emergency.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. So do you serve you 24/7?

Robert Weaver: So we are not 24/7.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Robert Weaver: Yeah, we, we go from eight to seven from for our office hours on it Monday through Friday.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Robert Weaver: The we Service we started with just Wake, Harnett, and Johnston County, but we've added several since there. We're now in Durham, Wilson, Wayne, Nash, Lee, Cumberland County as well.

Jonathan Breeden: Oh man. You like to drive?

Robert Weaver: We do, but one wildlife job can take all day. So we go out there, we're doing the job and then coming home if our wildlife work it, it makes sense.

Jonathan Breeden: Okay.

Robert Weaver: A pest side we're running them a little ragged right now.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. I can understand that. Well, that's great. That's great.

So how people can people reach out to you and Freedom Wildlife Solutions?

Jonathan Breeden: and you'd be willing to go speak to community groups?

Robert Weaver: Oh yeah, absolutely

Jonathan Breeden: churches about what you do, how they can. Right. I mean, 'cause part of your thing is education.

Robert Weaver: Absolutely.

Jonathan Breeden: I mean, it's not just helping, but like, but you're big on education.

Robert Weaver: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: I know your wife's involved as well.

Robert Weaver: Yes.

Jonathan Breeden: So you're willing to speak to groups, school groups, anybody

Robert Weaver: Oh yeah

Jonathan Breeden: that would like to learn about wildlife and how to prevent them getting in and the humane treatment of 'em and stuff like that. You'd be glad to talk to 'em, wouldn't you?

Robert Weaver: Absolutely. We'll be happy to.

Jonathan Breeden: Right. it's fascinating. Like, like you, I tell Robert Weaver and an hour go by and it's like, it's just nothing because I don't know anything about it, right?

Robert Weaver: You know, I love the small town feel of Johnston County. You know, the, even as they're growing, they're still holding that throughout the towns. Living in Clayton, I, where I grew up, I grew up, up north left with the military. I definitely did not have the small town feel up there. So that's such a great feeling to have down here.

And I love it every day.

Jonathan Breeden: Well, that's great. That's great. And a lot of people say the small town feel. The people

Robert Weaver: yeah

Jonathan Breeden: you know, that's what makes Johnston County great

Robert Weaver: it does

Jonathan Breeden: community. Anybody doing anything to help you, you know, people you don't even know will help you.

Robert Weaver: Absolutely.

Jonathan Breeden: I mean, it's very friendly and that's what makes it great.

As well as pest inspections as well. If you would be so kind as to like, follow, and subscribe to this podcast down below. And give us a five star review down below so and so that we'll know that what you like and dislike about The Best of Johnston County Podcast. And if you like following subscribe wherever you're seeing, whether it be Apple, Spotify, YouTube, LinkedIn, TikTok, or any of the other social media channels, you'll be made aware of future episodes of The Best of Johnston County Podcast.

The Best of Johnston County Podcast comes out every single Monday and has now for well over 18 months and will continue into the future. Until next time, I'm your host, Jonathan Breeden.

That's the end of today's episode of Best of Johnston County, a show brought to you by the trusted team at Breeden Law Office. We thank you for joining us today and we look forward to sharing more interesting facets of this community next week. Every story, every viewpoint adds another thread to the rich tapestry of Johnston County.