Service area
Wildlife removal in Cobb County, Georgia
Cobb County is suburban almost end to end, and that is exactly what makes it busy for wildlife work. Mature hardwoods, creek corridors and houses packed close together mean a squirrel or raccoon is rarely more than a branch away from somebody's roof.
What I see most in Cobb County
East Cobb and Marietta neighborhoods from the 1970s and 80s are full of mature oaks hanging over the roof. Those limbs are the highway squirrels use to reach the soffit, so trimming back is often part of the fix.
The Chattahoochee and its creeks, along with the Kennesaw Mountain park land, give raccoons, snakes and the occasional beaver green corridors running right through the middle of town.
Crawlspace homes are common across Smyrna, Mableton and Austell, and an open crawlspace vent is one of the first places rats and opossums move in.
What customers say
4.9 on Google · 80 reviews-
★★★★★
Total Animal Control is the only wildlife removal business you’ll ever need! They had an extremely quick response time, very fair pricing, and had my attic critters removed in no time. Brandon was professional, personable, and put my mind at ease after the removal, and assured us that our problem had been taken care of. We haven’t had a single issue since. We’ve recommended him to all of our neighbors who have had similar issues and they have been just as pleased! Thanks again!!
Kaitlin C. · March 2025 · Google review
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★★★★★
I highly recommend Total Animal Control! I noticed something making noise in my house. Brandon with TAC, came out that day and not only identified the problem but fixed it too! I’ve had no issues ever since!
Michael V. · March 2025 · Google review
Reviews are copied word for word from Google. Older ones mention Total Animal Control, the company’s former name. Read all 80 reviews on Google
Public land and wildlife nearby
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park puts a large block of protected forest in the middle of the county, and the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area runs along Cobb's eastern edge. Between those two and the creeks that link them, wildlife has green corridors reaching deep into neighborhoods that otherwise look fully built out. A raccoon or coyote seen in a Marietta cul-de-sac has usually traveled one of those corridors to get there.
Will Cobb County Animal Services respond to a wild animal?
Usually not. Cobb's own description of the department says Animal Services generally does not respond to complaints about wildlife. The exceptions are a wild animal that is injured, one that has bitten someone, or one that poses an immediate threat to public safety.
Its field officers spend their time on cruelty cases, animal attacks, loose and injured animals, and barking complaints. The county's nuisance-animal rules, in Section 10-9 of the code, are written around the problems owned animals cause: barking or howling for more than 15 minutes, damaging property, chasing people or cars. A squirrel family in the soffit does not fit any of that.
The shelter is at 1060 Al Bishop Drive in Marietta, 770-499-4136. Officers are dispatched on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; after hours and on weekends, calls go through the police non-emergency line at 770-499-3911. For an emergency, call 911.
Animals living in or under the house, such as raccoons, squirrels, rats, bats and opossums, are left to the homeowner and a private operator. That is the work I do: removal first, then repairs to the openings so the problem does not come back.
What wildlife does Cobb County say lives here?
The county's animal education page names the most common species as squirrels, chipmunks, birds, opossums and snakes, and adds that Cobb also has coyotes, foxes and bears.
It also gives homeowners a short list of ways to keep wildlife from settling in:
- Put garbage bags at the curb on the morning of pickup, not the night before
- Secure basement vents and hatch doors
- Lock or remove pet doors, especially from dusk to dawn
- Take bird feeders down for a couple of weeks if wildlife starts visiting them
- Do not feed pets or strays outside
- Do not let pets roam free
- Clear away piled-up limbs and other debris
Which parts of that list need more than a habit change?
Most of the county's tips are about what you leave outside. Two of them, basement vents and hatch doors, are about the building itself, and those are the ones I spend the most time on under Cobb homes.
A loose vent cover or a crawlspace door that no longer latches is a standing invitation. The fix is a heavy screen or a properly fitted door that an animal cannot pry, chew or push aside, installed so that anything already living underneath has a way out before the last gap is closed.
What if someone is bitten, or a bat turns up inside, in Cobb?
Cobb & Douglas Public Health is the health district that takes animal bite reports for the county. Its guidance is to report the bite or scratch to Animal Control as soon as possible and see your medical provider, who may recommend a tetanus booster. For a dog or cat, the animal is observed for 10 days; if it stays healthy, rabies vaccine is not needed.
When rabies treatment is recommended, it starts at a hospital emergency department. The first visit includes vaccine plus immune globulin, which the district notes is available only through a hospital ER, followed by vaccine doses on days 3, 7 and 14, and a fifth dose on day 28 for people who are immunocompromised.
Bats get their own instructions. A bat found in a room where someone just woke up, or near someone who was intoxicated or not fully alert, needs rabies testing. Call Animal Control to collect it for the Georgia Public Health Laboratory, and do not let it escape. Cobb Animal Services adds that if you are unsure whether a bite or scratch happened, you should call them for guidance before getting rid of the bat.
The county also warns that foxes, skunks, raccoons, bobcats and coyotes can carry rabies without looking sick, and should not be handled even when injured. The district's epidemiology line for questions is 770-514-2432.
How old is Cobb County's housing stock?
Cobb has roughly 319,000 housing units, according to the Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey, and their median year built is 1991. The single biggest decade is the 1980s, at about 70,700 homes, or around 22 percent of the total. Another 42,800 or so date from the 1970s, and about a quarter of all homes were built before 1980.
Those figures are estimates with margins of error, but they describe a county where a large share of houses are now 35 to 55 years old. On a house that age I pay close attention to anything replaced over the years, like a newer vent set into older trim or fresh roofing laid against original fascia, because the joints between old and new work are where gaps tend to open.
When I inspect a house from that era, I treat the roofline and the foundation as one job. A repair that only covers the attic, or only the crawlspace, leaves the other end of the house open.
Where are Cobb's county-run nature areas?
The Natural Resources program at Cobb PARKS runs guided hikes at Allatoona Creek Park, and tours, classes and volunteer days at Hyde Farm Park.
County parkland like this adds to the green corridors that already run through Cobb, and homes that back onto it sit right at that edge. The county's deterrence list above matters most on those lots.
Towns and communities I cover in Cobb County
Marietta, Kennesaw, Acworth, Smyrna, Powder Springs, Austell, Mableton, East Cobb, Vinings, and the unincorporated areas around them. The county seat is Marietta.
Common questions in Cobb County
Will Cobb County Animal Services remove a raccoon from my attic?
No. The county says Animal Services generally does not respond to wildlife complaints, and only steps in when a wild animal is injured, has bitten someone, or is an immediate threat to public safety. A healthy raccoon in an attic is a job for a private wildlife operator.
What should I do if a wild animal in my Cobb yard is hurt?
Call Animal Services at 770-499-4136, since injured wildlife is one of the cases they do respond to. Do not pick it up. The county specifically warns that foxes, skunks, raccoons, bobcats and coyotes should not be handled even when injured.
I found a bat in my bedroom in Cobb. Who tests it?
Cobb & Douglas Public Health says a bat found in a room where someone was sleeping should be tested. Call Animal Control to collect it for the Georgia Public Health Laboratory, and keep it from escaping. If a wildlife company catches it, make sure it ends up with Animal Control rather than being released.
There is a coyote in my neighborhood. Should I call the county?
Cobb lists coyotes among the wildlife that live in the county, and Animal Services responds when an animal is injured or an immediate threat to public safety. For anything that is an emergency, call 911. Otherwise, the county's tips apply: secure trash, feed pets indoors and do not let them roam.
Does Cobb's nuisance animal ordinance cover wildlife?
The examples in Section 10-9, such as prolonged barking, chasing vehicles and damaging property, describe problems with owned animals. Those complaints go to Animal Services at 770-499-3911. Wild animals on your property fall outside it.
Where do rabies shots start in Cobb County?
At a hospital emergency department. Cobb & Douglas Public Health notes that rabies immune globulin, given with the first vaccine dose, is available only through a hospital ER. Questions can go to the district's epidemiology line at 770-514-2432.