muskrat removal price ?

[trapperfern]

i have some muskrats to get rid of and was wandering what some of you charge for set up and per rat or what
its only fifteen minutes from my house which isnt bad and theres two ponds i haaven't looked at it yet this is just what i have been told i have a meeting with the owner friday morning so any input would be appreciated

[SgtWal]

Because rats are so easy, I go $25 a head. That and the setup fee.

[trapperfern]

thanks and how would you determine the setup fee say so much an hour that it takes for you set up the place or just a set price like $50 or $100 ??

[SgtWal]

My setup is based on distance and difficulty. I have a 2 county "home range" and outside that the fee goes up in steps.
Also jobs that require a ladder, a boat, or over a 100 yards of walking are upped. Time is money.
I have a set fee based on this. This forces me to get the job done quick or lose money. It's a good motivator as I don't have the time to wait on the critters to wander in.
A customer around here gets jumpy when you start talking hourly or every visit fees.
A rat job shouldn't take more than a few days with colony traps.

[trapperfern]

thanks again

[Smitty]

I'm charging $40 to set up ,so much per head,and mileage

[rueteryote]

a 25dollars a head? is that per rat?

do customers wanna pay that much per rat? if so they must have gold.
or there pretty serious to get rid of em.

catching four five in a collony maybe.
but when it gets to several colonys of four or five, whats a good price?

say three or four collonys?

[trappnman]

my thought would be this- if its a few rats- charge at least $100 set up, and at least $50 per rat. I charge $150 set up, $150 beaver- more if circumstances demand it

on large marshes- figure out what it is worth to you- if you have some idea of the population, and how long it would take- charge a flat fee- say $150 a day for a mornings work, $300 if its all day

[northof50]

Dikes and sewage ponds and rats don't go together. Time for lots of submarine traps. Cat-tail edging the price goes up, hiden rats.
Consider a back hoe rate to repair the springs in the dykes that they have to pay....sewage leak and flooding neighbours.....agh lawyers fees come in there some times in those situations.

[coyoteman37]

I would try a year contract . get them now and the spring and maximize usage of the rat and glands not to mention the carcuss.alot of times you give them a year and they will jump on it. tell them 1200.00 for the year paid up front. two fold purpose here insure your supplies equiptment and tell them its only 100.00 per month to stay on top of the problem. BUT get up front and get it in writeing.

[Mike Tucker]

You could certainly propose a setup charge and a per animal fee, but in my experience, you might be better off suggesting a flat rate fee after inspecting the property. Most times, the customer is not home when tending the traps, and may dispute the number of animals caught. If you have experience with these type of situations and can assess the potential number of visits required to resolve their issue, both you and your customer will be more comfortable with a flat-rate price. Just my opinion,
Best regards,
Mike

Sorry, after posting this reply, I just noticed that the original post was from 2007....I'll pay more attention next time before hitting the 'reply' button.

[SgtWal]

Don't feel bad. There isn't that much traffic here anyway. As a side note I always ask the customer if they need to see the animals. If so I leave them in a bucket or bag to inspect. It usually only takes a time or two of finding a smelly bucket of fly covered critters to break them of that habit.
Most of my customers are the type that hire all their work done. Mowing the grass, tending the flowers, and so on. They are used to being charged for the services.
Remember, in ADC YOU are the pro. YOU are the expert that is there to solve their problem. Don't be timid about getting paid for all those years of experience.

[mmwb (Andrew Parker)]

"Most of my customers are the type that hire all their work done. Mowing the grass, tending the flowers, and so on. They are used to being charged for the services."

If you don't have a healthy population of these kind of people,you are going to have a tough time doing full time ADC work. People's priorities become clear when their pocket book is involved. Couldn't do it here, not yet anyway. People are tight with their money, and there are too many people who will charge $25 bucks to do a complete job. You really have to love your work if your willing to pay to do it.