Wildlife are beginning to search for food, water and shelter for the upcoming winter months. Don’t let them move in with you! These critters don’t pay rent and worse, they can make you and your family sick. Here’s how you can prevent a wildlife infestation this winter.
Who are the Wildlife Culprits?
To prevent a wildlife infestation, it’s important to first understand what kind of wildlife might be trying to move on in. Here are the wildlife culprits and the signs they’ve been hanging around.
Raccoons:
Signs include disordered trash cans, property damage, droppings, urine stains and nighttime noises in your attic, crawlspace or walls. Raccoons also nest in chimneys but most often prefer your attic over other spaces. They can carry rabies, ringworm, fleas, salmonella and E.coli. Their urine and droppings can also cause leptospirosis.
Mice and Rats:
21 million homes are infested each winter with mice or rats. They love to live inside walls and crawlspaces or even under your appliances where they can access your kitchen at night while you’re sleeping. They chew through wires and can cause electrical fires. They also carry and spread salmonella and harbor fleas, ticks and lice.
Squirrels:
Signs of squirrels include noise in your attic, basement and crawlspaces. They carry disease, have hazardous fecal material and chew through wires causing property damage and electrical fires.
Bats:
Bats love attics and can be heard coming and going at dawn and dusk. They also leave a greasy residue from their fur on the entrance point they use to go back and forth from your attic along your roofline. They can carry rabies, histoplasmosis, salmonella, yersinosis and external parasites. Bat guano (feces/urine mix) is also highly hazardous and contact with it can make you seriously sick.
Preventing a Wildlife Infestation
There are steps you can take to avoid a wildlife infestation. Here are a few of the top ways to prevent wildlife from moving in with you this winter.
1. Check your chimney –
Make sure your chimney has a firmly installed grate or screen to stop wildlife from entering. It should be sturdy and impossible for an animal to dislodge. Make sure there are no holes, rips or other damage.
2. Check your roof and siding –
Tiny cracks along your roofline or openings in your roof can give critters the entrance they need to move in. Seal any cracks, spaces, holes or other entry points along your roofline or in your siding.
3. Inspect your attic often –
Use a flashlight and inspect your attic from the inside looking for light that indicates a space, crack or other entry critters can use to get in. Then seal it up. While you’re in there, look for any signs of an active infestation like ripped up insulation, damage to wood or chewed wires.
4. Check your foundation –
Perform this check every season. Seal all small cracks, holes, around pipes or any other pathway you find that wildlife can use to get into your home. Remember, a mouse only needs a space as big as a dime to welcome itself to your home.
If, despite all of your precautions, you find you have an infestation on your hands, call Pee Dee Wildlife Control. We will help remove and relocate the animal or animals safely and deal with any biological hazards presented by the intruder (for example, bat guano). Remember that it’s never a good idea to try to catch or relocate wildlife yourself as you can be exposed to many hazards and diseases in the process. Let the pros handle removing your unwanted furry roommates.