How to Keep Wildlife Away From Your Home This Summer

Imagine waking up one morning, going into your kitchen, and finding food strewn everywhere. Your kids are past the destructive stage and you know you don’t have ghosts, so you’ve likely got a surprise tenant. How can you keep wildlife away from your home so that this doesn’t become a morning routine?

Raccoons, squirrels, and other animals and birds can get into your home in a variety of ways. Once they’re in, they can make your kitchen look like the aftermath of a house party and cause all kinds of damage by:

• Creating or widening gaps in the roof or sides of the property
• Damaging ‌wood,‌ ‌drywall,‌ ‌insulation,‌ ‌and‌ ‌other‌ ‌building‌ ‌materials
• Chew‌ing ‌through‌ ‌electrical‌ ‌wires‌ ‌and‌ ‌increasing ‌the risk of fire 
• Burrowing into cushions and ripping the batting out of furniture
• Destroying‌ ‌clothing, papers, and books
• Nesting‌ ‌in‌ ‌walls,‌ ‌under sinks, or even in appliances, like the back of your washer or refrigerator
• Getting into garbage bins to find food
• Defecating everywhere
• Eating fruit and vegetables from your garden

When winter arrives, certain wild animals will remain on your property because they need warmth, shelter, and a place‌ ‌to‌ ‌have babies. Then you’re looking at evicting entire families!

At Bad Company Wildlife Eviction, we understand that it’s usually easier to deal with animal visitors by preventing them from getting inside in the first place. In this blog, we share tips on how to keep wildlife away from your home as well as schedule humane wildlife removal in Hamilton. 

Which Animals Can Get Into Your House?

Depending on where you live as well as the condition of your home, you could find yourself being an impromptu landlord for any of the following wildlife:

• Raccoons: The ‌roof‌ ‌is‌ ‌the most common entry point for raccoons. ‌They‌ ‌have‌ ‌sharp teeth and strong claws that make it easy for them to tear away shingles as well as exploit gaps on the roof, including chimneys, plumbing mats, vents,‌ ‌and‌ places where the roof and soffit intersect. Their intelligence and determination can make raccoon removal in Hamilton a challenge!
• Squirrels: Squirrels‌ ‌can‌ ‌chew‌ ‌through‌ ‌shingles,‌ ‌aluminum‌ ‌and‌ ‌wood‌ ‌siding,‌ ‌providing access to the‌ ‌attic. They are attracted to attics because they provide a warm and dry environment for building a nest. Once inside, they’ll happily set up camp in your walls, making squirrel removal in Hamilton a commonly-requested service.
• Skunks: Skunks can gain entry into your house through your attic, bedroom, kitchen and even bathroom, especially when you leave the doors and windows open. ‌Skunks can squeeze their bodies through small cracks and openings to gain access to‌ ‌the main‌ parts of‌ ‌the‌ ‌house.
• Rats: A rat can squeeze through spaces as tiny as a quarter! They can come in through a damaged foundation, by climbing down chimneys or through roof holes, and even squeezing through cracks and gaps around vents and windows. Rats therefore present a special challenge when you want to keep wildlife away from your home.
• Mice: Mice generally use the same entry points rats do. In addition, they can enter your home through sink and bathtub drains if your drainage pipes are not properly sealed and have even been known to squeeze in around gaps in entry holes for plumbing and oven gas lines.

If you want to keep wildlife away from your home, the recommended strategy depends on the animal involved and their preferred entry points. You should also determine what attracts them to the property so you can take preventative measures.

What Attracts Wildlife to Your Property?

Animals are drawn to human dwellings for two main reasons: access to food and shelter.

Don’t Leave Out Food

Rats and raccoons in particular are natural scavengers because they eat everything from meat, fruits, and vegetables to pet food and even trash. Squirrels are fond of grains and known to steal the food from bird feeders. If you compost or have a fruit and vegetable garden, some animals will be attracted to these potential food sources as well.

Block Access to Nesting Sites

Animals like raccoons and squirrels look for warm, cozy places to nest and have their young. They often seek to enter your attic through the roof, build a nest in the insulation or ducting, and raise a family. If you can locate common entry points before animals start getting in, you may be able to repair or block them first.

So How Do You Keep Wildlife Away From Your Home?

Although you may end up having to call a wildlife eviction specialist for humane wildlife removal  if some unwanted tenants have already moved in, there are some do-it-yourself steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of any new arrivals.

• Checking for cracks or holes regularly in the walls and under the roof of your home. ‌If‌ ‌you‌ ‌find‌ ‌any holes‌ ‌or‌ ‌cracks,‌ ‌be sure to‌ ‌cover‌ ‌or‌ ‌seal‌ ‌them‌ ‌properly.
• Eliminating any food sources that might lead any animal to believe that your property is a good place to stay. This includes keeping garbage cans in garages and pet food inside as well as cleaning up dropped fruit if you have fruit trees in your yard.
• Keeping your trees trimmed around your home to prevent animals from having easy access‌ ‌to‌ ‌your‌ ‌roof.
• Shortening ‌vines‌ ‌and‌ ‌other‌ ‌plants‌ ‌that‌ ‌are‌ ‌growing‌ ‌up‌ ‌the exterior of your home so that raccoons and squirrels can’t use them as a ‌ladder.
• Making it difficult for animals to climb your roof and the trees around your property by putting metal sheeting around‌ ‌them.
• Installing electric fencing on top of any fence high enough to reach your roof.
• Getting rid of bird feeders, which often attract animals other than birds.

These are a few essential things you can do to prevent wild animals from approaching your home. ‌Depending on what animal you are dealing with, some methods work better than others, but they’re worth trying to keep wildlife away from your home.

The Raccoon / Squirrel / Skunk Has Landed! What Do You Do?

Okay, you tried to keep wildlife away from your home! But despite your best efforts, someone has moved in! Your next step should be to contact a Hamilton wildlife removal company that specializes in humane eviction methods. We strongly recommend that you don’t use DIY removal methods, as you could unintentionally separate a mother from her young and some methods, like trapping, are illegal for protected wildlife.

When you call Bad Company Wildlife Eviction, we inspect your house from top to bottom for signs of animal activity. ‌We identify common entry points and recommend repair and maintenance measures to prevent the animals from returning once they’re evicted. As an immediate measure, we install one-way exits, which are specialty doors that let the animals leave your home but not return. Later on, we remove these exits and permanently seal the openings.

If we find babies during our inspection, we make sure they are not left behind during the eviction process. ‌We‌ ‌remove them‌ ‌from‌ ‌your home ‌and‌ ‌place‌ ‌them‌ ‌in‌ ‌an‌ ‌insulated‌ ‌heating box near‌ ‌a ‌one-way‌ ‌door‌ ‌we install. ‌As soon as it is safe, the mother will return and move‌ ‌the‌ ‌babies‌ ‌one‌ ‌by‌ ‌one‌ ‌to‌ ‌their‌ ‌new‌ ‌home.

Our Eviction Services Can Keep Wildlife Away From Your Home!

Bad Company Wildlife Eviction provides humane wildlife removal services that evict your furry tenants without causing harm to the animals or our technicians. Once the property is clear, we can give you some recommendations and tips that can keep wildlife away from your home in the future. ‌To learn more or schedule a no-obligation inspection, call 1-855-880-9860 or contact us online.