03/10/2021
Are you aware of the critters around your home?
You love your home because it's your sanctuary. It's warm, dry, and provides the shelter you need to live comfortably. Unfortunately, wildlife animals find your home appealing for those same reasons. Wildlife animals often find the small and dark spaces of your attic, basement, garage, and walls to be the perfect habitat for them, especially if food sources are available.
You might be wondering how exactly these critters found their way into your home. The first thing to remember is that many pests, especially rats and mice, can squeeze their body through small cracks or holes in the foundation of your home. Rats and mice can flatten their rib cages to fit through gaps that are sometimes smaller than half the size of their body. In some instances, wildlife can simply walk through your front door or crawl through a window that was left open. Normally, however, they dig their way into your home.
While some wildlife animals attempt to make a nest in your home, others want to find their way out as badly as you want them out. It's important to respond to a rodent infestation quickly before they potentially give birth or die while living in your walls. This can be difficult to do, so leave it to your local animal and pest control professionals to safely remove the animal. Poor construction quality or home do-it-yourself projects can leave openings for intruders, along with settling or even termite damage; these can all create easy access for wild animals. It is important to take measures to protect your plumbing pipes and the openings around them so that there is a barrier between your home and wildlife.
However, there are a few steps you can take to prevent rodents or wildlife from entering your home again. The most successful form of rodent control and wildlife control is exclusion work - ensuring that your home is sealed safely to ward off potential pests.
• Make sure not to leave any food (pet or otherwise) around
the perimeter of your house attracting wild animals.
• Have locking mechanisms on garbage cans. Places near
easily accessible food are where animals want to nest.
• Cut all trees and tree branches near the roof and keep them
at least a few yards away.
• It’s important to take measures to protect your plumbing
areas. The openings around your plumbing pipes should be
sealed so there’s a barrier.
• If you can see daylight through a gap in the wall or structure
of your house you should seal it. Insects, snakes, and small
mice could enter.
For more information about the wildlife around your neighborhood, look up your local wildlife rehabilitator.
