Common Entry Points for Small Wildlife

While furry, four-footed creatures may seem like cute, harmless animals, the damage they can wreak on your home belies their seemingly wholesome nature. Knowing their common entry points and taking measures to properly seal and secure them can prevent a world of stress and potential health hazards. Here are a few places in your home you should monitor and protect.

Areas in which different material comes together like window wells, dryer exhaust vents, and water damaged fascia. Animals like bats, rats, mice, and squirrels often gain entry through these points.

Attic gable vents are also prime points of entry. Always check your attic to see if there are any animal droppings. Turn off attic lights to see if there’s any outside light leaking in. Those could turn out to be where the wildlife is coming through. Other vulnerable areas are loose vent screens, holes in the roof, chimneys, gaps in bricks or house structure.

Be sure to periodically check cables for damage. Squirrels like to chew on them and this could be a potential fire hazard. If there are any holes in or around your home that are smaller than a few inches, caulk them or stuff with copper mesh or expandable foam.

Always make sure before sealing any holes that there are no animals inside. If you’re unsure, place a cloth or paper in the suspected area and check back in a few days to see if it’s been moved. If it hasn’t, then go about properly sealing the hole with screening or the appropriate barrier.

Do note that wildlife living in your home can be a potentially dangerous situation. Even more so if it has grown into an infestation. If this is the case, it is best to call the professionals to handle it. They are trained to catch and release wildlife and protect your home from re-entry. 

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Choosing Your Exclusion Barriers

Every once in a while, despite your best efforts in keeping your house clean, unwanted house guests still find ways of getting in. Whether it’s squirrels in the attic, birds nesting in exhaust vents, or bats in the chimney, knowing how to properly keep wildlife out can save you time and money needed for repairs and removal.

Setting up exclusion barriers in and around your home ensures a practical, humane, and environmentally safe way of dealing with wildlife. Using exclusion barriers like fences or sealing potential entry points keeps animals out and is the best way of preventing any harm from coming to you, your family, or the animal itself.

Assess all potential entry points and determine which types of animals could possibly get in. Seal tubes or vents with hardware cloth or copper wool, but makes sure you’re not covering anything that shouldn’t be covered, like gas appliance vents such as high-powered furnaces, doing so creates a fire hazard.

If you’re having issues with animals that are digging up your yard (such as gophers), apron or L-shaped fences will work well for this purpose. These are also great for decks and crawl spaces.

For flying animals such as bats and birds, the chimney is a potential entry point that can be protected with a chimney cap. These are widely available in home and hardware stores and can be installed easily.

Your trash bin is also a prime attractant for wildlife like raccoons, skunks, squirrels and even bears. If you suspect that any of these animals are roaming your neighborhood, make sure that you have critter-proof containers (the ones with screw-on lids) or tie them up with a bungee cord at night.

Before sealing up entry points, do ensure that there are no existing small animals already taking shelter in these areas. It would be best to test it by placing a piece of paper or cloth in the possible entry point and checking in a few days later to see if it has been moved.

Physical exclusion of animals using barriers ensures that animals are able to stay in their own environment and can relocate to other natural nesting sites or shelter. The type of exclusion barrier you will need to install largely depends on the type of wildlife you are excluding.If you’re unsure of how to go about setting up exclusions barriers for your home, contact professionals who can do it for you.

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