Wild animals like squirrels, skunks, rodents, opossums, snakes, raccoons, birds, and bats need shelter and food like everyone else. Often, they move into people’s homes—in their attics, garages, crawlspaces, or basements—in search of a place to live.

Unfortunately, having wild animals living in your home can lead to significant problems, like the five described below.

1. Noises and Smells

The noises that wild animals in your home can make can vary significantly. With mice and squirrels, you could hear scratching in your walls or attics or some chirping. But you could also hear screaming from your chimney if you have a family of raccoons living in there. These noises can be scary and they can make it very difficult for you to sleep or concentrate on your tasks.

Then there are the terrible odours that these animals can bring with them. The animals’ feces and urine will accumulate and build up an unpleasant strong odour. The animals themselves can smell, too. Squirrels, raccoons, and other wild animals have their own specific odours. The skunk’s odour can be particularly noxious. And these smells can make it difficult for you to enjoy your home.

2. Safety Issues

There are also many safety issues that come from having wildlife in your home. The urine and feces that wild animals leave can start to grow toxic mould. They may also spread diseases and parasites through their urine and feces, as well as their skin cells and saliva. These diseases include hantavirus, leptospirosis, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, tularemia, salmonella, histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, and rabies. They could also carry fleas, lice, mites, and ticks, which could be passed on to your pets as well.

Other safety concerns comes from wild animals causing structural damage to your home and gnawing on your electrical wires. Mice and rodents as well as squirrels can damage your wiring and inadvertently cause house fires that could put your family at risk.

3. Property Damage

Chewed up wiring isn’t the only damage you have to worry about though. Having wildlife in your home can lead to significant property damage. Animals can rip up your foundation and insulation trying to get inside. They could also tear up more property in search of materials to build a nest. And they could end up chewing on wood, brickwork, pipes, and more. Digging animals can also destroy your yard, garden, and crops.

4. Cost

Having wildlife in your home can be very costly. You may have to pay the medical bills if a disease or parasite is passed on to you, and vet bills if they’re passed on to your beloved pets. The property damage can also lead to several thousand dollars’ worth of repair costs. And an infestation can also affect your resale value if you’re planning to sell your home. You could lose out on tens of thousands of dollars.

In addition, many insurance policies do not cover damage caused by wild animals, especially vermin, so you may be on the hook for these significant expenses.

5. Dead and Decaying Animals

Another headache that many homeowners must deal with is dead and decaying animals stuck in their attic, in their walls, or in other hard-to-reach places. An animal may have died of natural causes inside your home because they happened to be sick or injured, or have died from the result of lethal traps or inhumane poisons put out in the home. And you may not know where they were hiding when they died.

Dead and decaying animal carcasses in your home will not only lead to a terrible smell that will be hard to remove but it will also attract insects, like flies. In addition, attempting to remove and dispose of the dead animals could lead to health risks if you get blood or other fluids from the animals on your skin.

How to Prevent Problems

To prevent these five headaches caused by having wildlife in your home, contact a wildlife control company immediately at the first sign of trouble. The company will humanely remove the animals while also repairing your property to guard against re-entry. Don’t risk your health or the contents of your wallet.

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