As their natural habitat disappears at an alarming rate, wildlife is more frequently looking to human habitations as a suitable and food-rich replacement. Sometimes realizing that you have wildlife living in your home isn’t as startlingly obvious as, say, catching a bear rummaging through your refrigerator. Some intruding pests can make themselves welcome in a quiet and insidious manner, evading detection for months and causing some very serious damage in the meantime.
Here are three signs to look for if you suspect your home might be harbouring household invaders:
1. Nests
A good indicator that uninvited visitors have taken up residence in your home is the presence of nests. Common pests like squirrels and mice will make burrows out of small holes in the woodwork or in cozy strands of insulation—attics are a particularly desirable locale to critters for that reason. Be on the lookout for small accumulations of shredded or twisted paper, insulation, or wood fibres.
Nests can also present a challenge to professionals attempting to properly relocate the wildlife living in your home, and they could possibly contain pups or eggs—take care when inspecting a nest, as parent wildlife may become aggressive in defense of their young. Wildlife will also seek out the warmer spots in the home to make their nests, especially when it starts cooling down outside. It’s a good idea to search for nests on any property outside of the home as well, with leaf piles, bigger items of garbage, or dead wood being likely spots to find errant wildlife.
2. Droppings
Any wildlife thriving inside the home, having found a suitable nesting spot and a food source, is going to leave droppings. It should be especially concerning if the droppings reoccur multiple times, or after a thorough cleaning. Scat is easy to identify, but take the utmost care when handling any droppings, as they can carry any number of diseases. Beware of breaking apart dried scat, as it may release airborne pathogens. It can be tough to recognize the particular species of wildlife you’re dealing with by its scat, as it may change in characteristics depending on the diet available to the animal, but finding any scat at all is an alarm bell announcing unwanted visitors to the home.
3. Bite Damage
Rodents are often the culprit behind this sign, as they sport oversized front teeth well-designed by nature to chew into anything and everything they can fit between their jaws. Wildlife can cause structural damage to the home, especially when creating a nest as discussed above, but the prime place to search for bite holes is in the kitchen or pantry. Any room in the home where food might be stored is an attractive target for wildlife hoping to sneak a snack. Typical food packaging made of cardboard or plastic presents little challenge for most wildlife to crack open, so search boxes or bags of dry food for any tiny holes. Clothing is another item that wildlife likes to nibble on, so be conscious of any unexplained holes appearing in your or your family’s wardrobe items. Rodents have also been known to chew up Styrofoam and even slabs of drywall.
If you encounter any of these signs within your home, take extreme care with your next steps. Wildlife can be very aggressive when protecting their young, as mentioned above, and also when frightened, sick, or injured. Some wildlife will attack on a purely territorial basis. As always in these situations, it’s best to check with conscientious professionals before moving forward with any responsive measures.