The winter season has everybody looking for a place to stay warm, including the neighbourhood critters. Prepare your home for wildlife control this winter using these three preparation tips.
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Regular home maintenance helps keep your home’s exterior in good shape. The winter season is not the time to discover the cold air creeping in while you’re trying to stay warm. Inspect the outside of your home to identify potential problem areas, and look for early signs of wildlife living in the home—you don’t want to trap anything inside, and you might be unaware of your new tenants.
Ill-repaired entry points present little challenge for animals to get inside. Cap chimneys so squirrels can’t run down them and check utilities and pipes for any gaping spots that can be filled with a sealant. You can learn how to animal-proof roof vents to keep animals out. Think of maintenance as your due diligence to keep wildlife from getting inside.
When there’s a will, there’s a way. Mice, bats, and other small animals only need dime-sized holes to enter. Raccoons are crafty critters with the strength to open spaces between rooflines and walls. Animals are looking for a warm, cozy place to take shelter, and gaps in your home’s exterior provide an easy entrance.
Leaving food lying around is the opposite of effective animal control, so it’s always important to limit potential food sources. From outdoor bird feeders to pet food to leaving garbage outside, clever wildlife will find a way in—no matter what.
If you keep the bird feeders, consider squirrel-proofing them to keep out other animals. Raccoons love to pick through food scraps, so use trash and compost bins that have a secure lock to prevent their dexterous paws from opening the latch and getting inside. Any outdoor composts should be well-sealed. If you have a pond or other water source, keep it clean, particularly before it freezes over, to prevent wildlife from using it.
Animals see all food as a potential snack, and they’re strongly attracted to smell. To keep rodents from moving in, store food in airtight containers and refrigerate the food if you can. If you leave pet food outside, bring it indoors this winter—puppy kibble is a great snack for meandering raccoons. Anything, even if it’s stored in a shed, is fair game.
Consider buying garbage bins with sealed lids that also have odour-blocking features. In addition to using these airtight, odour-free bins, take it one step further and store them in the garage as an added security measure. It might be easy for animals to get into a bin, but it’s not so easy to get inside the garage.
Wildlife control includes reducing your property’s number of potential animal shelters. Keep your yard clean and free of debris to eliminate attractive areas where wildlife might like to live.
Trim shrubs and tree branches away from the home—most critters are adept climbers who can easily jump from a tree limb onto a roof to get inside. Clean drains and ensure spouts are far enough away from the home’s foundation. Not only will this keep wildlife out, but it lowers the odds of potential interior water damage.
Firewood acts as a shelter from the elements. Store your firewood properly by stacking it at least two feet off the ground to prevent any nesting in the pile or the soil below it. Dead trees, brush piles, and tall grasses can be piled away and put in yard waste bags that are stored in the garage until garbage day.
Animals are looking for any place to call home this winter. A home that doesn’t look all too inviting is an effective wildlife control method. They’ll move on somewhere else.
Do you need wildlife removal services? Request a quote today!
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