How to Detract Pests and Wildlife From Your Home This Spring
Springtime comes with more time spent outside, beautiful flowers sprouting from the ground, and animals coming out from winter hibernation. With all this excitement, there may be some unwanted pests and critters that can start to invade our own habitats. Taking preventative measures before they can do so is imperative to make sure that you keep unwelcomed guests from wreaking havoc on your home. To help you get started, we reached out to animal trappers and pest professionals from Dallas, TX to Surrey, BC, for their best tips on how to detract pests and wildlife from entering your home. Keep reading to see what they had to say.
Understand that wildlife entering our habitats is something that naturally occurs
Wildlife see your home as a sanctuary and as a place to shelter from the elements, so it’s natural that they’ll start to cross into the boundaries of your home. The first step to fortifying your home is understanding that this is a common occurrence.
They are driven by three main biological necessities
When wildlife invades human structures or developments, it’s always driven by at least one of the three main biological necessities – food, water, or shelter. It isn’t always something that we are doing wrong, wildlife is just adaptive and can actually thrive among us. The best ways to alleviate conflict are physical barriers, habitat modification, and reducing how many of the biological needs that wildlife are constantly looking for. – Western Mass Wildlife Removal
Ways to fortify your home
There are many ways to safeguard your home from pests and wildlife. Use these expert tips on what you can do to keep out unwanted intruders.
Use strong materials like metal and cement to fortify your home
Animals love the security from predators and weather provided by crawlspaces. Your best line of defense, as a homeowner, is to secure these areas to prevent wildlife entry before they ever access these areas. We prefer to install strong metal or cement as many animals are far too determined for steel wool, expanding foam, or other soft materials to keep them from invading your space. – Wildout Animal And Pest Removal
Have a pest provider install repair mortar or caulk
It might be tempting to repair rodent entry areas with spray foam, but did you know that we often see mice and rats chew through these types of repairs. We recommend choosing a pest provider that uses durable construction materials such as repair mortar, flashing, or caulking. – Whitmore Pest & Wildlife Control
Conduct a check of your home’s foundation, windows, and door frames
A homeowner who discovers termite damage can spend up to an average of $3,000 on repairs – something rarely, if ever, covered by homeowner insurance. Signs of termite activity are often difficult to see until it’s too late. However, homeowners can look for swarming termites, damage to window or door frames, or shelter tubes around the home’s foundation. Most importantly, always ask your pest management professional if it’s time to use a termite solution to keep your home protected and give you peace of mind. – Termidor Termiticide
Secure every chimney vent with a stainless steel chimney cap
Secure every chimney vent with a professionally manufactured stainless steel chimney cap that’s designed for the size and venting needs of that particular chimney venting system. Secure passive wall air vents with 1/4-inch hardware cloth on the outside of the structure. Paint to blend screen with background color prior to installation. – Wildlife Control Consultant
Ways to fortify your home
If you find yourself with wildlife and pests already invading your space, consider these steps.
Give the animal a way to safely exit the building
When dealing with a raccoon in a crawl space, it’s critical that you give the animal a way to safely exit the building, but not re-enter. A raccoon one-way door will do exactly this, but it’s still important that you have a wildlife removal professional help you seal all of the potential entry points for the raccoon to regain access to your home. Otherwise, your furry friends will continually find their way back in. – Critter Stop DFW
Do not seal wildlife in your home
If you find wildlife that invaded your home, don’t seal them in. Sealing wildlife in the home will create a larger, messier issue in the long run. Instead, call a wildlife specialist to remove, and seal the home to deter further wildlife from entering. – Ewert Pest Control
Keep leaf litter and mulch to a minimum
Pest pressure in and around your home is a very common issue for most of the United States, when populations on the exterior reach certain levels of environmental stress, insects have a tendency to migrate inside. Pest professionals are highly trained to identify and eliminate the pest and entry points, prevention is the best solution. Excessive leaf litter and excessive mulch applied above foundation grade can all be potential pest and termite issues. – FullScope Pest Control
Keep drains clear and dry
One thing I suggest is to make sure drains are clear and dry. This prevents pests like mosquitos, ants, cockroaches, silverfish, and rodents from reproducing and making themselves at home. Insects are attracted to damp areas inside the home, and can often be found in wet areas around the outside of homes as well. – Vama Eco
Dealing with mosquitoes in your yard can be havoc, your first priority should be preventing mosquitoes from nesting. Make your yard inhospitable by removing all standing water in gutters, buckets, toys, etc. Remember, it only takes a cap full of water to breed thousands of mosquitoes. Along with eliminating breeding ground, you can call a professional service to see the best results. – Last Bite Mosquito
Install a mosquito trap
When mosquitoes pester you in your garden or outdoor spaces there is now an effective, eco-friendly way to address these annoying and dangerous pests while keeping your garden free of toxic pesticides. Just add water to a mosquito trap to prevent mosquitoes from multiplying in your yard. Traditional methods of spraying insecticides are harmful to pollinators, but certain traps contain insecticides embedded in the interior surface of the trap for no human or animal contact. The trap attracts mosquitoes to enter, rest and breed and upon entering mosquitoes are killed by the low dose of insecticides inside. – INZECTO
Do not leave pet food outside for a long period of time
Simply put out enough food for your pet to eat at one time and take it away when they’re done eating. Your animals will quickly adapt to this, and you won’t have to be concerned about skunks, opossums or even a raccoon coming to fight with your outdoor pets for their food. – Critter Wranglers
Look for possible access points
Keep a close eye on your property. Look for possible access points in the forms of weathered decaying wood, screen vents or damaged crawlspace doors, and so on. Do these things and you can catch potential issues before they begin at your home or place of business. – Tri County Trappers
Above all, work with a professional
Working with a professional is the best way to ensure that the job gets done the right way the first time.
When faced with a structural pest or wildlife conflict situation, hiring or consulting with a professional may mean the difference between a smooth resolution and further structural damage. When seeking a professional, consider local. Locally-owned entities tend to work harder for your business and often retain a higher level of accountability and empathy towards resolving your pest or wildlife conflict situation. – Monadnock Pest & Wildlife Services
As they said in a famous movie, “who you gonna call?” This should be your local licensed and experienced pest control operator. They’ll be able to assess your pest issues and make recommendations on what conditions need to be addressed in your home or at your property to deter pests from wanting to live and breed. Pests need food, water, and harborage to survive and if one of these sources is eliminated there will be a greater chance of controlling a pest infestation. – The Pest Posse
Originally published on Redfin.com