Last week we discussed Keeping your garage free from pests and nuisance wildlife. Now we will focus on the attic. The attic often times provides a warm and safe environment for pests and nuisance wildlife. Here, they can come and go via open access areas in the attic, roof, soffit, and vents.
What type of pest or nuisance wildlife is entering my attic?
You find your well-deserved sleep is interrupted by scratching, gnawing, or scurrying sounds and footsteps in the night. The next morning you take a quick look in your attic. Upon examination, you find droppings, torn insulation, perhaps even the beginnings of a bed or nest. These are all signs of the unwanted visitors that have decided to come indoors as the temperatures in the northeast begin to cool.
Below are some of the pests and nuisance wildlife that may be harboring in your attic:
Raccoons and Opossum
Loose roof shingles, eaves and soffits provide openings for raccoons or opossum to enter your attic. They are aggressive chewers and can open a small hole into a wide berth in no time at all. FYI- raccoons have hands with five fingers and long, somewhat human-like hands. This makes them the greatest of entry and escape artists!
Squirrels, Flying Squirrels, and Chipmunks
Like their friend the raccoon, squirrels, flying squirrels and chipmunks enter the attic space the same way and can cause damage to the roof-line, insulation, flooring, and walls. Traveling through the house via cable and wiring housing can cause power and utility outages.
Mice and Rats
The usual suspects of attic tenants! Their bodies are long and flexible and meant for fitting in tight spots. If their head can fit through, their ribs will bend and flex to accommodate the mouse’s choice of entry. Their scampering sound is very distinct.
Birds, Pigeons, and Bats
Bird droppings are extremely dangerous to humans and can carry disease. The droppings can be acidic and damaging to roofing materials. Once in the attic, nests can house bird ticks and mites and bats carry fleas. These ticks, mites and fleas infest the insulation and coupled with urine and dropping create a dangerous environment.
Cluster flies, bees, and other pests
Cluster flies, bees, bats and other pests can gain entry much easier than their wildlife counterparts. Hives are built on the very screening used by builders to prevent pest entry.
How can I remove pest and nuisance wildlife and keep them from coming back?
Prevention is a critical part of keeping pests and nuisance wildlife from entering your home and attic. So often, our customers tell us that they noticed a hole near the pitch of their roof, a broken attic window, or a piece of siding that seemed to have a noticeable gap.
Trapping and removing pests and nuisance wildlife requires skill and experience. The experts at Accurate Pest Control will evaluate the structure and locate areas where pests and nuisance wildlife can gain entry. A complete evaluation is performed and reviewed with the homeowner or business owner and a course of action is determined.
We never want our customers putting themselves in harms way to climb a ladder or squeeze through an attic hatch. It’s what we do.
Once we have removed them, a complete clean up can be performed including repair of external structural damage to soffits, gutters, siding, roofing. Repairs are also made to correct the interior harm to the insulation and dry wall.
Now we need to keep them out of the attic. So, to stop common entry and hiding points, we use ridge vents, powervents, skylights, corner guards and Kritter caps. We will utilize other means, when necessary.
Contact us for a free inspection.
Please don’t wait. Contact us for an examination of your home and attic. We don’t charge for the inspection and when we are done, you will have an understanding of what is going on in your attic and a game plan to correct the situation.
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