With temperatures cooling down, it’s important that you prepare for Winter. 

Make sure that your house is prepared, you have warmer clothes, an emergency kit, etc. in the event of anything bad happening. 

But what do wild animals do come Winter time, and how does their behavior affect us? 

We have an awesome video version of this post, which you can watch HERE. 

Feel free to also download the podcast by pressing the download button above. 

Wild Animal Behavior in Winter 

In the Winter almost all wild animals are searching for a base to hangout, rest, and stay warm so that they can survive and make babies in Spring. 

Most wild creatures begin in the Summer by searching for a place to stay, stocking up on food, over-eating, and in some cases finding a mate to sleep during the Winter. 

In the wild these creatures often will dig holes, go inside decaying trees, or create their own little fort by using objects found in nature. 

However, with the urbanization of Earth due to humans, animal behavior is changing quite a bit. 

For example, urban raccoons have been shown to be considerably more intelligent than their wild raccoon counterparts. Our cities are basically training grounds for their intelligence, as natural selection favors the smartest of the wild creatures. 

Raccoons in particular are surprisingly quite capable in their abilities to open containers, break into things, and create mini-bases to hangout in. 

Many wild animals (such as raccoons) have taken a liking to human’s urbanization because it provides more safety from natural predators found in the wild. 

Our homes (especially in suburban areas) contains many weaknesses which can be exploited by these wild creatures, or in some cases these creatures are able to break into our home via brute force. For example, we have a video on our YouTube channel of a raccoon destroying a roof and creating a massive hole to break into the attic! 

Wild Animal Infestation 

This leads to a huge problem which is wild animal infestation of our homes. Wild animals often infest in people’s attics, in between their walls, under the ground, and more- all causing damage to the unknowing occupants as well as the building itself. 

Insects will also follow a similar pattern, infesting people’s homes and causing problems down the line during Winter. 

It’s especially imperative to start inspecting your home in the Fall and early Winter for signs of infestation so that wild animals can be removed before they infest your home. 

Once they get settled in and feel that your home is their home, it will be significantly harder to remove the creatures from your home, and with the babies that they begin to have they will fight much more ferociously. 

Furthermore, the longer they stay infested in your home the more damage they will cause. 

Raccoons are smarter than you would imagine...

Damages & Dangers of Wild Animal Infestation

Wild animal infestation of your property can cause a wide range of health & property problems that many people are not aware of. 

For example, many of our clients have reported that their allergies have completed disappeared within a month of a deep clean & restoration of their home being performed by us. 

One recent client, who originally had red eyes, a stuffy nose, and other allergy symptoms, became symptom-free as soon as some long-term mice residents were safely removed from her home and the damage was un-done. 

The reason this happens is because wild animals do not “go to the bathroom” like we do. They simply urinate and defecate wherever they are living, which in the case of infestation is your attic, between the walls, etc. 

These waste particles then dissolve into the air, reducing air quality. Wild creatures can also pass away inside your home or get trapped, for example some wild creatures will attempt to infest a home via the chimney, then get trapped and pass away. 

This attracts diseases, micro-organisms, and insects into your home as well when the wild creatures pass away or leave waste everywhere. 

The wild creatures may also chew up electrical wires leading to fires, damaging the property, etc. 

There are many ways in which wild creatures can cause damage to your or your home indirectly, and the longer they stay there the bigger the problem it becomes!

One big issue is infestation over the course of Winter because you may not realize that you have a problem until significant damage has been caused in the next Summer. 

The wild creatures may be primarily dormant now, but in the Spring & Summer time they will begin to have babies and the problems will grow exponentially. 

The same is true for insects, though the methods of damage differ, the principles remain the same- it’s important to deal with the problems ASAP. 

Fixing Your Home & Undoing Damage 

You can start now by inspecting your home and making sure that you don’t have any current infestations or problems. If you have allergy-like symptoms, then there may already be infestation occuring and you should contact a wildlife expert like us immediately. 

Make sure that you have no holes, attractants (such as food or warm hide-outs), or other signs of wildlife infestation. 

For tips & tricks, contact us at 855-WILDLIFE or visit www.wildlifexteam.com and we’ll be sure to help you out. 

It’s best to contact an expert to perform the inspection as there are many subtleties you might miss when it comes to animal infestation. 

Removing Animals & Restoring the Damage

When we identify some wild animals that have infested or damaged your home, we make sure to remove them as safely and humanely as possible. We also return the wild animals to a safe area far away from your home so that re-infestation is not possible. 

In the case of the above photo, a wild raccoon got trapped and we safely removed the wild raccoon and restored him back to the wild! 

Once all wild animals and insects are removed and restored from the property, we can then begin to cleaning phase in which we clean up the damage, the waste, and fix everything and ensure that re-infestation will not occur in the near future. 

This means that you will be happy and healthy in your home for a long time following the infestation period! 

Got Wildlife? 

If you have a wildlife problem or issue, or have any questions, please contact us at 855-WILDLIFE or visit www.wildlifexteam.com and we’ll be sure to help you out as soon as possible! An expert will be available to assist you and the problem shall be solved. 

Thanks for reading!  (:

-Wildlife x Team International