Wildlife Animal Prevention Tips

If there’s an opening in your home or building, you can be sure wild animals and pests will find a way in. That’s why consistent repairs and maintenance of your property is extremely important for wildlife animal prevention and pest control. We use a combination of exclusion strategies, habitat modifications, and more to make sure your home or building is kept free of nuisances.

We recommend the following for wildlife animal prevention:

• Fix all worn shingles and rotted wood where animals could easily break in.
• Secure attic vents or cover them with roof vent guards to keep wildlife out.
• Add wire with steel spines to ledges and eaves to prevent birds from landing there.
• Put galvanized hardware cloth under metal eaves to prevent birds and squirrels from coming in.
• Trim trees and shrubs at least 4 to 6 feet back, so animals cannot climb them up to your roof.
• Place wire or chain-link barriers and fences around livestock areas. These should be at least 8 feet high to keep predators out and be buried in the ground to prevent animals from digging under.

How do you keep wildlife from coming in your yard?

Wildlife in your yard can damage your garden, be unsafe for children playing outside, and may eventually make their way into your home. Nothing is more significant to an animal than getting to food. Bird feeders should be placed at least 10 feet away from any poles or branches to keep squirrels from getting to them. Placing barriers to catch food and prevent it from reaching the ground is also recommended.

Other sneaky spots wildlife may be finding food or water include:

• Leftovers on the counter
• Dirty dishes
• Leaky faucets
• Leaky outdoor hoses
• Unsealed snacks in the pantry
• Crumbs on the floor
• Snacks left in backpacks, bedrooms, or offices

Another way to prevent wildlife damage in your yard is habitat modification. Adding wire with steel spines to ledges and eaves will prevent roosting birds from landing there. Metal can be put under dormer eaves to prevent both birds from roosting there and squirrels from chewing their way inside. It is easy for squirrels and raccoons to climb up trees and get to the roof. By trimming tree branches back 4 to 6 feet, and trimming shrubs back as well, it will become difficult for them to get onto the roof.

Blocking off safe areas by caulking and sealing is also important to wildlife control. Common wildlife safe areas in your home include:

• Crawlspace
• Attic
• Closets
• Ceiling
• Walls

Other wildlife animal prevention strategies include placing barriers, such as fences. This will keep predators out. Such a fence should be 8 feet higher than the terrain, buried in the ground to prevent animals from digging under, and either be made of wire or have a chain-link design.

How do you keep wildlife from getting in your house?

Consistent repair is extremely important in wildlife animal prevention. Animals will find a way to get in as long as there is one. Fix all worn shingles and rotted wood. Louvre attic vents are one of the most important places to secure and can be covered with galvanized steel to keep out both squirrels and bats. Animals like rodents can wiggle into your house through a hole the size of a dime. To ensure that wildlife stays outside where it belongs, ensure all entry holes to your home are caulked and sealed. 

Caulking & Sealing

Holes around your home are often hard to find but are very susceptible to rodent intrusion. To ensure your home is properly sealed from wildlife, be sure to check the following areas: 

• windows
• doors
• holes in siding
• weep hole covers
• soffits
• roofline
• chimney caps
• foundation vents
• vent screens
• gutters

Vent Screening

The vents around your home are essential to maintaining the proper airflow. However, the improper vents, or vents that are damaged, will leave the perfect entrance for wildlife in your area to find their way inside. Rodents have teeth that do not stop growing, so in order to make themselves comfortable, they will chew whatever they can find--including your home's vent screens. Raccoons love to make their nests in crawlspaces, and mice find attic insulation nice and cozy.

Common vents that have screen issues include: 

• foundation vents
• dryer vents
• louver vents
• soffit vents

Wherever you have vent screens in your home, be sure to check their integrity. Better yet, have the experts at Wildlife X Team® do a thorough inspection of your home to be sure it's locked tight from wildlife!

Control Strategies

There are ways to control wildlife as well. In a field, guard animals, such as sheepdogs to protect sheep or llamas for guarding bird flocks, are effective. Population control is another method that has been used. When considering this, follow the laws of your local and state agencies; it might often be necessary to hire a nuisance wildlife control operator. Specific companies target locations in a specific area and hire professionals in wildlife management for their wildlife animal prevention programs, who can help or guide people in both hunting and trapping. Special permits are often required for hunting animals during wildlife animal prevention. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service offers information and help in dealing with various wildlife issues.

Schedule an appointment with Wildlife X Team today. We’ll provide our Exclusive Wildlife Inspection Report® and recommend potential wildlife prevention strategies for your property.