Since they’re warm and often undisturbed by humans, attics make great nesting options for many unwanted critters. Most often, these pests seek shelter in attics to survive harsh winter weather or raise young in the spring.
The most common animals that live in an attic are raccoons, squirrels, bats, and mice.
Animal in Attic Problems
If an animal has been living in your attic, it has damaged it. Damage can include contaminated, destroyed, or damaged insulation or air ducts.
An animal in your attic also introduces health risks like histoplasmosis, leptospirosis, and ectoparasites like fleas, ticks, and mites into your home
Animals contaminate the insulation with their feces. Animal droppings from bats and birds can spread histoplasmosis. Baylisascaris procyonis (raccoon roundworm) spreads through raccoon feces.
Signs of an Animal in the Attic
When inspecting an attic, we look for the traces an animal leaves behind. Droppings, footprints, and destruction are the most common animal signs we spot.
- Droppings
- Raccoons and possums will have droppings like that of a small dog
- Mice have droppings that are about 1/3-1/5 centimeters in length while rats and squirrels have droppings that are about 1-1.5 centimeters in length. The droppings of squirrels and rats can be very hard to tell apart, which is one reason why hiring a professional may be the best option for you.
- Snakes and birds both excrete in liquid form which contains white urea in it. Their droppings are commonly confused with one another, but a bird’s dropping will contain more urea therefore having more white coloration.
- Bat droppings are known as guano. They are mostly found around the entry point(s) that they are utilizing for entry. Guano is small, dark, and shiny. These droppings look like elongated pellets and are normally found grouped together. Please be aware that breathing guano is extremely dangerous.
- Tunneling
- When dealing with mice, rats, and even flying squirrels, you will often see tunneling in the insulation of an attic because insulation makes for a great nesting material. The tunneling will look like small holes that are as big as 3 inches in diameter.
- Prints
- Another indicator that animals will leave behind are paw prints on your duct work. Possums and raccoons have the biggest prints. They each have five fingers, but the palm of a possum’s print is more triangular. On the other hand, squirrels and rats have much smaller prints with their front feet having four toes and their hind feet having five.
- Debris
- Squirrels will often collect acorns and leave behind shells in the attic space, which is an easy way to tell when you are dealing with squirrels. Squirrels will also bring nesting material into an attic. Take into account, you may have more than one animal type in your attic space.
- Rub Marks
- Animals like rats, mice, squirrels, and bats will leave behind rub marks around the openings that they utilize for entry. The rub marks will be brown to dark brown in color. The more the trails have been utilized, the darker these rub marks will be.
- Snake Skin
- Understandably, finding a snakeskin in an attic indicates you have had a snake in your attic, but there is usually a reason why a snake is there in the first place. A good portion of a snake’s diet consists of rodents and small mammals which suggests the snake may have been or may be in your attic searching for that food source.
- Damages
- You may find chewing on pipes or wires in your attic. Many animals will also destroy any personal belongings that you store in your attic.
How Can an Animal Get into the Attic?
Animals can enter your home through many different locations. The most common areas where we see animals enter are soffits, eaves, gable vents, roof returns, pipe stacks, any damaged areas on a property, and even any construction gaps. Rats can fit through entry points as small as the size of a quarter, and mice can fit into a gap just over ¼ of the size of a quarter.
Animals can create their own entrance to your home.
- Raccoons can tear apart shingles and break through the plywood.
- Mice and squirrels easily create entry holes by gnawing through materials like wood, pipes, plastic, metal, brick, and electrical wires.
- Bats squeeze through tiny gaps around roof vents, shingles, or siding.
Why are Animals in the Attic?
One of the most common myths is that animals and pests infest dirty, unkempt, or dilapidated homes. That’s not true. Animals can and will get into any style, condition, or age of home.
Animals get inside your attics looking for a safe place for shelter. During the winter, animals will escape the bitter winter weather into cozy attics. During the spring, raccoons and squirrels will create dens and nests to give birth.
Should I Attempt DIY Wildlife Control?
We do not recommend DIY because it can be dangerous. Cornered animals can get defensive and attack. The accumulation of droppings and urine can lead to health hazards if you do not have proper protection. If you do not clean and sanitize the area properly, those health hazards linger. Finally, animals can squeeze in holes smaller than a baseball.
Animal in Attic Removal
Due to the dangers of animal removal, like entering attics/crawl spaces, climbing ladders, roof work, and chemical handling, we highly recommend you find a company that is licensed and insured. You also want to be sure the company you choose specializes in and is knowledgeable about the animal you are dealing with.
A professional can educate you, walk you through the entire animal removal process, answer any questions or concerns you may have, and provide additional tips for your home.
- Squirrel in Attic Removal
One-way doors and live traps are the most effective way to get squirrels out of an attic.
- Raccoon in Attic Removal
Live raccoon traps are the best way to catch and remove a raccoon from the attic. If babies are present, raccoon eviction spray might work. If not, you can safely hand-remove the juveniles.
- Bats in Attic Removal
The most humane bat removal from the attic technique is to install a bat valve when no pups are present.
- Rodents in Attic Removal
Rats and mice can reproduce at an astounding rate. To get rid of rodents in the attic, you need to control the population with strategic trapping. Place traps where you see rodent activity like droppings, runways, and rodent entrances. Rat trapping or mice trapping takes between five to fourteen days.
- Birds in Attic Removal
The most common birds to nest inside an attic are pigeons, barn swallows, European starlings, house finches, and house sparrows. Bird traps in the attic are not effective. Bird valves allow the birds to leave but prevent their re-entry.
Animal in Attic Exclusion
Long-term solutions mean stopping animals from entering your attic. Animals have found resources to satisfy your needs. You need to make your home less attractive to animals. You can limit food sources outside. Remove areas of shelter like rock piles. Prune trees near your house so climbers cannot gain easy access to your roof.
The most important thing to do is seal and repair all entry points. Before you seal your home, you need to make sure all nuisance wildlife animals are out. Sealing an animal in your house leads to new animal problems. A trapped animal in your house will either find a new way out or slowly starve.