TIPS ON KEEPING
WILDLIFE FROM ENTERING YOUR HOME
There are over 60 kinds of mammals in the State of Illinois. They are always looking for better dens or homes. Unfortunately many animals decide to make people's homes into their dens. Below please find some suggestions for minimizing the possibility of a feathered intruder or a 4 legged animal taking up residence in your home. 1) BIRD FEEDERS: While bird feeders are nice for bird watching they do tend to also attract other wildlife such as raccoons, squirrels, opossums, and even skunks. During the winter months bird feeders become a suburban raccoon's main food supply, except for possibly garbage cans. If you must feed birds try to position the bird feeder as far away from your home as possible. Try to buy the types that are gravity feeding units with guards that prevent animals from climbing. Always clean up excess spillage. 2) GARBAGE CANS: Do not put garbage cans out the night before they are picked up. Even if an animal cannot access the garbage can it will continue to return and try. Make sure to secure the lids with plastic cords and that the garbage cans are a durable metal or plastic. 3) FOOD: Do not leave out any pet food or other foods for wild animals, as they tend to live as close to their food source as possible. It is quite common for raccoons and squirrels to tear holes into the roofs of homes, enter through vents, or chew through soffet areas of people’s homes that leave out food. 4) VENTS: Make sure all attic fans and vents are screened with additional hardware cloth (thick gauge screening). The screening for most home attic fans is the same type as would be found in your window. The screening is actually standing straight up and down vertically and can be bent over with very little pressure. It is insufficient to keep the smallest of squirrels or birds from entering your attic. While the screening for attic vents is horizontally installed another layer of thicker gauge screening should be applied. 5) TREES: Keep branches of trees cut back at least 3 feet from the roof. 6) CHIMNEYS: cover all chimney vents with chimney caps. Raccoons love to have babies inside of chimney flues and have no problems climbing up or down. 7) ROOF: Periodically check the roof, soffet, and fascia board areas for any weak or rotted areas or have a professional do an inspection. If any problem areas are found make repairs as soon as possible. 8) HOLES: If a hole is found that is suspected of being made by an animal, do not seal the hole unless absolutely positive the animal is not inside. Looking in the attic is not sufficient to determine if an animal is present, as many animals will hide in corners, the soffet area, or other areas that cannot be seen while in the attic. Please note that it is possible for the offending animal to return and chew a new hole to gain access. 9) BBQs: Animals love summer BBQs as much as we do. Keep BBQs clean and free of grease whenever possible. 10) WINDOW WELLS: Skunks do not see very well. It is quite common for them to walk along the side of a house and fall right into a window well. Window well covers solve this problem. 11) DOORS: Keep the garage or shed door closed during the night. You could wake up with an unwanted visitor. 12) FECES: never approach an area suspected of having animal droppings. These areas could have bacteria or parasites. Please see DISEASES. 13) DAYLIGHT: Never under any circumstances approach a raccoon, opossum, or skunk during daylight hours. These animals are nocturnal and will only be up during daylight hours because of sickness or disease. 14) ILLINOIS: Please remember that all wildlife in the State of Illinois is owned by the state unless the animal migrates. If a wild animal migrates it is owned by the federal government. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources should be contacted before attempting to personally deal with any wildlife.
T&C Trapping, Inc. offers complete home and business inspections that are guaranteed to help minimize any future animal problems or to help solve any existing wildlife conflicts. We have over 16 years experience in installing animal prevention devices, trapping nuisance wildlife, and repairing homes due to animal damage. Please feel free to contact us anytime for advice, instructions, or estimates. 815-467-4039
T&C Trapping, Inc. welcomes any response to this web site-CONTACT US. We try to provide accurate, informative, useful, and responsible information that will help to resolve any human and wildlife conflicts. Any suggestions, ideas, or even criticisms will be appreciated and evaluated for making changes to the information presented on this web site. The contents of this site are to be used for informational purposes only. Licensed professionals should always be used when dealing with wildlife, exclusion, or wildlife damage repairs. T&C Trapping, Inc. is licensed through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and all content is based on Illinois wildlife. Some techniques are dangerous and should only be attempted by a licensed professional. |
