ANIMALS IN THE ATTIC ?
If you're hearing an animal in your attic, it's mostly likely to be one of the common attic pests: rats, squirrels, mice, raccoons, opossums bats, we rarely find snakes and lizards but they show up uninvited depending on you geographical location also. Wildlife inside your home can pose a significant health threat and can cause serious damage, and is best left to someone who can comfortable control they animals, so that no harm is done to the animal or your home. Determine which pest is making the racket in your attic (click hear animal sounds and noises in your attic). If you found Rat poop , Mouse poop , Squirrel poop , Bat dropings or Raccoon poop in Your Home & or Rats in Attic ? Our Rodent Control & Animal Removal Experts have Techniques and Products to save you thousands when Treating or Preventing a rat infestation or a mouse infestation.
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Animals in Your Attic? How Do You Tell If There Are?
How to identify what animal is in your attic by sight, sounds and droppings
If you do not physically see the animal, it can sometimes be very challenging to figure out what kind of animal you are dealing with. Largely the reason animals are in you attic is the lack of predation, no preadator’s means they can thrive, and turn your house into their house, which will often result in an infestation if un treated. The 4 main reasons we get calls about animals in the attic are :
Heard a noise in the attic
Found a entry hole going into the attic
Found Feces in the attic
Smell something in the attic
If you are unsure, we recommend scheduling a free rodent control inspection, with Rapid Rodent Removal. Since all living things need food, water, and shelter to survive, it is not uncommon for a critter to seek shelter in your property. As we continue to industrialize, the habitat available to all wildlife is continuously shrinking while the population of wildlife is increasing.
Click below to further figure out which animal is plaguing your home for Wildlife Removal.
There is largely four animals that get into your attic the Rat, Mouse, Squirrel, Raccoon & Opossum, below are links to sounds pictures descriptions and such to further help identify what you saw, found or heard. Furthermore we have a table of contents that links to more of our popular articles here.
Signs some Animals are in Your Attic
Droppings or urine
Nests made of paper, leaves and twigs (squirrels, rodents, birds)
Disturbed insulation (squirrels and raccoons); if pests have nested in or destroyed your insulation, you may need to replace it
Ducts ripped apart (raccoons)
What do animals in your attic sound like? You may hear one or more of these pest noises coming from upstairs:
Gnawing or squeaking at night (rats)
Scampering or scurrying noises (squirrels or rodents)
Purrs, whimpers, snarls, growls, hisses, screams and whinnies (raccoons)
ANIMAL IN ATTIC REMOVAL
How Do You Tell If There Are Animals in Your Attic?
When inspecting an attic, we look for the traces an animal leaves behind. Droppings, footprints, and destruction are most 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 hindfeet 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.
animal in attic scratching at night
Depending on where you are geographically, there are quite a few different creatures that could be taking up residence in your attic. Here are some of the most common animals we find that need to be removed from attics in Southwest Florida:
Rodents or Rats – Roof rats, also known as palm rats, often nest in Florida homes.
Squirrels – if you are hearing scampering noises during the day, a squirrel has probably gotten access to your attic.
Raccoons – Racoons are capable of ripping shingles and soffit off and ripping holes in weak areas of a building. If they can loosen a shingle or create an opening in the roof, they can enter your attic and stay.
how to tell What Kinds of Animals Live in Attic?
We all know having an unwanted animal in your attic is probably not a good thing. But what are the specific dangers associated with having an animal in the attic?
Long term damage – most animals are going to gnaw and claw at the walls and floors of your attic, which can cause damage to the insulation, ductwork, wires, and sheetrock in the attic. They also will release excrement, which will cause a foul smell and can also cause damage to wood and sheetrock when left to fester in the attic, especially in the heat.
Disease – Animals living in the attic can carry disease to you, your family, or your pets. Many common animals that are found in the attic can carry mites, ticks, and fleas that can spread throughout your home. The urine and feces that they leave behind can also cause disease if someone in your home comes in contact with it. Dust spread throughout your home can become contaminated with diseases caused by the creatures in your attic, which can cause disease as well.
Disturbance – An obvious danger you will encounter from having an animal in your home is the disturbance caused by them. Activities the animals will engage in – from feeding, mating, to normal communication – will cause unwanted noise that can be alarming to your family. Because many animals are nocturnal, they can often disturb sleep.
Noises at night – vocal noises, scurrying, scampering, thumps
Damage to the outside of your property or an entry point – many animals will utilize construction gaps while others will cause damage to enter your home
Unusual water leak – it is possible for animals to damage water lines or chew into them for a source of water
Unexpected power issue – rodents like squirrels and rats are chewers and will chew anything to help trim their teeth
An aroma of ammonia in or around your home – the longer an animal is in your attic, the more the animal will urinate, and you may start to smell it
The biggest factors that help us identify an animal are:
How loud the noise is
When the noise is occurring
What kind of sounds do you hear
What entry points are present
What animal droppings are evident
WHAT KIND OF NOISES DO YOU HEAR in your attic ?
These noises indicate that you are probably dealing with rats, mice, or squirrels. If these noises occur during the night, you most likely have rats, mice, or flying squirrels, and if they occur during the daytime, you most likely have squirrels.
Loud Thumps During the Night
Scurrying and Scampering in the Attic or Walls
Crying Noises during the Day
Fluttering and/or Chirping
Vocal crying noises
Slithering Noises
Buzzing noises
rodents, rats, raccoons, squirrels, opossums and all other nuisance wildlife animals in the attic
Wild animals often make dens in attics that offer shelter from cold weather, rain, and snow. Mothers frequently raise their babies in attics between March and October. If a wild animal is living in your attic, you may hear or see tell-tale signs. Here are some tips to help you identify the type of animal living in your attic and figure out what to do.
Tell-Tale Signs of Squirrels and Raccoons in Your Attic
The animals that are most likely to be living in your attic are squirrels and raccoons. If you hear noises during the daytime, it is probably a squirrel, since they are only active during the day. If you hear noises in your attic at night, there is probably a raccoon or a flying squirrel there since they are nocturnal.
If you are not sure what type of animal you have in your attic, you can look around for clues. If it is a squirrel, you may see leaves or nuts around the attic. You may also see smooth and oval-shaped droppings. If a raccoon is living in your attic, you may see “latrines,” or areas where it urinates and defecates. You may see an oily stain on the ceiling in the area below the attic.
You can sprinkle a 6 to 8-inch wide band of all-purpose flour around the perimeter of your attic and look for footprints the following day. Squirrel tracks are 1 to 1 ½ inches long, and raccoon tracks are 2 to 3 inches long.
What to Do If a Mother and Babies Are Living in Your Attic
If you hear noises that you believe are caused by a mother and babies during the birthing season, it is most likely a temporary situation. They will probably leave on their own when the babies are old enough to be somewhat independent. It is best to let them stay until then. If you trap the mother, she will be unable to feed the babies. They can be left behind in a place where you cannot find them and starve to death. Waiting for the animals to leave on their own can help you avoid having dead or dying young in an inaccessible place such as inside your walls.
How to Get Rid of a Wild Animal in Your Attic
If an animal is living in your attic, you should not try to trap or handle it yourself because you could get bitten. Call the professionals at Anderson Wildlife Control. We will live-trap the animal and move it to another location.
wild animals infestations, rodents, rats, raccoons, squirrels, opossums and all other animal in the attic infestations
How Do You Clean Your Attic Of Wild Animal Waste?
You are mistaken if you believe that cleaning wild animals’ waste from your attic will be a simple and quick task. To remove animal waste, such as urine stains and patches, feces, animal carcasses, nesting materials, and much more, it is highly recommended that you hire a professional.
Only will you require a large number of tools & items of equipment to complete the job correctly, and yet you will also have to ensure that you, your family, as well as your pets, are all protected. Even when no animals are present, you’d be surprised at how dangerous they can be.
Bats are highly hazardous in terms of wild animal excrement. They do inflict extensive damage to the property, usually by getting via the roof/chimney and afterward setting their roosting spots. These flying creatures are protected therefore killing them or hurting them in any manner is NOT an option.
The building damage is certainly a very large problem with a bat, but it isn’t the biggest worry. Bat droppings, known as bat feces to most humans, are very harmful. The nature of the droppings makes it extremely corrosive and so that, in turn, makes it hazardous for the physical structures of your home. The ceiling can collapse as a result of the corrosive droppings, and can and has a very devastating effect on the status of the building, residential, and business alike.
As well as generating problems with your real home — the buildings — droppings from a bat can also arrive with really serious health risks. Bat feces can carry a specific strain of Histoplasmosis, and it is a disease that can mostly damage the lungs of humans. In certain cases, including even when the patient already has an existing illness that impairs the lungs as well as the immune system, these strains of Histoplasmosis can indeed be lethal.
With bat droppings, you can’t simply sweep it off, wipe it off, & hope the problem completely vanishes. To begin with, you can’t simply ignore any bat guano at all. Once you do it, you are sending these dusty spores flying, as well as the strain of Histoplasmosis with them. This can then be ingested by people and other animals, causing havoc just on the human body. It is not a sickness that so many people would assume when someone starts to develop flu-like symptoms, just one of the aspects that makes it so hazardous.
The dust, if it’s been walked inside the home, can spread the sickness around extremely quickly. When dealing with bat droppings, rather than cleaning that around sending its airborne, you must use a filter cleaner.
Bats are only one mammal whose feces presents a severe problem. Rat is similar, with feces and urine that may carry illnesses such as salmonella, but they can convey the signal to another rat in their urine too. Pheromones are left behind, communicating to the other that there is food nearby, a source of refuge, or some flowing freshwater.
When rats turn up, they reproduce quite fast. The new rat inside the colon will also transmit illness & leave pheromones all about the property, and not very long until you have half the city rat population that lives in your home.
Rats provide meals for a whole lot of other species also, like a snake, raccoons, coyotes, owls, eagles, & much more. When you have a major rat or mouse infestation on your hand, you have what is effectively a five-star restaurant for those other predators. Just that rat problem rapidly evolves into rat problems of thousands, as well as a snake and certain other animals problem too.
The excrement of wild creatures is much stronger than you’d believe. It can attract thousands and hundreds more animals, & transmit a variety of illnesses, many of which you likely won’t have heard of. This is why we propose that you rely upon an expert to help address your wild animal management and trash problem. That’s not the type of job individuals want to try their luck on.
How Does Someone Restore An Attic?
Exclusion— The first stage in attic restoration following any animal clearance is the exclusion of those pests. A wildlife professional does a full unique Wildlife Inspection Report to assure no other rodents may re-enter and harm the attic again.
Clean-Up— Removal of impurities from deceased animals, their excrement, and taking all the old filthy and matted insulation removed and disposed of appropriately.
Bug Treatments— Treat for just any insect infestations which are typical with most vermin.
Disinfect/Deodorize— Disinfect and deodorize the attic before any new insulation is installed in the attic.
Replace Insulations— Re-installing the insulations back to the original R rating or greater. Having proper insulation will save you an astonishing amount of funds on your energy expenses.
Why Is It Essential To Clean Dead Animals And Feces?
Dead animals and excrement are crucial to pick up quickly to prevent other pests from just being brought into your home. Nevertheless, when you eliminate the dropping/carcass from the house personally, you should realize the hazards that come along with them. Corpses are a playroom for viruses & infections that may badly damage or even kill.
Just like corpses, animal excrement may be a home for a broad range of hazardous items. Parasites, viruses, bacteria, & fungi can be passed from fecal matter to people even if you are cautious. It is advisable to save removal to the specialists with the right tools and know-how.
In an attempt to remind customers that Rapid Rodent Removal are also roofers, we have also made a table of contents with all of our information about rats , mouse , squirrels and Roofing , Roof Repair , Roof Replacement (articles & blog) stemming from to all about Rat poop , Mouse poop , Squirrel poop or Raccoon poop in Your Home & or Rats in Attic, to Roofing Contractors to Rodent Control.