5 Effective Ways to Animal Proof Your Home

Wild animals may seem majestic when you’re hiking through a forest or National Park but it’s not quite so breath-taking when you encounter wildlife in your own home. Raccoons, squirrels, birds and even skunks can cause a significant amount of damage if they’re able to gain entry into your home, not to mention the health hazards they pose.

At SWAT Wildlife, we don’t just deal with active infestations or dead animals on your property. We also provide top-quality animal proofing services that protect your property and keep your home safe. To find out how you can stop pests and animals from wreaking havoc in your home, take a look at these innovative animal-proofing methods now:

Chimney Capping

Whether you use an open fire or wood-burning stove, a chimney acts as an open invitation to all sorts of animals. People tend to assume that animals will only gain entry to a property via a chimney if you don’t use it regularly, but this isn’t the case. While animals may be less likely to enter a chimney when there’s a roaring fire beneath it, the lure of a warm place to stay means animals will still try to enter your property via chimneys.

In some cases, a live animal will make it from your chimney into the living areas of your home, which can cause a great deal of shock and distress to homeowners! Alternatively, animals may become stuck in chimneys, which typically leads to their death. If you notice an unpleasant odour emanating from fireplaces in your home, this is the likely cause.

Fortunately, this is a relatively easy area of the home to animal-proof. Simply capping your chimney is enough to prevent animals, such as raccoons and squirrels, from gaining access. With durable wire mesh, for example, we can ensure that your fireplaces are still functional and that adequate ventilation is provided, but still prevent unwanted animals from getting into your home.

Roof Vents

Roof vents play a critical role in ventilating properties and prevent excess moisture from building up, but they also provide easy access to pests, animals and critters. Although most roof vents have some form of cover on them to prevent rain or snow from getting into your home, these rarely prevent animals from gaining access. Instead, raccoons will use their paws to tear the vent cover away from the vent, while squirrels will gnaw through the material. Even birds and mice are adept at slipping under the sides of a standard roof vent cover to gain access to your home.

Once inside, animals will often nest in attic spaces and eaves. As they’re largely undisturbed, it may be weeks or months until you’re aware that you’re sharing your home with wild animals. In this time, they can chew through electrical wiring, eat valuable insulation and cause a whole host of damage.

By replacing standard roof vent covers with animal-proof mesh and covers, you can ensure that your roof vents are impenetrable to wildlife. Even the most determined pests will be unable to remove or chew through the high-quality roof vent screens we install.

Exhaust Pipes and Fans

If you have exhaust or extractor fans installed anywhere in your property, you’ll also want to ensure that you use effective animal-proofing to prevent pests from getting into your home via these entryways. Again, animal-proof wire mesh can be fixed onto exhaust pipes and extractor fans to keep them secure. Our experienced team will ensure that the functionality of fans and pipes isn’t inhibited, which means your property will continue to be well-ventilated. Whether you have one exhaust pipe or numerous extractor fans, we’ll risk assess your property to pinpoint where animals can gain access to your home.

However, the extractor fans in your home aren’t the only types of exhausts you need to think about when it comes to animal-proofing. If you own a vehicle, be sure to check the tailpipe regularly, as squirrels have been known to store food and even nest in warm tailpipes!

Deck Screening

A deck can be a fabulous addition to any property, particularly if you want to spend more time outdoors, enjoying your garden. However, it’s important to make sure that animals can’t nest under the decking or even on it.

Rats and mice will often choose to nest under decking because it offers a dark, sheltered environment in which they’re rarely disturbed. Furthermore, the proximity to your property means that it’s also easy for them to gain access to your home.

In addition to this, birds and bats will try to build nests in and around your deck, if you let them. Due to this, it’s vital to use effective methods to animal-proof this area of your property.

Our deck screening is extremely effective when it comes to keeping your property safe from unwanted pests and animals. We use StealthNet to create a humane barrier that prevents birds from gaining access to your deck, which means you can enjoy the space without being disturbed.

What’s more – anti-bird netting is available in a wide variety of colours, so you needn’t worry about it affecting the exterior design of your property. Once it’s installed, anti-bird netting blends seamlessly into the background.

Keep Your Property Free From Pests

As well as using specialist animal-proofing to keep your home secure, a regular maintenance schedule can help to make your property less attractive to pests. Rats, squirrels and raccoons will revel in an overgrown garden. By mowing the lawn regularly and keeping shrubs well-pruned, you can reduce the likelihood of wild animals roaming through your gardens and increase your ability to identify potential animal activity.

Of course, keeping trash secure and animal-proofing garages, sheds and outhouses is essential too. With expert advice from our dedicated team, you can identify the areas of your home that are most likely to attract animals and take preventative action.

To learn more about animal-proofing your property or to get a free quotation, contact our friendly team now at 416-792-5181.