You work hard to keep your property in great shape — watering the plants, trimming the bushes, and regularly cleaning the birdbath — which makes it pretty devastating when wildlife undoes it all overnight. Spreading trash, chewing holes, and building nests, local wild animals can quickly cancel out all of your progress and leave behind some extra work for you to take care of.
So, if you want to expel critters and keep them away for good, you’ve got to make sure you leave no stones unturned in the wildlife prevention process. To help you check all the boxes and check wildlife before they even reach the door, take a look at the following critter prevention tips.
Don’t Just Focus on One Animal
Even if you can identify a specific critter as the main offender, you shouldn’t gear your entire pest prevention strategy towards deterring one single animal. For example, if you have evidence that raccoons are getting into your garden, don’t enclose the area with a fence that squirrels and smaller rodents can still fit through.
Instead, take a comprehensive approach and protect your property from all intruding wildlife. This includes all-inclusive animal prevention tactics like cleaning up yard debris, picking up pet waste, and installing a wildlife-proof fence with deep footing and slick lining.
Don’t Let Anything Inside Your Trash
You might be on top of taking the trash out every week and not leaving any waste behind inside your building, but the way you store your garbage has the biggest impact on whether wildlife will get inside. Instead of leaving your trash uncapped or covered with makeshift lids, invest in cans with more security. Trashcans with lids that seal shut are best at keeping the smell in and any wandering critters out.
Likewise, if your current trash cans have a durable lid but are riddled with cracks and chewed holes, it’s time to think about replacing them. Otherwise, wild animals like raccoons and rats can create even bigger openings and drag trash all throughout your property.
Don’t Leave Any Openings Behind
You can’t expect wild animals to respect your privacy as much as everyone else in your community does. Once you’ve made the right changes around your home or business, don’t stifle your own efforts by leaving your building exposed with holes, gaps, and cracks. Start by inspecting your building from top to bottom, checking areas like:
- The roof
- The foundation
- The entryways
- The basement
- The kitchen
- The bathrooms
- The fireplace
You might think that patching up the biggest holes is enough to keep animals out. However, holes as small as pocket change are still large enough for pests like mice and rats to squeeze inside. After you’ve identified openings around your home or business, you’ll need to repair each of them using heavy-duty products like:
- Steel screens
- Strong sealant
- Metal mesh
- Soffit covers
- Chimney caps
- Hardware cloth
Don’t Subscribe to DIY Methods
Of course, there are a lot of ways that you can take your property back from wild animals on your own. However, there are certain parts of pest prevention best left to the professionals. Because wild animals and the waste they leave behind can be highly dangerous to adults, children, and pets, you put your health and safety at risk by taking on any wildlife issues on your own.
Keep your property in tip-top shape and keep animals at bay by partnering with a licensed local wildlife management provider. Wildlife managers can offer added value to your home or business by not only inspecting it for an existing infestation but sealing and repairing entry points to prevent one from happening in the future.
