Do you hear sounds and noises in your home that you can’t quite place? Something that isn’t just the house settling or the refrigerator running?
Maybe you’ve asked yourself if there are mice in your attic, or if you’re hearing raccoon noises at night. Those types of noises can keep you up at night — and indicate all kinds of other problems.
Those indoor wildlife noises are unsettling, to say the least. However, they offer a silver lining of sorts. They let you know there’s a problem, and that’s the first step to solving it. If you’re not sure what’s keeping you up at night, our wildlife inspectors can help.
Are Indoor Wildlife Noises Common?
Pest Control is such a niche realm, but funnily enough, everyone has a story about pests in their home. It’s much more common than you would think. We regularly hear about ants ravaging kitchens as they search for food and squirrels setting up shop in chimneys.
Insects and wildlife love getting into homes, and who blames them? Your home is temperature controlled, has no predators, and has accessible, safe areas for pests to store food.
While their intentions may be good, their results are not. From chewing through electrical wires to the potential for spreading disease, nothing good comes from pests inside your home. That means it’s absolutely crucial to identify and deal with animals in your attic or any interior space.
Common Issues Caused by Animals in Homes:
- Noise Disturbance. We’ve already touched on being kept up at night. The usual culprits getting into homes are active throughout the night: raccoons, bats, mice, birds, and flying squirrels. People call in all the time saying how they can’t sleep because of chittering sounds and other intrusive noises – and who doesn’t love their sleep?
- Damaging The Structure. Raccoons specifically love to use their hands and pry open soffit vents, roof vents, or pieces of wood to get inside a home. That can lead to significant repair work, and a bill to match.
- Reducing the Effectiveness of Insulation. Insulation can become compromised as it’s constantly walked on. Insulation needs volume to effectively insulate. Animals trample and nest on top of the insulation. That can make your home less comfortable and even increase your heating and cooling costs.
- Paranoia. Is it one bat? Is it 30 bats? Is it 10,000 bats? As a homeowner, knowing who you’re up against is the first problem you want answers to.
Diagnosing your Home
Indoor Wildlife Noise
Diagnosing based on noise alone is an easy way to start. When animals are on drywall, or within walls, the noise they can generate can be pretty loud. Identifying animals in your attic and throughout your home often starts with hearing something.
Our rule of thumb is that animals sound one step larger than what they are. That can make determining the type of animal intruder a little more complex. In general, mice and bats tend to sound like squirrels. Squirrels, meanwhile, sound like raccoons. And raccoons sound like there’s a dance party in your attic.
Take a look at our Removal of Wildlife page to gather more information about what animal you suspect is in your home.
Visible Damage
If paying attention to the noises you’re hearing isn’t enough, head to the outside of the home. Look for any holes down low and up high on the structure.
Mice and bats need about 3/8ths of an inch to get inside. Squirrels will exploit wood or vents and their gaps can be the size of a baseball. Raccoon entries are even harder to miss because of the size they need. Look for broken vents or debris scattered around.
Animals typically exploit a single area to get into, but you can’t just tackle that single area. If they are locked out, they’ll look for similar entry points to get back into what they call home. You need to seal every potential entry point to keep your home safe, secure, and quiet.
For more information, look at our Sealing for Wildlife Prevention page.
Let Wingman Help!
We’ve helped thousands of homeowners deal with indoor wildlife noises and protect their homes across Brighton and throughout our entire service area in Southwest Michigan. Not everyone is handy, and that’s when it’s time to call in the professionals.
If you’ve attempted to get pests out yourself or just want it done right the first time, let us help. We have the industry knowledge and practical experience to find the animals making those indoor wildlife noises, then keep them out of your home.
We’d suggest starting with a Wildlife Inspection to get started. We diagnose the home and then develop a solution to remedy the situation. You’ll receive plenty of photos of what we see, and an itemized list of the areas that need to be protected.
We’ll trap and seal the animals out for good, so you can finally have a restful night’s sleep.
To schedule any other service for your home or business, call Wingman Pest Control at 810.923.3364 or contact us online today.