Wildlife Assistance > Co-exist with Wildlife
Photo © Juanita Bach
Photo © Pixabay
Photo © Missouri Dept. of Conservation
The information below is from Operation Wildlife and has graciously agreed to share this content with us.
If you have animals in your attic, 99% of the time the animal is a mother, preparing to give birth or already nursing her young. Most mothers choose a spot to rear young during January through May and give birth 30-60 days later. Average litter sizes are 3-6. Most babies are born completely helpless, eyes still shut, barely fuzzy and unable to maintain their own body temperature. The mother can stay with them up to 23 hours per day during the first week.
If you hear or suspect something living in the attic, and it is not the dead of Winter, please assume there are babies present as well. The biggest mistake that people make when trying to evict animals is trapping the mother and relocating/removing her only to find babies a few days later. If you set a trap in your attic and catch anything – please check everywhere in the attic for babies before releasing the trapped animal.
There are many reasons to attempt to evict animals from your attic yourself
• It’s simple, effective and low-cost or free compared to pest control companies.
• Pest control services may have rules/regulations that they must either euthanize or relocate the animal at least 10 miles from human habitation with written permission from the owner.
• You will have to repair the entry holes yourself or hire another company to do that. You have much more incentive to do this work correctly the first time than a company who depends on your repeat business.
• Plus – It’s EASY! No traps required, no bait, no heavy leather gloves, or animal handling experience.
Steps to Evicting Animals from Attics
• Determine the species of animal that is inhabiting the attic. To do this, follow these steps.
• During day light hours, pop your head up into the attic and look for areas in the attic where light is getting in. Those spots are your trouble areas.
• That evening, around dusk, grab a lawn chair, a good book and sit somewhere outside where you can see those spots. If it’s raccoons, you will see Mom leave sometime right after dusk. If it’s squirrels, you will see Mom come HOME around dusk. If it is bats, you’ll see a steady stream of them leaving every night around dusk.
Encourage the Wildlife to Leave
There are three main things that animals need to survive – water, food and shelter. Your goal is to disrupt that cycle and get then to move on to a different location. Here’s how to do that:
Sound
Hook up a stereo and play heavy bass rock music or talk radio as LOUD and LONG as you can.
Smell
Cayenne pepper sprinkled heavily in the attic will also act as a deterrent. DO not put it on the babies or in the nest.
Ammonia ~ Soak 5-6 rags or socks in ammonia (unscented) and place in a Ziploc plastic bag, seal the bag and poke holes in the bag with a knife or fork. This allows the scent to get out of the bag. Place the bags in each corner and one in the middle or if you know where mom hangs out concentrate the bags into that area.
Raccoon Eviction Fluid
You may also purchase a product called Raccoon Eviction fluid, 2 packages of tennis balls and (6) 15-20 foot lengths of rope and 6 large screws. Attach the rope to the tennis ball with the screw. Soak the tennis ball in Raccoon Eviction fluid and toss it into the areas of the attic where the mom and babies are living. The other end of the rope needs to be at the attic opening so you can pull the tennis ball back to you if you need to reload it with the fluid. Raccoon Eviction fluid is made from male raccoon pheromones. The mom is tricked into believing there is a male raccoon in the attic that might harm her babies and will relocate them.
Sight
Put up motion detecting lights or if you have a lit attic leave the lights on 24/7. Wild animals like to feel safe and in the dark.
Be Patient
Usually within 48 hours mom will begin to get annoyed with the interruptions of her home. She will leave to seek out a new denning area to move her litter too.
Do not begin repairs quite yet. The mother can only move one baby at a time and depending on where she is moving them it may take her several days because it’s a labor-intensive effort.
Repair Your Property
Wait 24-48 hours and then fix every possible entry point in the attic except for one. Leave one hole open for them to use to get in and out just in case. Tightly stuff newspaper in the last entry hole. Leave it for another 48 hours and if it isn’t disturbed seal the entry.