Animals in the walls can be unpleasant, to say the least. It can be downright scary to hear clawing inside the walls, particularly because this way, you can’t actually see the intruders. So you have no way of knowing how big they are, or how many. It’s easy to let your imagination run away from you, but we advise that you approach this situation calmly and with logic, and you’ll be alright.
First things first, what kind of animals are most likely to get into the walls?
Truth be told, there can be a bunch of different culprits to account for the noises you’re hearing inside the walls at night. But some of the most common wildlife wall intruders include:
- Bats can usually be identified by the high-pitched, squeaking noises they make in communicating with one another. Since bats are nocturnal creatures, you’re most likely to hear them at night.
- Rats and mice are also quite common wall intruders, for some reason, since their fairly small size allows them to roam through your walls unencumbered.
- Raccoons are well-known for their climbing skills, and since they’re attracted to a human home as much as the next wild animal, it’s quite common to find them in walls.
- Birds might also be the source of the noise, as might squirrels.
Once you’ve got a clear idea of which animal is causing the noise, you’ll have an easier job of removing it. Careful though, we don’t recommend that you attempt to approach animals inside the wall on your own. It’s possible that these creatures are trapped inside, and might be quite vicious as a result. This is why your best bet would be to leave the actual wildlife removal to a professional, when you hear noises in the walls.
If you insist on doing things on your own, however, there are things you can do.
Identify the entry point.
Unless the animal is stuck in the wall, chances are it will come and ho, according to its needs, to get food, water, and so on. It can be useful for you to identify the animal’s entry point, and attempt to seal it once the animal is outside of the wall. Once again, you can hire a professional at wildlifeokc.com, or attempt to DIY here. Bear in mind, however, that excluding a wild animal in this way might be tricky if you’re not a professional, since you risk sealing its babies inside the wall. This in turn can lead to death, decay, and a bunch of other wildlife problems you’re probably not too keen on.
Visit wildlifepest.org to learn about wild animals inside your walls, and how to handle them correctly, since educating yourself is the first step you can take towards prevention.
Identify the attraction.
Remember that the main reason why wild animals crop up on your property is they’re attracted by either food, water, or shelter. So identify what’s attracting them, and fix it. Maybe it’s an open and inviting trash can, in which case you’ll want to switch to sealable trash containers.
Or maybe it’s improperly stored food or ingredients, which might also be appealing to wildlife. Once again, cleanliness and proper storage is key.
Lastly, a leaky pipe or broken faucet might be offering the intruder its daily water fix, in which case, we recommend that you get on that ASAP.
Trim your yard.
This can serve a couple of purposes. For one thing, assuming that the animal is not trapped, it must regularly come and go in order to get food and water. Moving across a neatly trimmed yard is difficult for a wild animal, because it means risking exposure.
Secondly, by taking care of the trees surrounding your home, you deny the wild pest access to your attic, roof, and home in general, and so might also make your home undesirable to pests.
Cap your chimney.
Speaking of attracting entry points, an uncapped chimney is high on this list, unfortunately, which is why you might want to look into a chimney cap. This nifty little invention keeps wildlife out of the house, without encumbering your chimney’s natural functioning.
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