7 Expert Tips to Safeguard Your Home From Wild Animals

Humans have been growing in number, resulting in us building houses in tranquil suburbs with lush forests. These environments might offer a great deal of exposure to nature, but it would not be surprising to see that you get visits from the occasional raccoon, squirrel, owl,  or even bear. Occasional visits from wild animals to the edge of your property allow you to observe them from afar but can pose a problem if they get too close and begin damaging your property. These wild animals can cause significant damage to your home, so you’ll want to watch out for them and search for ways to prevent them from damaging your house. This article will discuss seven expert tips to safeguard your home from wild animals and what damage they can cause.  

Common Home Damages Caused By Wild Animals 

While wild animals can be beautiful to observe around your house, they can cause significant damage if not managed.  Below are some common harm wild animals can do to your home. 

1. Harm to your pets: wild animals like bears,  wolves,  or coyotes can kill your pets and others like raccoons or opossums can bring diseases that will affect your domestic animals.  
2. Damage to Insulation and Electrical Appliances: Raccoons and rodents like Squirrels will chew through the insulation in your home to gain access, from which they will begin chewing your electrical wires and tearing some of them to build their nests.  
3. Garden or Lawn Damage:  Wild animals can cause damage to your gardens and lawns, destroying your garden beds and digging up your yard.  

Tips on Safeguarding Your Home From Wild Animals

As the weather cools or heats, wild animals seek shelter from the harsh elements, and the closest place might be your house. Below are some tips to safeguard from wild animals.  

Inspect Your Home For Possible Animal Entry Points

A crack in the wall here and a break in the fence could be all the wild animals around you need to gain entry into your home. To keep them from your property, scour your house for any entry point, including damaged or rotting wood and seal or repair them immediately. Any damaged foundation vent screen should be immediately repaired as they are susceptible to wild animals.  You can consider putting vent covers on the vents to discourage the animals from coming in.  

Remove all Pet Food or Bird Seeds From Your Yard

If you don’t want squirrels and raccoons to visit your home regularly,  you must remove all traces of water or food they might find enticing. Make a habit of feeding your pets inside, and if you do feed them outside, ensure that you clean up before you leave. Any garbage you accumulate must be disposed of, and the lid of any outdoor trash container can be secured with weights or ropes.  

If you do hold any parties in your garden, ensure you remove all the food scraps before you turn in for the night. Clean your grill machine properly. Also, secure and cover your compost correctly so they don’t attract any of these animals.  

Remove Any Possible Wildlife Shelter

All your firewood should be stored away from your fences and home buildings.  You can stack them on each other with a foundation a few feet above the ground to prevent the animals from using them for nesting. This will also protect your house from termite infestation.  All dead trees,  tall grass, and brush piles should also be removed from your yard.  This will discourage any wild animal from taking up residence in your home.  

Try Using Automated Motion-Sensor Lightning Devices

If your house and its surroundings are well-lit and can produce sounds at intervals,  it will deter wild animals,  especially the nocturnal ones.  Adding security cameras will also enable you to monitor everything in your yard. You can put the lights around known entry points like fences,  roofs,  windows and doors.  You can also place them near your garbage bins to scare away scavenging animals.  

When choosing motion-sensor lights,  always use LED devices,  as these are more energy-efficient and last longer.  

Safeguard Your Home- Use a Natural Deterrent

There are several natural deterrents you can use to deter wild animals from your home.  Growing certain plants like garlic or marigolds, which emit strong scents in your garden, can keep wild animals out. Sprinkling Cayenne pepper around the discovered entry points in your home can discourage any other wild animal from approaching your home.  

You can also put plants that some wild animals hate around your home perimeter. For example, planting lavender and sage around your home will keep away squirrels, deer,  and skunks(these animals hate the smell of these plants).  

Make Use of Fences

Fences around your property can keep out wild animals like deer or bears.  Getting a six-foot standard sense will not only keep out the bigger animals but also the smaller ones like the squirrel. Ensure that while your fence fulfills the purpose of keeping the wildlife out of your home,  it also doesn’t harm them.  

Hire a Professional

If you have a severe case of wildlife infestation in your home that you can’t control or eliminate using the above method, you must hire a professional pest control service.  

Pest control companies like the Wildlife Pest Control Service in Ohio will have the necessary experience and knowledge to handle wild animals. They will be able to assess your home situation with wild animals and provide working strategies to help get rid of them and safeguard your home.  

Conclusion

Keeping wild animals from your home requires experience and knowledge.  You don’t want to accidentally kill off the animal while trying to safeguard your home. Remember that wild animals are drawn to your home primarily because they need shelter, food and water. So,  if you remove any entry point and keep food out of their reach,  they should leave your house alone.  

You can check out the tips in this article to understand how to guard your home from wild animals expertly. And if you feel like you can’t handle them alone,  you can always call the best control service to assist.  

Photo by Jiri Sifalda on Unsplash