Crawlspaces under homes provide solid protection from the weather and room for wild animals to live. Having animals live in your crawlspace can lead to problems and could make it harder to remove them as time goes on. When you suspect you have unwanted visitors staying in your crawlspace, you can rely on professional wildlife removal services to get rid of them.
Learn why animals choose crawlspaces as homes and how to remove them and prevent them from living in yours.
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Why Are Crawlspaces Attractive to Wild Animals?
When you have wild animals living under your house, you may wonder why they specifically chose the crawlspace. Many wild animals take comfort in crawlspaces because they offer shelter from the elements and can maintain moderate temperatures during the seasons, whether it’s summer or winter. Crawlspaces also safeguard animals from predators, so they feel safe staying in a protected shelter.
While crawlspaces offer many benefits for wildlife, it’s important to avoid letting them live in yours to prevent damage and access to your home.
What Animals Burrow Under Houses?
All kinds of wildlife can take residence in your crawlspace when you least suspect it. Some animals that tend to burrow under houses and make homes in crawlspaces include:
- Armadillos
- Skunks
- Opossums
- Raccoons
- Mice
- Rats
Damages Animals Can Cause
Animals living in your crawlspace can cause a lot of damage to your home, especially if they’re there for a long time. Crawlspaces protect many vital support systems for your home’s foundation, including beams, floor joists, vents and more. When you have animals in your crawlspace, they have access to all the exposed systems and could potentially damage them. Some damages could include:
- Burrowed holes in your yard.
- Gnawed wood on the support beams.
- Damage to plumbing.
- Torn insulation or wires.
- Chewed HVAC ducts.
How to Tell If an Animal Is Living in Your Crawlspace
If you’re wondering about odd new noises under your house, you could have animals in your crawlspace. Here are some signs to look out for to determine if you have creatures taking up residence in your crawlspace:
- Sounds: If you hear noises coming from your floors, these could be because an animal made its home somewhere under your house, like the deck or crawlspace. Depending on the type of animal, you may hear scurrying, squeaking, bumping, or other identifiable sounds during the day and night. Even if you are questioning the possibility of an animal being in your crawlspace, ensure you have it checked as soon as possible.
- Visual sightings: Whenever you see an animal coming or going from your crawlspace, it’s likely already established its home. If you suspect creatures are in your crawlspace, contact a wildlife removal company to inspect it.
- Smells: If you begin smelling unpleasant odors from your crawlspace, this could signify animals are living there. Animals’ waste and carcasses could be there for a while, beginning to smell as they pile up and rot. Skunks living in a crawlspace may spray. The smells could fill your entire home if unchecked, so it’s vital to have your crawlspace looked at as soon as possible.
Knowing what to look for when there are possibilities of animals in your crawlspace helps you be proactive and take the necessary preventive measures to stop other animals from entering.
How to Keep Animals Out of Your Crawlspace
Preventing animals from getting into your crawlspace is vital when you want to protect your home from damages and critter invasions. You can take preventive measures to stop them from getting into your crawlspace. Some preventive measures you could take include:
- Block entry and exit points: Animals can use any openings they find to access your crawlspace. When you want to keep them out, it’s essential to block potential entry and exit points. Openings could be unsealed spaces, holes and cracks of all sizes. You must be certain that there are no animals in the crawlspace, when you seal these openings. Any animal sealed in the crawl space may cause severe damage when trying to find a way out. Trapped animals may also die in the crawlspace, resulting in foul smells and potential flea/tick infestations.
- Install fences: Some animals will burrow under a home to enter the crawlspace. You could install fences that go 12-18 inches deep into the ground to prevent animals from digging their way into your crawlspace.
- Prevent moisture: Crawlspaces are usually moist environments, making them attractive for animals to live in. You can make your crawlspace less appealing by reducing the amount of moisture with a vapor barrier.
- Maintain your property: An overgrown landscape can help hide the entry points animals use to access your crawlspace. When you regularly cut your lawn and keep your bushes and flower beds clean and organized, you can find the openings and take action to block them.
- Contact wildlife removal services: If you’re unsure how you can stop animals from getting into your crawlspace, contact professionals for their expertise. An animal removal company such as Urban Jungle Wildlife Removal will know the right steps for adding protection to the space under your house, deck or crawlspace.
How to Remove Animals From Crawlspaces
If you have animals under your house, it’s critical to remove them as soon as possible. You may be considering removing the animals yourself, but this task can be very dangerous, so it’s best to have professionals handle it. You can rely on Urban Jungle to get rid of animals under your home.
When you call us for help, we’ll offer trapping and removal services to make your crawlspace critter-free again. Our technicians have the knowledge and training needed to successfully analyze the situation and provide a solution, so your home will no longer have animals living underneath it. Professional trapping and removal services ensure the proper traps for specific animals will be used.
In addition to trapping and removal services, an exclusion and repair service will help prevent animals from re-entering your crawlspace. With our exclusion and repair services, we clean the messes left behind by animals, reinforce entry points and repair damages. Many of our services act as preventive measures so that animals won’t cause further damage. By blocking previous and newly found entry points, we ensure your crawlspace can remain animal-free for longer.
Contact Urban Jungle for Removal Services
Removing animals from your crawlspace can be dangerous, so it’s vital to contact professionals for animal removal services. If you have an animal invasion at your home in San Antonio, Austin or Houston, Urban Jungle can help. Our college-educated wildlife biologists have the necessary training needed to safely and efficiently trap and remove wildlife and clean and repair damages.
We have insurance, meaning we can safely access crawlspaces and other areas under or in your home to provide a solution to your issue. Our goal is to help you and your family stay safe in your residence. If you need trapping and removal services for your crawlspace, feel free to contact us online or call us at (833) 732-0439.
