/ Blog / How Do You Scare Critters Out of Your Attic?

How Do You Scare Critters Out of Your Attic?

March 15, 2023 | Wildlife

When an animal makes its way into your attic you might feel a few different emotions: fear at the potential health risks they pose for your family, frustration at having to deal with damages and noises coming from your ceiling, and determination to get those pests out quickly. Luckily, wildlife removal services can deal with critter removal from your attic.

Before you call the pros, though, there are a few ways to make sure that those noises you hear are, in fact, animals in your attic. We cover that and a few tips for getting animals out of your attic here.

How Do You Tell if You Have Critters in Your Attic?

Some signs that you have animals in your attic include:

Noises: Typically, you’ll hear scratching, scuttling, squeaking, or chewing if there is an animal in your attic. A scratching noise in your attic in the early morning may suggest squirrels or snakes. An animal in the attic scratching at night may be a mouse, rat, opossum, or raccoon. You might also hear chirping in the case of bats or thumping in the case of raccoons.

Droppings: You can tell the type of animal in your attic based on the droppings you find there.

- Mice, rats, and squirrels: Rice-shaped droppings that typically only vary by size or thickness
- Raccoons: Droppings that look more like those of a cat or small dog
- Bats: Dry and powdery droppings
- Snakes: Similar to bird poop with bones and hair in it

Damage: Animals may chew on doors or siding to enter your attic. Once inside, they often also chew wood, electrical wires, insulation, or anything else they find in your attic. Check for these signs of damage both inside and outside your home.

Odors: Animals can be stinky. Some, like rodents or snakes that feel threatened, emit these odors. Droppings will also smell, particularly droppings from opossums whose waste can soak into insulation.

Nests: If an animal is preparing to have young in your attic, then you will probably find a nest there. Typically, they will make it from twigs, weeds, leaves, and any other soft materials they may find, such as paper.
Openings: Not all animals will chew their way into your attic. Some may enter through other gaps or holes in your home. For example, they may crawl in through the chimney or soffit vents.

If you spot any of these signs in your house, it’s time to start looking for solutions to get them out.

How Do You Scare Critters Out of Your Attic?

Squirrel on metal roof You shouldn’t try to remove an animal from your attic on your own. Not only can it be dangerous if you aren’t professionally trained in animal removal, but you may also be breaking the law if you try to remove certain animals on your own. With that said, you can try a few home remedies to remove squirrels from your attic, and other critters for that matter, by scaring them out.

To start, it’s all about disrupting the animals’ comfort. That means taking away their quiet, cozy places. To do that, you can play loud music near the ceiling of your home to scare the animals out. Or, you can place a bright light in the attic as long as going up in the attic won’t pose an immediate danger to you. You may even try to put oil-soaked cotton balls or oil-filled cups filled with scents like mint or apple cider vinegar that bother the animals.

These steps might help get a single animal out of your house. However, if there’s a possibility of infestation, these efforts won’t solve your problems. To make sure you eliminate the chances of infestation in your home or to get even a single animal out of your home quickly and safely, turn to companies that remove animals from your attic like Turner Pest Control. We’ll create custom wildlife control plans to fit your needs, and we even offer exclusion, removal and monitoring services to keep animals out in the future.

How Do You Get Animals Out of Your Attic Right? With Turner Pest Control

If you live in Florida and find yourself searching online for “wildlife removal services near me,” then turn to Turner Pest Control. Our expert technicians know how wildlife behaves, so we’ll know what to look for to track the critters in your attic down and remove them. Once they’re out, we seal any entry points we discovered during inspection of your home. All our plans are tailored to fit: