Backpacks are coming out, school buses are back on the road, and summer routines are beginning to change. While families across the Cincinnati Tri-State area are getting ready for fall, local wildlife is going through its own seasonal transition.
Late summer and early fall can bring increased wildlife activity around homes and businesses. Raccoons, squirrels, bats, opossums, and other animals are busy searching for food and suitable places to shelter. In some cases, that search can bring them a little too close for comfort.
Knowing what to watch for now can help you address a wildlife problem before an animal settles into your attic, garage, crawl space, or another part of your property.
Why Wildlife Activity Changes as Summer Ends
Wild animals constantly adapt to changes in temperature, food availability, and their surroundings. As summer winds down, natural food sources begin to change and animals start preparing for the cooler months ahead.
Your property may offer exactly what they are looking for. Garbage cans provide an easy meal. Trees can provide access to the roof. Small openings around vents, soffits, and rooflines can lead to protected spaces inside the home.
Even an opening that does not look significant to you may be enough for an animal to investigate.
Raccoons
Raccoons are intelligent, curious, and remarkably good at finding ways into structures. Attics, chimneys, garages, sheds, and areas beneath decks can all provide shelter.
Look for overturned garbage cans, damaged vents or soffits, droppings, tracks, and noises coming from the attic at night. Because raccoons are strong animals, they can sometimes turn an existing weak spot into a much larger opening.
Squirrels
Squirrels spend plenty of time gathering food as the seasons begin to change. Homes surrounded by mature trees may be particularly vulnerable because branches can give squirrels easy access to roofs.
Once inside an attic, squirrels can damage insulation, wood, and other materials. They may also chew on electrical wiring.
Scratching, scampering, or rolling sounds during daylight hours can be a sign that squirrels have found their way inside.
Bats
Bats are an important part of the local ecosystem and help control insect populations, but your attic is not where you want them living.
Bats can enter through surprisingly small openings around rooflines, vents, siding, and other areas of a structure. Homeowners may notice bats leaving the house around dusk or hear light scratching and movement from an attic or wall.
Bat removal can also involve special considerations depending on the time of year and whether young bats are present. If you suspect bats are living in your home, professional evaluation is important.
Opossums
Opossums frequently look for protected areas near homes, including spaces beneath porches, decks, sheds, and other structures. They may also be attracted to pet food, garbage, fallen fruit, and other readily available food sources.
While an opossum passing through the yard may not be a problem, one repeatedly appearing around the same area could indicate that your property is providing food or shelter.
Wildlife Problems Are Not Limited to These Animals
Raccoons, bats, squirrels, and opossums are some of the animals homeowners commonly encounter, but they are not the only wildlife that can cause problems.
Romans Pest Management handles a wide range of nuisance wildlife situations. If an animal has made itself at home where it does not belong, give us a call. We can evaluate the situation and determine the appropriate next steps.
Watch for Signs Around Your Property
You may hear a wildlife problem before you see it. Pay attention to unusual scratching, thumping, or movement in ceilings, walls, attics, and crawl spaces.
Other warning signs can include damaged vents, disturbed insulation, droppings, unusual odors, holes around the exterior of the home, or repeated animal activity in one particular area.
Avoid immediately sealing an opening if you suspect an animal is already inside. Trapping wildlife inside a structure can create a much larger problem.
Call Romans Pest Management for Wildlife Problems
As summer comes to a close and your family’s routine changes for the new school year, it is a good time to pay attention to what is happening around your property.
If you hear something in the attic, discover an animal under the deck, or simply are not sure what has been visiting your home, Romans Pest Management can help.
From raccoons and bats to opossums, squirrels, and other nuisance wildlife, we handle whatever comes our way. Contact Romans Pest Management to have the situation evaluated and help keep wildlife where it belongs, outside your home.