How to Handle and Avoid Animals in Your Attic

How to Handle and Avoid Animals in Your Attic. As winter becomes colder, animals use to get closer to neighborhoods’ roofs. Inclement weather makes all sorts of critters and animals look for shelter. For them, roofs and attics are the ideal places to find refuge. 

Provided with fluffy insulation, attics keep animals warm and protected from the elements. Squirrels and raccoons may look pretty; however, they are not convenient visitors. Indeed, from many places, they prefer scurrying up onto rooftops, causing damage to our homes. Besides, they may be threats to our health.

Therefore, we should try to keep animals away from our roofs. Next, Tadlock Roofing will give you some tips on how to deal with animals on your roof.

How to Handle and Avoid Animals in Your Attic

How to Get a Wild Animal off Your Roof

Have you seen a wild animal on your roof? You should try to get it down as soon as possible! Here, is how to get rid of animals on your roof in a caring manner.

Wild animals only have one objective in mind: survival. To do so, they will look for food and shelter, no matter how or where. But, don’t be alarmed. The animal might have entered your home unintentionally. Perhaps, it may be trying to escape from your house.

Thus, the first thing we must do is trying to lead them to get down from our roofs.

Allow the animals to go on their own will. So, open the doors and windows, turn on the lights, and let them have an exit way. Do not obstruct their escape.

When confined or threatened, animals will bite or scratch to protect themselves. Remind that squirrels, skunks, and raccoons may carry rabies. So, it is important to avoid contact with them. Keep a safe distance from them and keep children and pets away from the animal. 

Are you sure they are gone? If so, you can block their re-entry to prevent more animals from accessing your attic. Besides, fix the damage these animals caused once it has left. Look for rotten wood, holes, and other weak points in your roof that might allow them entrance.

To avoid animals on your roof it is important to get it inspected periodically. The help of a professional roofing company will be useful. 

Likewise, birds are common visitors to our rooftops. Usually, they built their nests along roofs edges and soffits. 

Installing a moving roof ornament to scare them away is a good way to avoid birds nesting on your roof.

Helping an Injured Animal off the Roof

We should verify if the animal is injured. Does it look to be in good health? Well, you can prop a long wooden plank against the edge of your roof. In most cases, that will encourage the animal to climb down the plank to the ground looking for safety. 

However, if the animal is injured, it wouldn’t be able to get down from your roof on its own. Even the animal may be in pain. In this case, it may feel frightened and could try to attack us. 

If so, you should call your local animal control service for help. Is the animal safe? Take it immediately to a vet.

What Damage Can Animals Cause in my Roof? 

Birds, squirrels, raccoons, all of them can cause significant damage to your home, even to your family’s health. Let’s check some of the most relevant issues they can bring to our homes.

  • Squirrels and raccoons are not heavy enough to break the roofing materials. But, they have very sharp claws that will leave plenty of scratch marks on your roof.
  • Also, they may cause serious damage by chewing through roofs, siding, and trim.
  • Acidic bird droppings may erode most types of roofing materials.
  • With the tiniest spark, the straw, sticks, and dried bird droppings found in nests are highly flammable.
  • Birds like to construct their nests in gutters, impeding drainage and causing water to pool on your roof. Later, this pooled water will lead to roof leaks.
  • A family of squirrels can produce a lot of waste in your attic. This waste represents a biohazard for you and your family.

Roof damage caused by animals is a serious threat. If you have this problem, you can call one of the Roof Crafters specialists. 

Damaged soffits and broken shingles can lead to bigger issues. Yet, looking for a roofing professional to repair these problems will make you save significant money in the future. Besides, a qualified roofer can offer you preventative maintenance to keep your roof in top shape. 

As usual, you can count on Roof Crafters as your reliable roofing contractor in Mississippi and Louisiana.

For more information about your home call Mississippi Landsource or our long-time partner Doug Rushing Realty today at 601-966-4881.