Skip to content

Wildlife guides What's in the attic, how it got in, and how to keep it out.

Plain explanations of the animals that get into houses, the gaps they use, and what cleanup really involves. Each guide lists its sources, and the rules that change by state.

Animals

Bats in the attic

Bats are useful. They eat insects. An attic colony is still a health and building problem, and the fix is timing plus a sealed gap, not poison.

Raccoons in the attic

Raccoons are strong, clever climbers. A loose soffit is a start. They will make it bigger. The droppings are the part you should not sweep.

Squirrels in the attic

They want a dry nest and a place to store food. A branch over the roof is a sidewalk. Wood is not a repair they respect.

Snakes in the house

They are not curious about your kitchen. They are following a meal, or they found a quiet place with a temperature they can use.

Opossums around the home

Usually, using a hole that was already there. They do not have the tools to build their own door, and they are less of a villain than the hiss suggests.

Skunks under the house

Because they are poor climbers, the ground floor is the whole map. The spray is a last resort. Rabies is the reason not to get casual about a bite.

Groundhogs under structures

Enough to settle a step or a slab, if the tunnel runs under it. The fix is an empty den and a buried barrier, not a can of something dangerous.

Mice and rats

The hole is smaller than people think, and the calendar is shorter. Waiting to see if it stays minor is how it stops being minor.

Read the guide

Entry points and prevention

Drip edge and the builder's gap

Drip edge is a metal flashing that sheds water. From a wildlife point of view, it is also the lid on a gap the builder left behind the gutter.

Eave gaps and soffit returns

The soffit return is a normal part of a roof. The seam in it is also a normal door, high off the ground and hard to see from the yard.

Fascia gaps

The fascia is the board behind your gutter. The gap at its seam is elevated, hidden, and frequently connected to the attic. Animals figured this out before most homeowners did.

Ridge vents and ridge guard

The peak of the roof is where heat leaves the attic. It is also where raccoons, squirrels, and bats like to start. The plastic inside a ridge vent was never meant to stop teeth.

Rat walls

If the animal's plan is to dig, a trap on the lawn is the wrong tool. A buried metal apron makes the tunnel a dead end.

Preventive wildlife seal-up

Because the gaps are already there, and the invoice after a family of raccoons is larger than the invoice before. A seal-up is maintenance, closer to a roof repair than to an emergency.

Attic cleanup

Spot clean vs attic restoration

Both phrases get used for "something is wrong up there." They are different amounts of work. The honest way to choose is an inspection with pictures.