Getting it out is step one. Closing the door is the job.

Foam is a snack

A can of spray foam feels like a solution because it fills the gap and looks finished. Squirrels, raccoons, and mice treat it like a craft project. We use foam as a seal beside a metal repair, not as the repair itself.

Where teeth are involved, the outside layer should be metal. Hardware cloth, a proper vent cover, flashing, a chimney cap. The material matches the hole and the animal. A pretty patch that fails in a month is not the cheaper one.

One hole is rarely the only hole

Animals are picky and also not picky. If one gap worked, the next gap might work next week. We walk the roofline and the ground-level openings, not just the spot you noticed. You will hear what we found in normal words.

A one-way door is useful when a single animal can leave and nothing young is stuck inside. It is the wrong tool for babies in a nest, and it is the wrong tool for bats while pups are flightless. Summer bat work waits. We would rather tell you that on the visit than discover it after a seal.

Birds get their own rule

Some birds in vents and chimneys are just starlings or sparrows being rude. Others, including chimney swifts, are protected while they nest. We do not cap a chimney that still has a family in it and hope the problem solves itself.

If you hear fluttering in the flue in summer, say so. Timing matters there the same way it matters with bats. The cap goes on after the nest is done, not before.

What makes a repair hold

• The animal is out, including any young that cannot leave yet.
• The opening is closed with metal where chewing is likely.
• Nearby gaps get the same look, so we are not playing whack-a-mole next month.
• You know what we did, and what is worth watching when the seasons change.