Primarily, animals choose to get under the house for the shelter it can provide them.
Most animals you’ll find under the house are likely making their way there to create a burrow or nest. The dark space offers shelter from the elements, making it the perfect spot to call home.
Beyond simple shelter, the space under your house provides close proximity to the food opportunities that come with human presence. For example, they may be chowing down on the food in your garden, eating the food left outside for pets, or taking advantage of any food available in your garbage.
How Do Animals Get Under My House?
When people have an animal problem under their house, it is in one of three locations — the crawlspace, the porch or deck, and under the house foundation.
Different animals get under the house in different ways. Here’s a closer look at a few examples.
Animal in my Crawlspace
Get Animal Out of Crawlspaces
If you find an animal living in your crawlspace, it is critical to determine where the animal made its way in. As you look for entry points, you might be surprised by the size of the animal when compared to the hold.
Here’s how big a hole needs to be for an animal to squeeze through.
- Quarter-inch to 1 inch. Mice and voles.
- 1 inch to 2 inches. Chipmunks.
- 2 inches to 3 inches. Rats.
- 3 or more inches. Raccoons, rabbits, opossums, skunks, groundhogs, armadillos, and more.
Depending on the animal, you might remove it via trapping, installing a one-way door, or simply waiting for it to leave for food. But ultimately, you’ll need to ensure there are no entry holes available to any animals that might return.
Wildlife under Porch
Many animals are known to take up residence under a deck or porch. Decks and porches provide excellent shelter away from other potential predatory animals.
Many of these animals carry diseases such as leptospirosis, rabies, and leprosy, so it’s important that you don’t reach your hand down any hole that the animal might have dug, or in any openings, you clearly cannot see in.
Most animals usually gain access to porches and decks through openings in lattices or by digging a hole. Don’t try to block the openings before you call Trutech to remove the animal. Trying to block the area could scare or aggravate the animal resulting in the animal possibly attacking.
Speak to your technician about inspecting your home for any other possible entry points, as well as developing a solution to animal-proofing your porch.
Get Animal Out from Under Porch
If you find animals under the porch, the first step is to evict the critters. Once the animals are gone, you’ll need to create effective exclusions. Typically, these exclusions will include wire mesh, hardware cloth, and buried fences to prevent more animals from entering.
Do not use chicken wire. Rats and snakes can easily get through it. Stronger animals like raccoons or opossums can break it.
Animal Burrows under Foundation
The foundation of your home attracts a different kind of critter. Typically, you’ll find smaller mammals that build a series of tunnels underneath the foundation. Chipmunks and moles are great diggers that can get underneath the foundation of your home. Armadillos only affect people living in sunbelt states like Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida can experience armadillos digging under their foundations.
To get rid of animals under foundations we start with trapping to remove the animals currently under there. Then we install a product called dig defense to keep those animals from gaining access back under decks and foundations.
An animal burrow under your foundation can be a risk. You will need to trap and remove the animal. We use specific live traps to catch critters like chipmunks, moles, and armadillos.
How to keep animals from digging under your house
A burrowing animal digging under any structure of your home is cause for concern. Burying a galvanized fence and surrounding the area can stop the critter. Above is a video of an installed fence around an A/C unit.
If you spot small holes in the dirt around your foundation, then you might have animals living under the foundation.
The first step is to fill in any holes that you see to stop the current residents from returning. Additionally, you may need to treat the area with odor-producing chemicals that warn potential pests from making their home under your house.
How to get rid of a dead animal smell under your house?
Occasionally an animal dies under your home because it became trapped in a hard-to-reach and hidden area. The quickest and easiest way to get rid of the dead animal smell is to dispose of the dead animal carcass. Once the carcass has been removed, the following methods can lessen the dead animal smell.
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Enzyme Cleaners--solutions containing enzymes can break down and dissolve molecules responsible for harboring dead animal smells and producing stains. Enzymes are non-toxic proteins that expedite chemical reactions necessary to break down odorous substances released by an animal’s decomposing body.
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Baking Soda--mix baking soda with water to make a paste that can be applied to areas where dead animals are decomposing. Allow the paste to dry before removing the residue.
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Bleach–using full-strength bleach to get rid of a dead animal smell will only work on certain solid surfaces that bleach won’t damage. Bleach does kill many kinds of microorganisms but it may only cover up an odor temporarily
One of the hardest parts of getting rid of a dead animal smell from under your house is locating it. Furthermore, enzymatic cleaners, baking soda, and even bleach may not completely eradicate disease-causing bacteria. Our expert technicians have the experience and knowledge to find it and then safely remove the carcass from your home.
Professional Wildlife Removal from Your Property
When you have wild animals under your house, the type of animal will have a big impact on the appropriate wildlife removal strategy. If you need help identifying and resolving an animal infestation, then it’s smart to call in professional help.
Trutech® provides solutions for all your animal, pest, and wildlife control needs. We have a long history of providing customers with quality services, coupled with a high standard of professionalism. Trutech is fully insured and licensed with regulatory agencies and state and local authorities.
Trutech has branches across the country including Dallas–Fort Worth, San Antonio, Richmond, Boston, Charleston, Savannah, Orlando, Fort Myers, Sarasota, Asheville, Raleigh–Durham, and more.
