It’s getting cooler down here in Florida, so we expect to start getting calls for animals getting into homes real soon. It never gets cold enough for animals to hibernate in Jacksonville, FL. Besides, the most common nuisance animals do not hibernate.
As the weather cools down, animals like squirrels and raccoons will look for a warm shelter.
Most Common Sign of Nuisance Wildlife
Most of the animals we deal with give us or our customers a clue that they’re now tenants by making weird and scary noises.
The first one that comes to mind is scratching! Rodents and squirrels do a ton of scratching in the attics and inside of walls. Depending on what they’ve nested up against, this can cause screeching sounds as well.
Bats are another another animal that makes weird noises. There’s tons of chirping noises that they make when communicating. These sounds help us identify their areas of nesting. Usually in the soffits and small openings around eaves.
Raccoons have the most sudden noises and sounds of most of the animals that we deal with. Of course there’s knocking and banging. Once they’ve developed a routine in the attics or soffits, most of their movements are sudden and quiet.
Fall Nuisance Animals in Jacksonville, FL
Two animals in particular I’d like to highlight are squirrels and raccoons. Both animals love to harbor and nest inside of homes during the cooler months and have similar ways of entering homes. Most notably are the roof returns and soffit vents. In my opinion, these are the two most common areas of entry for both animals.
Roof Returns
Soffit Vents
Raccoons and squirrels can get into your house through the soffit vents too. They will either push their body against it, or they can break it or gnaw through it. Customers will look at a small 4×2 or 4×4 soffit vent and think how in the world can a 20 lb raccoon get in here.
Raccoon bodies are usually small and fur make up most of depth of what we see. The same can be said for squirrels. I’ve seen them fit into openings as small as 1 ½ or so.
There are many areas for them to access such as gable vents, roof vents, chimneys, etc. the list goes on and on!
Animal Removal and Trapping in Jacksonville, FL
I’d also like to note that trapping should be involved with raccoon removals because they will tear back into a home if they have the opportunity. If there’s a mother with babies involved, no amount exclusion is keeping her from attempting to get back into the home. This is where the destruction of property can grow and become very expensive to repair.
Derrick Clay
Derrick Clay is the district manager for Jacksonville, FL. He joins Trutech Wildlife Service with over thirteen years of experience in the pest control.
