Arizona is home to many unique species of wildlife. While watching a black bear at the local zoo may be pleasant, it’s not enjoyable if one wanders into your yard. It also won’t be comforting if smaller wildlife sets up nests inside your home.
Wildlife encounters in your home can pose significant risks to your safety and property.
Although most wildlife may hibernate or go through a period of torpor in colder months, some may be looking for the perfect place to camp out, which will likely be your house. Here is some wildlife you may see this winter and what to do if you see it.
Critters on Your Property
If critters roam your property in the cooler months, they are likely looking for warm shelter and food. Your home may be the perfect hideout because it may have cracks and crevices that they can use to survive the winter.
Mice and Rats
These tiny rodents are common in most houses across the U.S. in winter, which is undoubtedly true in Arizona. While mice and rats may enter your home any time during the year, they are especially interested in your home in winter to stay warm and find food.
They may enter through cracks in your foundation or through a chimney. They may also be prevalent in homes that have water leaks since they are attracted to water sources. Eliminating these entry points will keep them away.
Groundhogs
You may find groundhogs adorable since they are associated with predicting the weather. However, if one is scurrying across your kitchen floor in the middle of the night, you may not find this critter as cute and cuddly.
Since these feisty animals are very territorial, they may feel that you interrupted their late-night rendezvous and get quite aggressive. Groundhogs usually get into your home by borrowing and entering through cracks in the foundation or openings at the base of your home. Sealing holes or cracks will prevent them from entering.
Bats
Look up in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s just a succession of bats entering your chimney or attic space looking for a warm place to stay and raise their young this winter. Before you start swatting them with a broom or start looking for toxic chemicals to kill them, you’d better think twice.
It is illegal to kill bats in Arizona since they are essential to the food chain. Humane bat removal is the best option. To avoid them in the first place, it is a good idea to seal up any cracks or openings in your attic space and screen off chimneys.
Opossums
Nothing beats enjoying a beautiful evening on your deck, sipping a cup of hot chocolate, and allowing the brisk, cool air of late fall or winter to flow through your hair. Seeing a plump, bold opossum strut by can quickly ruin this serene moment. These creatures can be terrifying since they look like enormous rats.
As frightening as opossums may look, they are helpful for the environment in tackling other equally terrifying, more minor pests such as mice, slugs, and roaches. They also help eliminate road kill.
If they are on your property, they may be having trouble finding typical food sources and are looking for whatever you have lying around, especially pet food and trash. To keep these critters at bay, keeping your trash cans closed is a good idea, as well as minimizing any food sources around your yard that may tempt them to visit you.
Snakes
Unless you’re a snake charmer or genuinely love lizards, you’ll likely be mortified by the site of snakes in your home. Whether they are garden snakes or terrifying rattlesnakes, the sight of these lizards makes you want to pack up and stay in a hotel for the night or the week if necessary. In some cases, the trauma may be so terrible that you may even want to put up a “For Sale” sign in your yard.
Before escaping your home temporarily or for good, remember that snakes are attracted to your home for the same reasons other critters are – they are seeking food and shelter.
They typically lurk around your home’s foundation and may enter through cracks in your foundation or faulty plumbing. Fixing these issues should keep them from slithering into a bathroom or hallway in your home.
How To Deal with Critters on Your Property
One thing to remember is that most wildlife are just as afraid of you as you are of them. So, if you come across a family of bats or other mammals in your home, it’s crucial that you don’t panic. Even more critical is that you don’t try to take matters into your own hands. It’s important to understand that wildlife control laws in Arizona prohibit harming certain species, and you could face fines or legal action if you do so.
A coyote roaming on your property doesn’t give you the right to shoot it. Unless you can prove that you’ve harmed big game in self-defense, you could face fines for physically harming such wildlife.
It’s best to let an expert like Critter Evictors in Scottsdale handle critters that have roamed onto and formed a habitat on your property. Your local wildlife control services may be able to remove wildlife from your property for free. However, if the incident is reported after hours or on weekends, you may have trouble getting someone out to help.
Need Help with Unwanted Wildlife in your Home?
Reaching out to a wildlife removal company like Critter Evictors offers many benefits, such as putting safety first. We specialize in removing all kinds of wildlife and follow strict protocols that safeguard all parties involved with responsible and human removal.
We offer Free inspections and affordable services throughout Maricopa County. It’s worth it to keep a mountain lion from harassing you and your pets or to keep an infestation of snakes from slithering through vents or pipes in your home.
Do you have a wildlife problem on your property that you need us to handle? You’ll be happy to know that our team is available seven days a week to combat your critter problem. Call anytime for help with removing wildlife from your home!