Wildlife Removal: What to Do When Animals Move Into Your House

A pest control technician and a wildlife removal operator are two different people with two different licenses. Most pest control companies are licensed to handle insects and rodents. Raccoons, squirrels, bats, and snakes fall under wildlife control, which requires a separate state permit in almost every state. If you call a regular exterminator about a raccoon in your attic, they'll tell you the same thing.

I've talked to dozens of wildlife operators over the years, and the stories are always wilder than you'd expect. The raccoon that pulled apart an entire HVAC duct to nest inside. The squirrel that chewed through a live electrical wire and somehow survived. The homeowner who tried to smoke out a bat colony with a citronella candle and set their soffit on fire. Professionals exist for good reasons.

Raccoons in the Attic

Raccoons don't sneak in through small gaps. They rip their way in. A grown raccoon weighs 15 to 40 pounds and has hands that can peel back aluminum soffit like a sardine can. Once they're in your attic, they establish a latrine site (yes, raccoons pick a specific corner to use as a toilet), tear up insulation for nesting material, and leave behind feces that can contain raccoon roundworm, a parasite dangerous to humans.

Trapping is the standard removal method. The operator sets cage traps near the entry point, typically baited with marshmallows or cat food. Once the raccoon is caught, it's relocated or euthanized depending on state regulations. Then comes the critical part: exclusion. The entry point has to be repaired with heavy-gauge hardware cloth or metal flashing -- anything less and the next raccoon will tear right through it.

Do not use poison. It's illegal to poison raccoons in most states, and even where it's technically legal, a raccoon that eats poison and dies in your attic wall is a nightmare you don't want. The smell lasts months.

Cost: $300 to $800 depending on accessibility and how many raccoons are involved. Attic restoration (removing contaminated insulation, sanitizing, re-insulating) can add $1,000 to $3,000 on top of that.

Squirrels: Small Animal, Big Damage

Gray squirrels and flying squirrels are the two species that regularly move into attics. They chew. That's what they do. Their incisors grow continuously, so they gnaw on everything to keep them worn down. In an attic, that means electrical wiring, PVC plumbing, wood beams, and whatever else is available.

Chewed wiring is a genuine fire hazard. The National Fire Protection Association estimates that rodent-damaged wiring causes thousands of house fires each year, and squirrels are a major contributor.

The best removal method is a one-way exclusion door. It's a simple device mounted over the entry hole that lets squirrels leave but won't let them back in. Once they're out, seal the hole permanently with steel mesh. The whole job usually takes two visits -- install the door, come back in a week to confirm they're gone and seal up. Cost runs $200 to $500.

Bats: Protected, Beneficial, and Annoying

Bats are a special case because they're protected by state and federal law in most of the US. You cannot poison bats. You cannot trap bats. In many states, you cannot even exclude them during maternity season, which runs roughly May through August. If a colony of bats has pups in your attic in June, you're legally required to wait until the pups can fly before doing anything about it.

A single little brown bat eats 1,000 to 1,200 mosquitoes in a single night. A colony of 100 bats in your attic is eating over 100,000 mosquitoes every evening. They're phenomenally useful animals. The problem is that bat guano accumulates, smells terrible, and can harbor Histoplasma fungus spores, which cause a respiratory infection called histoplasmosis if disturbed.

Exclusion is the only legal removal method. The operator identifies every gap larger than 3/8 of an inch (bats can squeeze through absurdly small openings), seals all of them except the main entry point, then installs a one-way valve. Bats leave at dusk to feed and can't get back in. Over a few nights, the entire colony relocates. The operator then seals the final gap and, if needed, does guano cleanup.

Bat exclusion costs $500 to $1,500 for a typical home, depending on the number of entry points and the size of the colony. Large commercial buildings with major colonies can cost significantly more.

Moles: The Lawn Problem

Moles aren't eating your grass or your flower bulbs. That's voles (different animal, similar name, constant source of confusion). Moles eat grubs, earthworms, and beetle larvae. The tunnels they dig while hunting are what tears up your lawn.

The long-term fix is to treat the grub problem. Apply GrubEx (about $30 for a bag that covers 5,000 square feet) in late spring. Once the grubs are gone, moles lose their food source and move on. It won't happen overnight -- give it a full season.

For faster results, scissor traps and harpoon traps set in active tunnels are the most effective lethal method. Identify active tunnels by pressing them flat with your foot and checking the next day -- if the tunnel is raised again, it's active. Set the trap there. Mole repellents (castor oil granules) have mixed results. Sonic stakes don't work at all.

Snakes: Leave Most of Them Alone

Most snake bites in the United States happen when people try to kill or handle snakes. The safest thing to do when you see a snake in your yard is walk the other direction. If it's not venomous -- and roughly 80% of US snake species aren't -- it's eating mice, rats, and insects. That's a free pest control service.

Can you tell if it's venomous? In most of the US, there are four groups of venomous snakes: copperheads, cottonmouths (water moccasins), rattlesnakes, and coral snakes. Copperheads and cottonmouths have triangular heads, vertical pupils, and heavy bodies. Rattlesnakes have the rattle. Coral snakes are brightly banded in red, yellow, and black.

If you've got a snake in your house or garage, a wildlife removal operator will come get it for $150 to $400. They'll also inspect for entry points. If snakes are consistently showing up, the real question is what's attracting their prey. Mice in the garage? Frog breeding habitat nearby? Fix the food source and the snakes stop coming.

Possums: The Most Misunderstood Animal in Your Yard

Virginia opossums look like oversized rats and hiss when cornered, which makes most people assume they're aggressive and disease-ridden. The reality is almost the opposite.

Possums are nearly immune to rabies. Their body temperature is too low for the rabies virus to survive -- around 94 to 97 degrees Fahrenheit compared to the 101+ that most mammals maintain. A single possum can eat up to 5,000 ticks in a season. They also eat cockroaches, snails, slugs, and small rodents. They're walking pest control services.

If a possum is living under your deck or shed, it'll almost certainly move on within a few weeks. They're nomadic and rarely stay in one spot for long. If you want to speed things up, put a radio under the deck tuned to a talk station. The constant human voices make the space unappealing. Block the entry point once you're sure it's gone.

Cost Summary