Now's time to critter-proof home

Rodents, birds, other wildlife excel at getting in

April 10, 2013|Dawn Turner Trice
  • Wildlife biologist Sandy Banks advises homeowners to watch for signs that a wild animal has found its way inside.
Wildlife biologist Sandy Banks advises homeowners to watch for signs that a wild animal has found its way inside. (HANDOUT)



Banks is the owner of Have a Heart Wildlife Services. A member of the Illinois Wildlife Control Operators Association (, she humanely traps animals that have lost their way in their urban, suburban and even rural habitats and releases the ones that can be released into more appropriate environments.

These are critters that may be lovely to look at from afar, but some also carry diseases and can wreak havoc on your health, your home and even your nerves.

Take raccoons.

"Mating season is here, and if a female raccoon is pregnant and needs a nest, she won't hesitate to climb on your roof and rip a shingle off and burrow a hole right through the wood," Banks said. "They can smell rotted wood, but they also tear through fresh wood."

Nice, right?

And, raccoons can be aggressive, especial females protecting their kits.

"They're nothing to fool around with," Banks said, noting they can also carry diseases. "They seem so docile sometimes, and other times they look like they can rip you to ribbons."

Banks said now is a good time to walk around your house and look for damage and potential ways for unwelcome critters to enter. Make sure the eaves are in good shape and you don't find roofing shingles or insulation on the ground. If you do, that could mean animals are trying to set up shop in your abode or have already done so.

Look for muddied animal footprints along downspouts, and for tunnels, she said. Skunks are ground dwellers and like digging under cement slabs, wooden decks and porches. Norway rats, woodchucks, Eastern chipmunks and 13-lined ground squirrels do the same thing.

Banks said to examine dryer vent openings to determine whether a flap is torn open or missing. If vents are low to the ground, mice and other little varmints could get in. If you have attic fan vents, it's a good idea to have stainless or galvanized steel covers installed over the vents to keep out squirrels and bats.

"Bats are important for controlling the insect population," Banks said. "But when they're in your attic, they can create a lot of guano (feces), and if you have a problem long term, you may have staining on the ceiling. We had one case where a ceiling caved in under the weight."

Bats also can carry rabies.

"If you come into contact with a rabid bat and even if it doesn't touch you, they've been known to spray aerosols (via their saliva) and there's a possibility you can get rabies from that," she said. "Keep in mind there is no cure for rabies and by the time you discover it, it may be too late."

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, about 3 to 6 percent of bats submitted to its labs annually are rabid and less than 1 percent in the wild are. Still, if you encounter a bat, the department recommends capturing it without touching it and then having a health department official come out to scoop it up for tests. To find out more about bats and other wildlife, go to

Starlings and house sparrows are also menaces and definitely aren't the types of birds you want near your bird feeders. Banks said they build nests in the eaves and roofs of houses. They have notches on their beaks and they're adept at cracking open the skulls of native song birds (such as woodpeckers) and taking over their dens and nests.

"Because they're nonnative species, we can remove them," she said. "A big threat is when starlings build nests inside attics. They find a small opening and they continue to add more and more twigs, and they keep building, and over a couple of years, the nest becomes enormous and super-dry tinder, and if a spark hits it, it can cause a fire.

"The largest starling nest we've pulled out of an attic was 6 feet by 4 feet and 3 feet high. They can be very dangerous."

Banks, who travels with her faithful chocolate Labrador retriever, Max, runs Butterprint Farm in south suburban Monee, which restores prairies and wildlife habitats. She said more species of animals and birds are trying to adapt to human environments now than ever before.

"We find fox and owls in the city, which are trapped in houses, schools and warehouses," she said. "There are still trees and vacant lots and other forms of habitats for animals in urban places. We all have to somehow learn to coexist."

Yes, and safely.