9 things not to do if you have wildlife invaders at home

There are many reasons why wild animals enter your house, like when they are looking for food.

You may want to remove the animal immediately or take care of it for a while. However, remember that wild animals could be dangerous for you and your family, or you may intentionally or accidentally harm them. 

Some conservation laws even penalize the mishandling of wild animals too. Thus, wildlife control experts suggest avoiding these steps that could harm you or your wildlife visitor.

9 Things You Should Not do when a Wildlife Animal Enters Your House

Feed the Animal

Never feed wild animals because it trains them to find food from you. It makes them return for more, and they may become aggressive if you refuse to give them food later on.

You should also avoid feeding them unintentionally. For instance, immediately clean or pick fallen fruits in the yard before wild animals eat them.

Help a Baby or an Injured Animal

Do not pick a baby wild animal because you may stress them. Besides, their parents could also attack and harm you.

Moreover, don’t help an injured wild animal yourself because you might hurt them even more. Besides, the law prohibits unlicensed people from handling and keeping wild animals.

Call a wildlife control agency if you find either a baby or an injured wild animal on your premises.

Remove the Animal Yourself

Removing a wild animal by yourself from your home is dangerous, and some of them pose critical health risks, like rabies.

There’s a high chance that you would harm the animal too. 

Thus, let an animal control expert professionally remove those critters away.

Agitate the Animal

Even shy animals can attack you when they feel you are a threat, like when you chase them to a corner. Others may attack because of simple disturbances too.

So, never disturb or agitate these critters for your safety reasons.

Let Your Pet Approach the Animal

Some people allow their pets to scare away wild animals, and others don’t notice their pets approaching wildlife intruders. 

Both situations are harmful to your pets because the other animal may attack them. Moreover, your pet may risk sustaining critical health risks like rabies.

Thus, guard your pets and keep them indoors at night. Train them to stay away from wildlife animals if possible.

Lock Up the Animal in a Room

You may think that locking up the critters in a room can stop them from causing further nuisances in your home. For instance, you lock squirrels in your attic because you want to prevent them from affecting your living space.

The truth is that you are only pushing them to cause more damage.

Following the example above, squirrels locked up in your attic will find ways to escape and destroy your walls and ceiling. Moreover, they will leave a foul smell when they die, and their carcass will only attract more pests.

Poison the Animal

Poisoning wild animals is a cruel way to get rid of them, as they will die if they consume the poison, and other insects or animals eating their corpses will also die.

Moreover, poisoning a wild animal puts your household at critical risk. Imagine what happens if your pet accidentally consumes the poison or when your child touches it.

Relocate the Animal

Relocating an animal away from your home means finding a suitable place for them to live. However, you should not just leave them in the forest because they may not survive there.

For instance, that place may have predators that may harm the animal, or they may not have enough food in the area.

Thus, you should call a wildlife control specialist to help you remove and relocate a wild animal to a suitable area.

Clean a Previously Infested Area Yourself

Suppose you have removed the critters in your home and want to clean the area they had occupied.

However, never clean that area without help from animal control services. The droppings and mess that wild animals leave contain microbes that can harm your health.

Moreover, professionally cleaning a previously infested area prevents the wild animal from returning.

Report to a Wildlife Control Agency if You Spot Wild Animals in Your Home

As a rule of thumb, never approach or disturb a wild animal when you see them in your home. The best step to take is to call the correct agency immediately.

A wildlife control specialist will come to your home and humanely remove your wildlife visitors.