How to deal with a rodent on your roof

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For the most part, you likely don’t want rodents around your home at all. Animals such as rats, raccoons, and possums pose a giant health risk to you, and so keeping them away is as important to your health as it is to your peace of mind. It is clear that these are usually messy, nuisance animals that love to get into things, which can often lead to your trashcan being knocked over or your bag of birdseed being strewn all over your garage. However, the parasites and pathogens left in their waste adds to the many reasons for why you would not want this kind of animal around your home.



So, what do you do when you are outside and notice that one of these animals is on your roof? What exactly are you to do about that then?

Before doing anything, there are two questions that need to be answered. The first one of these is what kind of rodent are you talking about?

The reason that this is important is because it plays a significant role in you determining what kind of action to take. For example, if a squirrel is the animal on your roof than there really is nothing for you to worry about. The fact of the matter is that squirrels probably come on to your roof more frequently than you may realize. These are animals that climb well, and so moving across your roof to get onto a wire or a tree is something they do probably hundreds of times a day. In this case, there is nothing to worry about.

However, if you see a raccoon, possum, or rat moving across your roof that is an entirely different story. These animals don’t belong around your home, and so your biggest concern would be if they are on your roof and what else are they trying to get into.

One of the most common ways to scare these animals away is to use your garden hose with the sprayer attached to wash them away. They will be scared by the water being sprayed on them and will flee quickly to try to avoid it.

As a note, be careful when you’re spraying at them. You don’t want to knock them off of the roof, especially a two-story roof because they may become injured. An injured, wild animal can be quite erratic and make it aggressive with you. This is why it is best to simply make their presence on your roof and uncomfortable one so they will go away.

The second thing to be worried about is whether they are using to gain access to another part of your home. This may mean that they are getting into your attic, which may require you to do a thorough search of your home to see if they are using the roof for this purpose. If that is true, then you need to take measures to get them out of your house to protect your property and your family. Read more: Rat Control, Get Rats Out of the Attic, Rat Trapping, Rats in the Ceiling, Rat Feces.