What kind of damage do wild animals cause in an attic?

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One of the biggest problems caused by wild animals in the attic is chewing. Rats and squirrels are among the worst culprits for this chomping action, and although they probably don’t mean to be quite so destructive, this damage the chewing can cause is extensive, and one very expensive to repair.



Electrical wires are often hard hit, and you’ll soon know if you have animals chewing on your wiring. Your lights will dim and flicker from time to time, and in some cases, the lights (and electrics) might go out entirely. Things plugged into sockets in the wall might not work in the same way, or might just work intermittently. This might be a sign that an animal, such as a rat, has chewed on the wiring behind the plug, another common occurrence. The smaller critters, and even some of the larger ones, can often crawl into wall cavities, and some of them even get stuck. If this is the case, chewed electrical wiring is just one of the problems you'll need to face. You may need to cut entire sections of the drywall out, just to get to the creature behind, and then you'll need to repair the holes again.

Things might not work at all if the electrical wiring of your home or building has been damaged, and the damage can spread far and wide, not just confined to the attic or in your house. If rats or other wild animals were to get into your garage, and then into the compartments of your car, they could chew through wires that will then make your vehicle very dangerous. Imagine if something were to go wrong as you were driving the kids to school in the morning … It doesn't bear thinking about.

Of course, wild animals don’t just bring the chewing problem. Bigger animals, such as raccoons, can tear apart actual sections of your home in a bid to break inside. This means destroying and tearing open window and door screens, vents that cover air conditioning and other pipes, and even tiles off the roof. These are all things that will need to both repaired and reinforced once the animal has been evicted, and some of these repairs are going to cost quite a bit of money. Is that money you could afford to pay out right now? If not, it might be time to give your home or building the once over, just to make sure you're not at risk of being invaded!

For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How To Guide: Who should I hire? - What questions to ask, to look for, who NOT to hire.
How To Guide: do it yourself! - Advice on saving money by doing wildlife removal yourself.
Guide: How much does wildlife removal cost? - Analysis of wildlife control prices.
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