Our Local Species
We feel fortunate to live in a place as beautiful as California’s North Bay Area. With the rolling hills and the oak woodlands for a backyard, it’s no wonder we sometimes find ourselves trying to share the space with the wild critters who live here too. Like us, these creatures have unique personalities and traits that we sometimes find a nuisance. Read on for information about the species you may be encountering around your home, and what to look for if you are unsure who exactly is the culprit.
Skunks
Skunks are fantastic diggers. Their long front claws help them dig for grubs, worms, and insects for food. They also use their digging skills to dig dens where they can raise their young. They will often dig under our houses to access the safe, dark subfloors of our homes. If you notice dug out holes around your foundation, you may have skunks!
It is true they have a powerful stinker, but they are most likely to spray when startled by quick movements (like a charging dog). If you see a skunk, back away slowly and keep your pets inside until it is gone.
Foxes
Foxes are omnivorous, and will eat rodents, fruit, cat food and sometime trash. They are clever creatures, and are good at finding secret ways to access your subfloor, where they can hide during the day or raise their young. Foxes are also good at digging and will dig around the foundation to get under houses. They are happy to raise their young under decks as well! Foxes are attracted to cat food left out at night, and keeping cat food inside can help keep them off your porch. While foxes can be cute, and can help to eat the rats and mice around your house, call us if they become a problem for you, or you would rather they spend their time elsewhere.
Raccoons
Raccoons are nocturnal and spend their days sleeping in dark places like attics and subfloors especially when they are getting ready to raise young. They are crafty, and can be quite talkative, especially when they are babies. If you hear strange chattering coming from your attic, or under your house, you may have raccoons! They typically move out when their babies are grown, but call us if you want them out now and their access points sealed to prevent future returns.
Raccoons are attracted to trash, and pet food left out at night, so please remember to keep your trash sealed, and bring your pet food inside at night.
Opossums
Opossums are opportunistic feeders and will take advantage of unsealed trash and pet food. To avoid opossum visits in the night, keep your pet food inside and seal your trash tight.
Opossums are good climbers and use their tail to aid in their climbing. Fun fact: it is true that they will feign death when frightened. This technique unfortunately does not always work and they are often injured by dogs who find a fake-dead opossum easy to attack. Opossums also carry their babies on their back, which makes excluding them from your house a much faster process!
Bats
Many species of bats are migratory, and therefore protected by law. There are many different species and some are quite small and will roost in the eaves of your roof and in your attic during the day. Bats get a bad rap for being rabies vector species, but we can also thank them for keeping insect populations down, and pollinting plants such as agave. If you hear high-pitched sounds coming from your roof, you may have bats! We at Wildlife Out have mastered the art of one-way doors for bats and screening eaves in order to keep bats from roosting along your roof.
Birds
Pigeons are known to nest in our eaves, and they can make quite a mess of it! We will clean and pigeon-proof your house.
Some species of swallows and swifts like to nest along our eaves, and even in our chimneys. While these species are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, we can bird proof these spaces for you, once the baby birds have fledged and left the nest. Note; it is illegal to remove these bird’s nests during nesting season (spring-summer). While it may be inconvenient for us at times, we are thankful for the service these birds provide though their high-quantity consumption of insect pests!
Squirrels
Squirrels love to nest in our attics where they have access to the fluffy insulation we use to keep our house warm or cool. They can be quite destructive in their attempts to make a cozy nest for their babies, but typically move out when the babies are grown. We can help squirrel-proof your attic, and make any insulation repairs that are necessary.