How to Identify Common Attic Pests

If you are suddenly hearing unexplained noises coming from your attic area, it is extremely probable that some type of pest may have made himself at home in your attic. It might be a rat who is hiding his family from possible predators, or might be a squirrel family making themselves comfortable. There are several types of common attic pests. The following paragraphs will provide useful information and tips to help determine what type of pest or pests you may have living in your attic.

The first question you should ask yourself when trying to determine what type of attic pest you have, is what do you smell in your attic? Do you smell the odor of skunk spray? Or does it smell more like bat feces and urine? If you can identify the smell, you can often identify the culprit. However, you may not be able to distinguish the different smells of animal feces and urine. If this is the case, there are other steps you can take to help you identify your attic pest.

Listen carefully when you start hearing the strange attic noises. Are they flying around noises, or crawling noises? If the sounds you hear could be caused by flying around, you can safely assume you have airborne pests such as:

• bats
• birds
• an infestation of flying insects

However, if you are hearing noises that can be contributed to crawling around, you can eliminate any possible winged pest. If it is crawling noises your hear, your pests could be creatures such as:

• rats/mice
• raccoons
• squirrels

Other possibilities can include chipmunks or skunks.

To limit the possibilities even more so, it is important to determine whether you hear the noises more often in the daylight hours, or after the sun sets for the day. If you hear them more often during the day, it is safe to eliminate any possible nocturnal pest. In the same sense, if you are hearing more activity at night, it is usually safe to assume the pests in your attic are indeed nocturnal.

Finally, when trying to determine what type of attic pests you may have living in your home, it is important to pay close attention the noises being made.. Is it a cooing noise, possibly a pigeon or dove? Are you hearing hammering noises, like those of a woodpecker? Or are you hearing chew noises, such as those of rats, mice, and chipmunks? Sometimes the key to determining which type of attic pests you may have living in your home is listening carefully to the noises the possible pests are making.

No one wants to share their home with unwanted pests, not even their attics. Attic pests can cause a lot of inconvenience for any home owner, including possible damage to attic insulation and urine and feces smells that can be next to impossible to get rid of. Following the steps and advice above will help you to determine exactly what type of attic pests you have.