Winter Wildlife to Watch Out for in Ajax

Wildlife animals are adorable to observe as they scurry about outside foraging and stashing their cache of food, gathering material to build their nests and carrying out a number of other activities typical of their species as they prepare to face the winter. This pleasant and positive view of wildlife animals changes though when they find themselves inside human-occupied spaces as they often do during winter months.  Ajax residents are among the millions of people in the world who must cohabitate with wildlife animals (due to the proximity between habitats and human settlement location) and as such must also face wildlife invasion each winter. Being familiar with the trends and tendencies for winter wildlife invasion is the key to identifying and implementing effective wildlife control in Ajax.

Wildlife Animals and Your Ajax Home

Mice, skunks, squirrels, and raccoons are notorious for entering Ajax homes during the winter. They come for two basic things; food and shelter. Every Ajax home offers these two perks in the winter and each year as families cozy up to the warmth of their homes, many are unaware that wildlife animals are also enjoying the space… until the invasion starts to show itself.

Wildlife animals are poor house guests for three main reasons, they make inhabitants of the home uncomfortable, they are associated with diseases and they can cause damage to the building. Diseases like rabies and leptospirosis are carried by wildlife animals and can be transmitted to human beings. Most wildlife animals that enter your home will centre their activities in covert spaces like the attic, between the walls or the ventilation system. They may chew on electrical wiring putting your home at risk for electrical fires or damage the structure in other ways.

Mice

Mice need shelter from the cold to survive each winter. Nature has gifted them with excellent sneaking skills, which means that Ajax residents can be sure that mice will be heading towards their homes each winter. The cunning little animals are able to detect possible breaches by feeling for drafts. They fit into holes and cracks that seem too small for them. All they need is space wide enough to match a dime and they’re in. They are also highly skilled at discerning the presence of food as they can pick up aromas from long distances. Once they’ve identified a smell, they follow it straight to the source.  

With mice come diseases, such as leptospirosis, which is transmitted through the animal’s urine and feces. Your home’s physical structure can also suffer when mice strike. They chew away at parts of the building that can be used to make nests and the biological waste they release encourages rot.

Raccoons

Raccoons are cunning animals with behavior that reflects above normal levels of intelligence. Like mice, they gravitate to your home when winter approaches. Unfortunately for Ajax residents, raccoons don’t enter torpor nor do they hibernate. Raccoon activity is, therefore, a yearlong experience for Ajax residents.

Ajax residents will notice raccoons storing up fat as the first signs of winter emerge. During the winter the raccoons hunker down in their dens – which unfortunately will sometimes be in a house. But this inactivity does not last all winter because when their fat stores are depleted they spring right back into action seeking food to replenish their fat stores.

Skunks

Skunk are less active during the winter than other seasons, but not because they go into hibernation. Instead of hibernating, skunks enter a state called torpor that mimics hibernation. While they can and sometimes do create their own dens, skunks are not averse to capitalizing to ready-made dens, your home.  Occasionally skunks awaken from torpor. A skunk that is startled especially after just coming out of torpor will spray or bite.

Squirrels

Think squirrels in your home are in hibernation? Think again! The truth is that squirrels are active during the winter. Don’t let the extra layers of fat they pack on prior to winter fool you. The animals don’t accumulate this fat to last them through hibernation. On the contrary, they store up all this fat to provide them with sufficient energy for their winter activities!Keep animals out of your Ajax home this winter by preventing their entry. Check for cracks and holes through which animals can get inside. You can also adjust your garbage disposal habits to avoid attracting wildlife animals. Don’t forget the points where utility pipes and wires enter the building as sometimes there are cracks in these areas. Better yet, get an expert wildlife control team like Skedaddle to animal-proof your Ajax home.