How to keep wild animals out from under a shed or porch

Wild animals usually spend their days seeking two things: food and shelter. This means that anything as small as a mouse or as big as a fox is constantly looking inside hollow trees, abandoned dens, small caves, or underground holes for a place to nest, raise their young, hibernate or hide from predators.

Obviously, this puts human residences on the animal market too. Dark, dry and warm places like attics, sheds, crawl spaces and porches are absolute favorites for wild animals, especially the small ones that can come and go without being noticed. Letting a small family of raccoons live under your porch may sound like a very altruistic and kind thing to do, but unfortunately, they can cause a lot of damage and become a nuisance or a danger to your, your children or your pets.

Before animal proofing these spaces, you must make absolutely sure that there are no animals currently living there, as blocking it up with the animals inside will condemn them to a slow and panicked death, and will be faced with the smell of decaying animals for many months. Calling an animal removal company is always the best choice, as they can do it quickly and safely, guaranteeing that neither the handlers or the animals get hurts or injured.

Once your porch or shed is absolutely animal free, you must proceed to prevent any future invasion by identifying their access point and blocking off any holes or cracks in the structure. Hardware cloth can be very useful for covering up crawl spaces, the sides of sheds or holes burrowed underneath the walls. Although not very aesthetic, it is very effective in preventing small wildlife from entering these coveted nesting places. You can cover up the hardware cloth with garden tiles, hedges or a flower path, and use this time to get a little landscaping in as well!

Some people may choose to use chicken coop or planks of wood, but small animals are cunning; raccoons and weasels can easily rip chicken coop apart, and almost any of them can chew their way through wood faster that you could think possible.

Go back to the How to Get Rid of Pests page or email us if you have any other questions about How to keep wild animals out from under a shed or porch