The Seven Animals That Can Cause the Most Damage to Your Home

Pests can cause a lot of damage to your home, keep reading to find out which animals these are!

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There are many things that can cause a lot of damage to your home. However, most people tend to think of Mother Nature when they think of home damage – hail, rain, wind, and so forth. The problem is that these definitely aren’t the top issues for causing damage to a home. Pests can actually cause many more problems than the weather. Here are seven of the animals that cause the most damage in many homes.

Chipmunks

Chipmunks are very small. That means they’re great at getting into the home through gaps in your foundation. Plus, they love to wreak havoc. A chipmunk can use its big teeth to gnaw through your baseboard, burrow through your walls, and spread bacteria all throughout the home. Chipmunks can carry Lyme disease and even the bubonic plague, making them an important pest to get rid of if you notice them.

Squirrels

As with chipmunks, squirrels tend to be pretty small and have a tendency toward burrowing and chewing through things. When you’re dealing with squirrels, they can climb into the home through your foundation, your ducts, or even your chimney. Squirrels also make nests, which they tend to do in basements and crawl spaces, often using elements like electrical wiring and insulation from your basement or crawl space to do so.

Rodents

Technically, chipmunks and squirrels are both rodents, but when you’re discussing rodents as pests in your basement or crawl space, you’re usually going to be thinking about mice and rats. This is for good reason; mice and rats are some of the most common pests to see in a basement or crawl space. They can leave droppings all over the place, eat through electrical wiring and drywall, and potentially bring all sorts of disease into the area. Plus, if a rat dies inside your walls, it’s going to start smelling pretty quickly. This can also cause its own issues with disease.

Pigeons

Most urban areas deal with pigeons of some kind. However, pigeons that swarm around your home can be much more frustrating than pigeons that just walk around a city. This is because pigeons often build nests wherever they can. If pigeons build their nests in your home’s roof or gutters, they can actually block the gutters, potentially causing serious issues when the next rainfall hits and the water can’t flow through your gutters appropriately.

Snakes

One of the reasons that snakes can be such a frustrating problem to deal with is because they’re great at getting into even very tiny openings. Because snakes are cold-blooded, they may seek your home’s interior warmth, and even the tiniest opening into the home can allow them entrance. Because snakes can be venomous, they’re a health hazard on their own, but they can also lure in larger predators who prey on snakes.

Bats

If you’ve noticed bats around your home, it’s good to know that they’re probably not going to create much structural damage, if any at all. However, bats can certainly bring diseases and bacteria, typically through animal droppings. Plus, their droppings can attract bugs, which they prey on. It’s a good idea to get bats out of anywhere they might hide in your home

Raccoons

Because raccoons are so mischievous, it’s common for them to cause significant amounts of damage if they get into your home. Racoons can tear up insulation and tear out electric wiring, destroy ducts, and leave their droppings all over the home. Although it’s pretty rare, raccoons can also carry diseases as severe as rabies, making them an important pest to address as soon as possible.

Conclusion

It’s true that these aren’t the only animals that can damage your home; there are many different animals that can cause serious damage in a home. However, they’re the animals that tend to cause the most damage overall. Make sure you keep an eye out for all pests, especially these ones.