Now that fall is here and colder weather has arrived, animals are looking for warm and safe places to make their winter nests. One area that is often chosen is the space under a deck. Many animals, including raccoons, skunks, groundhogs, and opossums, make their nests there. Here are some tips to keep animals from living under your deck.
Make Sure Animals Are Not Already Living under Your Deck
The best way to keep animals out from under your deck is to create a physical barrier, but before you do that you need to make sure there are not animals already living there. If you are not sure, you can sprinkle flour near an opening or put sticks in the ground. If there is a narrow opening, you can stuff it with newspaper. Check the area every day for three days. If what you put there is undisturbed, it is unlikely that there are animals living under your deck, so you can seal it off.
How to Get Rid of Animals under Your Deck
If there are already animals living under your deck, you can make it less appealing as a nesting site. You can remove vegetation to allow in more natural light. Animals prefer to make nests in dark places, so allowing in a lot of light can cause them to leave. Animals also prefer dry areas, so you can make them leave by running a hose next to the deck. Do not use any poisons or traps.
Dig a trench a foot deep near the opening and put in ¼- to ½-inch wire mesh or hardware cloth or strips of lattice. Use a piece that is 12 inches wider than the area you need to cover. Bend the bottom 6 inches out in an L-shape to prevent animals from digging under it. Put the mesh in the trench. If you are using lattice, put the bottom edge at least 2 feet deep. Then fill in the trench with soil. Nail or staple the top of the mesh to the bottom of the deck. Install a one-way door somewhere along the wire mesh to allow an animal that might be trapped to leave.
If you don’t want to dig, you can use patio blocks to cover the opening. Cover the space with hardware cloth and put patio blocks on top of it instead of burying it. The ground should have a slight angle so that water runs away from the blocks.
If an Animal Is in Your House, Call Anderson Wildlife Control
If these measures don’t work, or if an animal has gotten into your house, it can be trapped and relocated. Call the professionals at Anderson Wildlife Control. We will humanely live-trap the animal, find the entry point it used to get in, and seal it off to prevent others from getting into your house in the future. Contact Anderson Wildlife Control today.
