Different animals can be more or less likely to do damage to your home. Some animals are more likely to do damage than others but might not do as much damage. Some animals may be relatively unlikely to cause damage but can really mess your home up if they do try anything. Knowing how much damage an animal might do to your home is crucial. Here are some of the most common animals ranked by how much damage they’re likely to cause.
Chipmunks tend to be the most damaging animals in a typical home. This is largely because they’re very small. The size of the animal allows it to get into extremely tight spaces, but also ensures that the animal can cause a lot of damage.
As with chipmunks, squirrels can cause a variety of problems in a home. Whether it’s issues with the home’s wiring, problems with insulation, or just concerns with tracking in bacteria and illnesses, squirrels and chipmunks definitely create a lot of damage.
Technically chipmunks and squirrels are rodents, but most people are thinking of mice and rats when they think about rodents. Mice and rats can absolutely wreak havoc on a home, often creating problems with wiring and tracking in disease.
Anyone who’s ever lived in an urban area has seen pigeons. Aside from leaving droppings all over the place, as they’re likely to do, pigeons can also create other problems for a home. Chief among those problems is nesting in a gutter, which can lead to gutter overflow.
A snake can get into a home in a variety of different ways. Because a snake only needs a very small entry point to move into a home, many homes may have snake problems without even knowing it. This is especially common in the winter.
Although bats can cause problems, these problems don’t typically start out as structural ones. Rather, it’s most common for them to be problems with bat droppings. Those can then draw in pests, raise moisture levels, and reduce structural integrity.
There are many things that raccoons use their opposable thumbs for, and it’s most common for them to use those thumbs to create chaos. This is perhaps most evident in homes, where raccoons can tear out wiring and insulation with ease.
Vultures are some of the least likely animals to create problems in your home. However, if they do, they’re likely to hit it hard. Vultures love vinyl and plastic, which can include pool covers and vinyl siding.
The biggest problem to worry about with a skunk is the smell. If a skunk gets startled and sprays near your HVAC system, you should expect to be able to smell that stench for months on end.
Groundhogs love nothing more than digging. However, this can be a problem if they start to dig around your home. Groundhogs can dig holes 45 feet long and five feet underground; under your home, these tunnels can create structural deficits.
The main problem with deer is their skittishness. It’s not unheard of for deer to charge headlong into doors or windows because they see their reflection in them and get startled.
Woodpeckers don’t drill through wood just for fun. They do it because they can sense bugs in the wood. If a woodpecker pecks into your wood, it’s probably because there are bugs in your home’s structure.
Contrary to what you may immediately assume, bears aren’t typically going to be as damaging as you might think. In more urban areas, they’re likely just to rifle through the trash and leave without doing a whole lot else.
Managing issues with animals is important. It’s crucial that you know more about any issues you might be experiencing with pests around your home so that you can fix them if possible. Fixing these problems early is key to fixing them for good.