Florida attics are prime wildlife real estate
Raccoons, squirrels, opossums, and even armadillos under the house — Orlando's mix of oak canopy, lakes, and suburban attics is ideal habitat. Squirrels chew through soffits and fascia to nest. Raccoons pry up roof vents and tear through weak soffits, especially mothers looking for a den in spring. Opossums wander in through pet doors and foundation gaps. Once inside, they tear up insulation, chew wiring, and leave droppings that are a genuine health concern.
And here is the part people miss: the animals are only half the problem. The entry points stay open after they leave, and in Florida something always moves into an open hole.
Removal first, exclusion second
We start with a full inspection — roofline, soffits, vents, chimney, foundation, and crawl spaces — to find every entry point and identify what is living inside. Removal is humane: one-way doors that let animals exit but not re-enter, live trapping where appropriate, and timing that accounts for baby season (sealing a mother out from her young creates a much worse problem inside your walls).
Then we seal. Steel mesh, metal flashing, and proper repairs — not foam, which raccoons peel off like tape. Chimney caps, vent covers, soffit repairs, and foundation gaps all get closed with materials the animals cannot defeat.
The Orlando wildlife calendar
Spring is baby season — raccoons and squirrels den in attics from late winter through spring, which is why sealing must be timed carefully. Summer brings armadillo digging in irrigated lawns. Fall is when everything starts looking for winter shelter. Knowing the season tells us what to expect before we open the attic hatch.
How It Works: Our Wildlife Process
- Free inspection. Roofline, soffits, vents, chimney, foundation, and crawl spaces. We find every entry point and identify exactly what is living inside.
- Removal plan. One-way doors that let animals exit but not re-enter, live trapping where appropriate, and timing that accounts for baby season.
- Humane removal. We get the animals out safely. Sealing a mother away from her young creates a far worse problem inside your walls, so timing and method matter.
- Exclusion sealing. Steel mesh, metal flashing, and proper repairs on every entry point. Not foam, which raccoons peel off like tape.
- Follow-up verification. We confirm no new activity and that every seal is holding before we call it done.
Squirrels vs. raccoons vs. rats: reading the signs
You can narrow it down before we arrive. Daytime scurrying and chewing usually means squirrels: they are active during the day and love to gnaw. Heavy thumping at night points to raccoons or opossums: nocturnal, heavier, clumsier. Light scratching and skittering in walls or ceilings is more often roof rats.
The physical evidence tells the rest. Squirrel entry points show gnawed wood around soffits and fascia. Raccoons pry: bent vents, torn soffits, damaged shingles where they forced entry. Droppings differ by size and shape, and rub marks along beams show regular travel routes. Our inspection reads all of it to confirm the species before we plan anything.
Baby season: why timing runs the job
From late winter through spring, raccoons and squirrels den in attics to raise young. This changes everything about the job. Seal an entry point while babies are still inside and you have dead animals in your walls: odor, flies, and damage as the mother tears the house apart trying to get back in.
We inspect for young before any sealing, and we use one-way doors that let mothers move their young out on their own schedule where possible. Sometimes the right call is waiting a few weeks for the young to be mobile. We will tell you when that is the case, even though waiting is not what anyone wants to hear. Doing it right the first time beats doing it twice.
The entry points we seal most
After hundreds of Orlando inspections, the list is predictable: soffit returns where the roof meets the wall, gable and roof vents with damaged screens, turbine and static roof vents raccoons pry up, chimneys without caps, fascia gaps squirrels widen by gnawing, pipe penetrations with gaps around them, foundation gaps and crawl space vents, and garage door seals that no longer meet the ground.
Every one of them gets sealed with materials the animals cannot defeat: steel mesh, metal flashing, concrete repair, proper vent covers, chimney caps. Foam and caulk alone are not exclusion: squirrels and raccoons go through them in a night. The material choice is the difference between a repair and a solution.
Hearing movement overhead?
Send the form below or call (301) 679-9193. Free inspection — we will identify your visitor and lay out the removal and sealing plan.