Spring
North Carolina is home to thousands of wild species, from the mountains to the oceans. Black bears, beavers, raccoons, deer, fox, squirrels, and frogs are some of these key players in springtime. Bears usually come out of hibernation in early to mid-April, while other species are more commonly seen year-round. With these animals, there are several notes to be aware of, especially if you own or rent property and like to open doors and windows.
For indoor settings, chimneys and vents become hot spots for wildlife. By regularly checking them for activity, you can decrease the chances of animals nesting and raising their young indoors. Windows, lawns, trees, and building sidings are also common areas for wildlife visitors. Small steps like adding window screens, surveying your lawn for habitats before mowing, and trimming your tree branches, are helpful to ensure your safety as well as the animal’s safety.
Summer
A grueling, sticky, hot and humid North Carolina summer day doesn’t just make for potentially cranky kids at the pool or a sweat-soaked polo on the golf course – summer’s heat affects the animal population just as much as it does citizens of the state. Since so much of the area is made of suburban areas rich with greenways, natural areas, and stretches of woodland, it’s likely that people spending time outdoors will come across some wildlife, and it’s important to know if and how the heat may affect those encounters.
Shelter
The first thing that animals – and most people – will do when the thermometer creeps over 100 degrees is to seek shelter. And both animals and people usually find a nice, air-conditioned house to be an excellent choice of shelter to cool off. Moving into summer, be aware if your home has any openings that pests or other animals might make use of in order to survive the hottest days of the year. The good news, of course, is that you’re less likely to run into animals in the wild in severe heat.
Eating
Wild and domestic animals will show a shift in their eating habits once the heat kicks into high gear, because seasonal changes in daylight and temperature trigger significant hormonal changes in mammals. These shifts alter the animal’s metabolism and greatly influence food intake. As temperatures increase, mammals become less active and therefore burn less energy. As days get longer during the warmer months, mammals will show decreased food seeking behavior and shifts in cellular metabolism.
What’s that mean? Your dog won’t be as hungry. But, a lower bill for pet food isn’t the only benefit you’ll see with animals eating less in the heat – you’ll see a tapering of pests scavenging for food. So, the tradeoff is a few 100 degree days for fewer raccoons flipping over your trash cans.
Fall Animal Problems
Autumn in North Carolina marks a major transition period for nuisance wildlife. As temperatures cool and daylight shortens, many animals shift from summer foraging to denning, nesting, and overwintering behaviors. This seasonal change increases the likelihood of wildlife entering homes, attics, crawl spaces, sheds, and chimneys. Homes with gaps, roofline damage, uncapped chimneys, or accessible crawl spaces are especially vulnerable during this time of year.
Most Common Fall Pests in North Carolina
- Rats and Mice: Mice and rats move indoors to escape cooler nights and secure steady food sources.
- Squirrels: Squirrels stockpile food and seek safe nesting sites before winter.
- Raccoons: Raccoons seek warm, dry den sites and reliable food sources.
- Bats: Bats move between summer roosts and winter hibernation sites.
- Skunks and Opossums: These animals forage heavily to build fat reserves.
Nuisance Wildlife and Pests in the Winter
Pests often see your home as a pretty attractive place to go to get out from the cold, too. North Carolina has some pretty unpredictable winters, one minute it’s snowing, the next you’re tempted to pull your shorts out from storage. But, winter animal behavior is relatively predictable and knowing what you’re up against can keep your home full of guests rather than pests.
During the colder months, many animals look for a place to lie low. They want an area that is dry, away from cold winds, dark and maybe a little warmer than the surrounding temperatures. The crawlspace and attic match their goals perfectly. Raccoons, foxes, opossums, rats, mice and many other animals would love nothing better than to hole up in that prime real estate. Don’t let them. They can cause damage, spread waste and bacteria and possibly gain access to the rest of your home.
Although many bat species leave for warmer areas in the winter or go underground to caves, some hibernate all winter in homes, especially big brown bats. Squirrels, rats and other rodents also enjoy attics as a place to make nests. If you hear scratching from above, that’s a good sign of unwanted guests in the attic. Chewed boxes, nests, droppings and strong odors are an even better sign.
Every want to be a fly on the wall? What about a cluster fly inside a wall? Some species of insect (like cluster flies) have a habit of “overwintering” between walls. They find a warm place, reduce their movement and just hang out. They may not come out from behind there, but it can also be disturbing to realize thousands of insects have infested the space between your walls. If a few dazed, lethargic bugs (usually ladybugs, box elders, stink bugs and cluster flies) wander out from time to time, you may have an infestation behind the walls.
Rodents, especially mice, sometimes will take up residence in between walls too. The danger here is that they can spread disease as they come out to find food. Also, they are known to chew on electric wires, causing damage and power outages.
Most Common Winter Pests in North Carolina
Here are the main categories of pest that you should watch out for this winter in North Carolina.
- Lager mammals: If you think about it, the crawl space is really the perfect place for many animals to shelter for the winter. This is especially true if you have moisture in your crawl space.Foxes, raccoons and opossums will find crawl space attractive. Because it’s out of sight, it can become out of mind, and you can soon have an entire ecosystem living under there.
- Rodents: The most common rodents you will find in your home in Raleigh, Durham and the surrounding areas are the house mouse, the black rat (also known as the roof rat), the Norway rat and the gray squirrel. Black rats and gray squirrels are more common in attics and gutters, while house mice and Norway rats are common in garages, between walls and anywhere else they can hide. All of them carry diseases with their waste and their bites (which is only likely if they’re cornered). They can also chew wiring, which causes damage and even a fire risk.
- Overwintering bugs: “Overwintering” is a term used for bugs that is similar to the concept of hibernation. But many bugs “overwinter” between the walls of homes. For the most part, because they are inactive, you won’t see them and they won’t cause many problems. But their presence can be frightening if you uncover their nests and find hundreds of bugs packed together in your home. The most likely culprits for overwintering behind your walls are boxelder bugs, ladybugs and stink bugs.
- Active bugs: It’s not just hibernating insects that invade your home in the colder months though. Other insects and spiders that remain active all year round will find a warm home as the perfect place to get out of the cold. Cockroaches, bed bugs, certain flies and many varieties of spider are known to move indoors for the winter.
