Raccoons, squirrels and bats cause a different kind of damage than rats and mice. They are larger, stronger, often protected by law, and frequently arrive with young. A raccoon that tears through a roof decking to reach an attic does structural damage in a single night. Handling these animals is as much a legal and safety question as a pest question.
Call (469) 402-9767 to schedule an inspection.
Raccoons
Raccoons are the most destructive attic invader in North Texas. They are strong enough to tear back roof decking, pull apart soffit and rip open ductwork, and dexterous enough to work at a weak point until it gives. An adult raccoon in an attic will flatten insulation across a wide area simply by moving through it.
The complication is almost always babies. Female raccoons choose attics and chimneys specifically as den sites in spring. Sealing the entry point without first confirming whether a litter is present traps the young inside, where they die – which creates an odour problem, an insect problem, and a genuinely unpleasant removal job weeks later. Any competent raccoon job begins by establishing whether there are kits.
Raccoons are also a rabies vector species in Texas and carry raccoon roundworm in their droppings, which is why cleanup is handled as contamination work rather than ordinary cleaning.
Squirrels
Squirrels are the daytime noise. If you hear movement overhead in the morning and early evening but silence at night, squirrels are the likely answer – the reverse pattern points to rodents.
They typically enter at the roofline, using overhanging branches to reach gable vents, damaged soffit, or the gap where a roof plane meets a wall. Like rats, they gnaw constantly, and squirrels chewing attic wiring is one of the more common causes of electrical faults in older DFW homes.
Squirrels nest twice a year in Texas, in late winter and again in mid summer, so the same timing question applies as with raccoons: young must be accounted for before anything is sealed.
Bats – and why the law matters here
Bats are the one attic problem where doing the wrong thing is not just ineffective but illegal. Under the Texas Parks and Wildlife Code, Chapter 63, it is unlawful to hunt, sell, buy or possess a bat, dead or alive. There is a narrow exception allowing bats to be removed from an occupied building, but they may not be killed or trapped.
Exclusion is the only lawful method. One-way devices let the colony leave to feed and prevent it from getting back in. Nothing is trapped and nothing is handled.
Timing is equally constrained. Roughly April through August is maternity season, when females are nursing flightless pups. Excluding during that window seals the mothers out and the pups in, which kills them and leaves them in the structure. Texas Parks and Wildlife guidance points to early spring and the late-summer-to-autumn window as the appropriate times to exclude.
If you have bats in maternity season, the honest answer is usually that the exclusion has to wait – and any company willing to do it anyway is putting you on the wrong side of both the law and the outcome you wanted.
How HomeGuard handles wildlife
- Identify the species and confirm whether young are present. This determines everything that follows.
- Locate every entry and travel route across the roofline, soffit, vents, chimney and eaves.
- Remove humanely – one-way exclusion where appropriate, hands-on removal where young are involved.
- Seal the structure to a standard that holds against animals considerably stronger than rodents. See exclusion services.
- Decontaminate where droppings and nesting material have accumulated. See attic decontamination.
Where we work
HomeGuard provides wildlife removal across Dallas-Fort Worth, including Rockwall, Wylie, McKinney, Dallas, Frisco, Rowlett, Heath, Fate, Royse City and Lavon.
Related reading
- Raccoons in the Attic: Damage, Health Risks, and Humane Removal in DFW
- Squirrels in Your Attic: Fire Risk, Costly Damage, and How to Get Them Out
- Bats in Your Home: Health Risks and Why Exclusion Is the Only Real Fix
Hearing something in the attic? Call (469) 402-9767 or request an inspection.