"...because an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Introduction & Disclaimer

Prevention is an imperfect discipline. Animals adapt to our methods and materials and workmanship break and decay over time.  Monitoring and maintenance are necessary in any prevention program. Acting quickly before a problem gets out of hand will save you a lot of trouble down the road.

If you are looking to mitigate a problem that is already occurring please visit the solutions links in the menu bar. If you aren't sure what the cause of the problem is then visit the animal damage identification section.

Here is a diagram of a house with a number of places where animals become a problem. This image is courtesy of Stephen Vantassel.  Click the words of the area you wish to protect.

Caution: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER close a hole or opening unless you are ABSOLUTELY certain an animal is NOT living there.  If you have any questions about whether the opening is being used, then click Animal Damage Identification.

Ridge Vent

The following information is provided to help you evaluate your animal damage prevention needs. We can't guarantee its completeness as animals are doing new things all the time. Please feel free to let us know about new information so we can add it to our list. You can e-mail this information by clicking e-mail

Ordinarily animals enter ridge vents when the end caps fall off. Although the picture to the above left isn't clear, you can see that a nail head shows there is a small gap at the base of this ridge vent end cap.

 However the photo below, shows that even when the gap is secure, a gap can still exist that is large enough to permit the entry of mice.

Animals that typically enter through ridge vents include:

• red squirrels
• flying squirrels
• bats
• mice

Secure open ridge vent ends by employing exterior caulk coupled with hardware cloth or copper stuff-it material to add rigidity to the material.

Although copper stuff-it can be gnawed through by rodents, it is often preferred to the stainless steel counterpart due to its flexibility and ease of fitting into small areas. The benefit of copper stuff-it over steel wool lies in its resistance to rust.