When Wild Animals Take up Residence in Your Home and How to Get Them Out

Where are the wild things?  Apparently they are getting cozy indoors where it's warm.  The other day, someone I know posted a great story on their Facebook page about a duck getting stuck in their chimney and all the fun that ensued.  Ok, it really wasn't that much fun.  Imagine trying to get a duck of all things out of your chimney!  Not an easy job. Now I've heard of all kinds of wild animals finding a way to get into people's home: squirrels, mice, moles, bats, possums, raccoons, bugs, and various birds but never a duck.

In our house, we get moles (which the cat takes care of), all kinds of lady bugs, a few stink bugs here and there and have had bat problems in the past.  Let's hope it stops there because it's not easy getting rid of critters once they decide they like your house.

If you find yourself with an unwanted critter in your home here are some tips from apartmenttherapy.com on getting it out of your house:

1. Don't freak out!
2. Don't touch it unless you want to end up getting rabies shots!
3. Close the animal in one room if you can.
4. Open up as many escape routes as possible in the room (i.e. windows and doors)
5. Leave a trail of food (I like to use cat food) leading out of the house.
6. Wait it out, animals are dumb and take a while to figure out how to get out.
7. If all else fails, call Animal Control.