Homeowners can experience nuisance wildlife problems year-round in Houston. I also notice a significant uptick in raccoon and squirrel instruction during these upcoming months as animals seek winter nesting protected from the elements of nature and predators as this is breeding season. For the larger animals, I typically see females being the culprits to establish their breeding dens. As they exit the properties to search for food and water they mark their territory to attract a mate for breeding so where I typically find one, more are soon to follow!
New Home Construction and Nuisance Wildlife
Houston home construction is ripe for animal intrusion regardless of new build or mature homes. This, coupled with environmental conditions along the Texas Gulf Coast causes homes to “open up” more rapidly than in other markets.
Residential structural engineering’s fundamental purposes are to:
- Keep warm in the winter
- Keep us cool during the summer
- Keep us dry
- Comply with “code”.
The building code doesn’t prescribe provisions for preventing wildlife intrusions.
Houston homes have certain elements found on our homes like weep holes because of the warm, humid climate. For example, weep holes are gaps on brick homes near the foundation that allow moisture to exhaust from gaps behind the bricks and between the weather barriers of homes.
These can’t be screened otherwise it will impede the purpose of this ventilation element. We can insert copper mesh, breathable wafer inserts, or a 1/4 inch galvanized hardware cloth to allow the home to breathe but prevent critters such as rats, mice, or snakes from entering. Below is a snakeskin shed at my home.
The Texas Gulf Coast Climate and Wildlife
We also know homes expand, contract, shift, and settle. For the most part, our geology is relatively stable despite being on what is pretty much a swamp but weather expansion and contraction, contrary to popular belief don’t happen over years necessarily but can occur in weeks.
For example, it’s really hot and humid down here, in most of Texas for that matter. In 2022 in Houston, there were 52 days over 100 degrees in the shade. This causes our roofs to heat well in excess of 150 degrees + which can melt boots. Along the coast, we often get steady winds from the gulf which cause pop-up thunderstorms. During the heat of the day when these storms pop up and drop 60-degree rain on such surfaces, expansion/co-reaction happens rapidly. Nowadays in new construction hardy plank is a preferred material of choice which is designed exactly to expand and contract. I’ve seen this process happen in my homes in a season, causing homes to open up, and guess who can come knocking? Rodents! Open pathway to shelter!
Wildlife Behavior during Winter
Along the Texas Gulf Coast, it doesn’t get cold enough nor cold long enough to induce hibernation. With that said, with the change of summer into fall, the cold fronts do trigger the mammalian instinct to see warmth as winter approaches. Most of the homes I see personally during winter have rodent activity.
Natural Predators in Urban Environments
As in any large metropolitan, there is more of an absence of natural predators that control nuisance wildlife populations like rats and squirrels. This often allows populations to go unchecked causing significant issues in large geographical areas.
With this absence of natural predators in addition to homes providing year around protection from the elements of nature, predators and landscaping/irrigation systems/pools providing a constant and sustainable food/water source Metro Houston area has been experiencing a defined increase in wildlife issues in our homes and around our neighborhoods.
About the author
Roger Maul serves as the southwest region sales manager for Critter Control. He has lived and worked in Houston for over twenty years. He lives in The Woodlands with his wife and two daughters.