Animal Damage to Roofs: Squirrels, Raccoons, Birds, and Woodpeckers

An animal in the roof leaves a specific opening: a chewed vent, a gap where the fascia meets the roof, shingles pulled up near the eave, or holes in wood trim. Order matters more than the patch. Check what your state allows, get the animal out, then close the opening with material it cannot chew through.

Sealing the hole first is the mistake to avoid. An animal shut inside will work to get out, and a sealed opening can trap young that cannot leave on their own. Birds add a legal layer, because federal law protects more than a thousand bird species, woodpeckers among them.

Where Animals Get Into a Roof

Animals use the same weak points water does: places where two materials meet or where the roof has a hole by design. Work around the house in this order, from the top down:

• Roof vents and ridge vents, especially plastic or thin metal units
• Pipe boots, where rubber collars can be chewed
• Chimney tops and the joint where the chimney meets the roof
• Dormer corners and roof-to-wall joints
• The eave, where shingles, drip edge, gutter and fascia meet
• Soffit panels and vents under the overhang
• Gable vents and wood trim on the walls

A damaged vent is two problems at once: an animal entry and a water entry. FEMA’s technical fact sheet on roof vents (No. 7.5, December 2010) addresses water intrusion through vent systems, which can lead to interior damage and mold growth. A chewed vent can let that water in during an ordinary wind-driven rain, not only in a hurricane.

Check from the ground with binoculars or a phone camera on zoom, and at gutter height only from a ladder set up correctly; the guide to setting a ladder against the eave covers angle, extension and power lines. Pay close attention to the fascia line, where a gap or a pushed-out board is easy to miss. The ways fascia and soffit fail explains how edge boards open up. Adding an entry-point scan to the spring and fall maintenance checklist can catch new openings while they are still small.

Which Animal Was It? Reading the Evidence

The opening, its location and the timing of noises narrow the list. Treat the table as a starting point for a conversation with a wildlife specialist, not a diagnosis.

Photograph each opening from the ground with zoom, and note the time of day you hear activity. Those two records do more for a specialist than a description over the phone.

Stay out of the attic area the animal is using. Raccoons use latrine sites, and the CDC’s raccoon roundworm prevention page notes that raccoon feces can be found on rooftops and in attics. It advises an N95-rated respirator when working in a confined space, along with disposable gloves and booties, and says most chemicals do not kill roundworm eggs while heat does. That is a cleanup job for someone equipped for it.

Get the Animal Out Before Closing Anything

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife guide Evicting Animals from Buildings (2004) sets out the order clearly. It says to “first, carefully seal any potential entries, as the animal will seek other ways to get back inside,” and to use a one-way door “only when you can be sure that no young will be trapped inside.” That is one state’s guidance. The order follows how animals behave, so it is a sensible default elsewhere, but your own state’s rules decide what is allowed.

The exclusion order looks like this:

1. Confirm with your state wildlife agency what is allowed for the species and who may do the work.
2. Find and photograph every opening, not only the obvious one.
3. Find out whether young are present. A wildlife specialist can judge this from the species, the season and what is visible.
4. Close every opening except the main one, using permanent materials.
5. Exclude the animal at the main opening, with a one-way door only when no young will be left behind.
6. Confirm there is no more activity before closing the last opening.
7. Close the last opening permanently while the animal is out.
8. Repair the roof damage.

Trapping, relocation and poisons are a separate legal question. Whether any of them is legal depends on the species and the state, so ask your state wildlife agency before anyone sets a trap.

The Legal Limits on Removing Birds and Wildlife

Birds are the clearest case. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service page on woodpeckers and your home (last modified September 17, 2024) states that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act “protects more than a thousand species of birds, including woodpeckers.” It adds that permits for lethal control “will be issued only if non-lethal methods have previously been tried and failed.” For a woodpecker drilling your trim, that means deterrents, exclusion and repair come first. Birds already nesting in a vent raise a separate question.

Before removing a nest from a vent or gutter, ask the Fish and Wildlife Service or your state wildlife agency whether the species is protected and what is allowed while the nest is in use. A nest that looks abandoned may not be.

For squirrels, raccoons and other mammals, check state rules, which differ on trapping, relocation, and which operators need a license or permit. Find your state’s fish and wildlife agency through the state government website and ask three questions: whether the species is regulated, whether a homeowner may exclude it without a permit, and whether a hired operator needs a state license. When you hire, ask which license covers the work and get the exclusion method in writing.

Repairs That Keep the Opening Closed

A repair has to stop teeth and claws as well as water. Foam, caulk and thin plastic do neither for long against a determined animal, and sealant was never meant to bridge an open hole; why caulk fails as a barrier explains the bond problem. Ask for metal: flashing, metal vent guards, or metal mesh fastened mechanically over the opening.

Vents that were chewed should be replaced, not patched. DOE’s Building America guidance on disaster-resistant roof venting says to “select and install upper roof attic vents that resist the entry of wind-blown rain, snow, and embers.” Ask for metal in the replacement as well, so the new vent leaves fewer soft parts for an animal to work on. The types of replacement roof vents are compared on their own page.

In wildfire areas, the vent screen has a specific job. CAL FIRE’s home hardening guide recommends 1/16-inch to 1/8-inch noncombustible, corrosion-resistant metal mesh over vents to block embers. Outside fire zones, follow the vent maker’s screen specification so the vent still moves the air it was designed for.

Chewed pipe boot collars are replaced as a boot; cracked or chewed pipe boots covers how. Damaged fascia boards are replaced, and the gap between fascia and roof edge is closed with metal rather than stuffed. Shingles torn up at the eave are replaced and sealed down like any wind-damaged shingle. Tree limbs that touch the roof act as a bridge, so trimming them back removes the easiest route up.

Before the repair starts, find out whether your homeowners policy pays for any of it. Read the policy’s exclusions section for language about animals, birds or rodents, photograph the damage, and ask your insurer in writing. How policies separate sudden damage from wear explains which sections to read.

Ask the roofer for a photo of each closure before the final payment, showing the metal and its fasteners.

Wildlife Specialist, Roofer, or Both?

Call a wildlife specialist first if the animal may still be inside, if young may be present, or if the animal is a bird. Call a roofer first only when you can confirm the space is empty and the openings are known. When an animal is still inside, you need both: the specialist handles exclusion, and the roofer makes the permanent repairs, ideally on the day the specialist confirms the animal is out.

Before anyone seals anything, photograph every opening from the ground, call your state wildlife agency, and ask both contractors to put metal closures in writing.

This guide is general information for U.S. homeowners, not legal, insurance, tax, or engineering advice. Codes, laws, and policy terms vary by location and change over time; confirm details with your local building department, your insurer, or a licensed professional.

Sources

• Minimizing Water Intrusion through Roof Vents in High-Wind Regions, FEMA Technical Fact Sheet No. 7.5, Federal Emergency Management Agency (via DOE Building America Solution Center)
• Preventing Raccoon Roundworm, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Evicting Animals from Buildings, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
• What to do when your house catches the attention of woodpeckers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Disaster-Resistant Roof Venting, DOE Building America Solution Center
• Wildfire Home Hardening Guide, CAL FIRE