You found the hole. A gap in the soffit, a roof vent hanging loose, scratching over the ceiling at night — and the obvious fix looks simple: seal it shut and the problem is over. It is the most understandable instinct in wildlife removal, and the one that makes the problem worse. Sealing is the right finish. Done first, before the animal is out, it traps a live animal inside your home — and everything that follows costs more.
What happens when you seal an animal inside
An animal sealed in an attic or wall does not sit quietly and give up. It is trapped in its den, and it will try hard to get out — or further in.
New damage, in worse places. A trapped raccoon will rip and tear at soffits, vents and roof decking to find another way out. A trapped squirrel will chew — wood, wiring, pipes, and the framing around the sealed hole. Seal first and you often end up with a second, larger opening, or an animal pushed down into a wall cavity, where finding it, getting it out, and repairing what it chews all get harder.
Odour and cleanup if it dies in there. An animal that cannot get out to food and water will eventually die inside the structure. In an attic that means contaminated insulation; in a wall, an odour through the whole house and a much bigger cleanup. A one-day removal becomes a restoration job.
More contamination, spread wider. Droppings and urine that would have been limited to one den area get spread as the confined animal searches for an exit.
None of that is scare talk — it is the pattern wildlife operators walk into again and again, usually right after a well-meaning patch went up.
The mother-and-young problem nobody thinks about
There is a second animal you may not have heard: the young one that cannot leave on its own.
In spring, raccoons and squirrels denning in an attic often have babies with them. The mother goes out through your hole every night. The babies stay. Seal that hole while she is out and you have separated a mother from her young — she will work hard, and destructively, to get back in, and the young left inside will die in the attic. Seal it while she is in and the whole family is trapped.
That is why a proper inspection checks for young before anything is closed, and why timing is part of the work.
Sealing only the hole you can see also fails
Even when no animal is home, the quick patch usually disappoints — for two reasons.
First, the visible hole is rarely the only one. Rooflines have secondary weak points: the next soffit corner, an unprotected vent, a gap at the chimney or plumbing stack. Close one door and they'll test the next — that is the rule we work by on every raccoon removal and squirrel removal job.
Second, weak materials do not hold. Spray foam, caulk and thin patching are not wildlife-proof. Squirrels chew straight through foam. Raccoons rip and tear at light covers and lift loose boards. A failed patch doesn't just reopen the problem — the animal often expands the opening getting back in.
How a one-way door works — the right order
Humane removal is a sequence, and sealing is step four, not step one:
Inspect first. The attic and full roofline are checked to confirm the animal, find every entry point, and check for young.
Seal the secondary points. Every other gap is closed and reinforced, leaving the main entry as the only way out.
Fit the one-way door. It is installed over that main entry, swings out so the animal can leave on its own — and cannot push back in.
Confirm the attic is empty. Only when the animal is confirmed out is the door removed and that last point sealed permanently.
Clean up where needed. Droppings, nesting and fouled insulation are dealt with once the space is empty.
There is an Ontario reason the job is built this way. Under Ontario's rules, a captured wild animal generally has to be released within 1 kilometre of where it was caught — trapping and driving it far away is not the legal or humane answer, and it leaves your entry hole open for the next animal anyway. A one-way door respects that rule by design: the animal leaves on its own, stays in its own territory, and the thing that gets fixed is your house. See the province's rules for wildlife damaging private property on Ontario.ca.
In fall, the order matters even more. A raccoon or squirrel in your attic in October is not passing through — it is choosing a winter den. Sealing it inside turns a straightforward fall removal into a winter-long problem.
Already sealed something in? Do this now
If you have already patched a hole and the scratching, thumping or chewing is still there — or has gotten louder — do not add more patches, and do not wait it out. A noise that suddenly stops after a sealing is not always good news.
Leave the other openings alone, keep people and pets out of the attic, and get an inspection booked. A professional can confirm whether an animal is still inside, reopen the right point safely if needed, and restart the job in the correct order.
How Regional Wildlife Services handles it
Regional Wildlife Services is owner-operated — Sean Thornton, 20+ years removing wildlife humanely, does the inspection and the work himself. The order never changes: inspect, fit the one-way door, seal every entry point once the animal is confirmed out, and clean up where it's needed. No animal sealed inside, no patch over a problem. You can see one-way doors and the sealing work itself in our gallery of real job photos.
Standing in the driveway looking at a hole right now? Don't close it yet. Get it looked at first, and close it last — permanently.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if I seal a raccoon or squirrel inside my attic?
It will try to get out, and that effort is destructive — raccoons rip and tear at vents, soffits and decking, and squirrels chew wood, wiring and pipes. If it dies inside, you are left with odour and a contaminated cleanup on top of the original removal.
How does a one-way door remove an animal humanely?
The door is fitted over the main entry after every other opening has been sealed. It lets the animal leave on its own — which it will, to find food and water — and prevents it getting back in. Once the attic is confirmed empty, the door is removed and that entry is sealed permanently.
Why not just trap it and release it somewhere else?
In Ontario, a captured wild animal generally must be released within 1 kilometre of where it was caught. Relocating also leaves your entry point open, so another animal moves in. One-way doors and sealing solve the house, not just the one animal.
I already sealed the hole and I can still hear something. What should I do?
Don't seal anything else and don't ignore it — a trapped animal does more damage the longer it is inside. Book an inspection so the entry can be checked, safely reopened if needed, and the removal restarted in the right order.
Is it ever safe to seal an entry point myself?
Only once you are certain the space is empty — no animals, no young left behind — and only with materials an animal cannot chew or tear through. Any doubt about what's inside is the answer: have it inspected first.
Found the hole? Don’t close it yet
Call Regional Wildlife Services at 905-320-8984. We take phone calls and bookings 7 days a week; service appointments run Monday to Friday typically, and weekend calls book jobs in for the following week. We serve Burlington, Oakville, Milton, Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Georgetown and the Niagara region — and we'll make sure whoever is in your attic is out, humanely, before any entry point is sealed. Ready when you are: contact us.
