Is your attic too hot for wildlife?
New England is known for having four completely different seasons. Summer and winter are complete opposites, with summer temperatures often consistent in the 90’s and even 100’s for weeks at a time.
We’ve recently gone through a severely hot spell, with very high humidity. Stepping in an attic shouldn’t last more than a few minutes at the absolute max. Does this mean it is too hot for animals to survive in you’re attic?
The answer is no. well, mostly no. The typical attic bandits (bats, squirrels, birds, raccoons, and even snakes) still visit attics on occasion. The breeding season for all of these species except bat occurs in early spring and young leave the nest by late May or early June typically. So that means the heaviest activity from those species is gone, but they still know about the area and often frequent the site in bad weather or less extreme heat.
Squirrels often breed a second time in late summer, so if you thought the noises you were hearing in the attic were dispersing throughout the hot months and picks back up, that is likely your situation.
Raccoons typically spend less time in attics during the hot months unless the weather isn’t too hot. Often young raccoons that are starting their journeys on their own will venture back to the attic they were born in as a safe space.
The two species that have no issue with the heat of attics are bats and snakes. Although its less common here in the northeast for snakes to be up in the attics, we do have a few species that can make their way up and have very high heat tolerance.
Black rat snakes, which are endangered in Massachusetts and only found in a few locations throughout the sates, are an arborial species that feeds on birds and bird eggs regularly. That means they have no problem getting into your attic (and likely feasting on the mice).
Reptiles are cold blooded meaning their body temperature is not controlled on its own, and it is based on the air temperature. They can handle extreme heat very well. Bats are the other species that actually thrive in the heat.
The bats we deal with around here give birth in early June, and they use the heat of summer to speed up the pups growth. Those young bats will be on their own and not rely on their mothers come august. This process is very quick because the heat amplifies the speed at which the young can grow.
Keep in mind that bats are protected in Massachusetts, and since June and July are the birthing season, we cannot actually evict them until the young are assumed to be old enough to fly and take care of themselves, which is in August.
Different animals are adapted to deal with different circumstances. Just because attics can get extremely warm during the summer under the hot shingles of the roof, doesn’t mean the animals have totally left. Some deal with it better than others, but it is never safe to assume that just because its hot up there, that the animals aren’t still using the space.