"What's your worst home remodel horror story?" the woman asked.

I took a deep, cleansing breath. "Well, there was this possum," I began. I flashed back to the first of three homes my husband and I built -- in this case, rebuilt. In the heat of July, a horrible stench overtook the site, a smell so vile that the workers -- guys who thought nothing of eating their lunch while leaning against a PortaPotty -- evacuated and refused to return. Before abandoning me, one worker said, "You should find what died under your house."

I hit the Yellow Pages. A thin man showed up and handed me his card: "Dead Under the House Animal Removal Expert."

He took a deep sniff. "Possum," he said with certainty.

"Remodeling often invites unwanted visitors," says Bonnie Bradshaw, owner of 911 Wildlife in Dallas, "because it creates more ways for animals to get into your house." The risk is higher in late spring and early summer, when many animals are looking for a nesting place.

Here are Bradshaw's tips for keeping critters from moving in and helping them move out:

• Know their habits. "Raccoons, possums, squirrels and skunks are omnivores. Their goal is to find the most food using the least energy." Many of these animals are nocturnal. They seek dark, quiet, safe places. Attics, crawl spaces, walls and chimneys are perfect.
• Don't invite them. Bird feeders, pet food and trash left out overnight look to omnivores like an open buffet.
• Keep up on home maintenance. Tree branches and ivy growing onto roofs or up to decks create perfect cover. Keep them trimmed. Be sure vents, ducts and soffits around your house and chimneys have good screen covers. Install heavy gauge wire mesh between ground and decks. "Raccoons laugh at chicken wire," Bradshaw says.
• Put up motion lights. Nocturnal animals don't like light.
• Respond to the call of the wild. Sounds in the night often are the first sign that wildlife is in the house. Most people patch the hole they think the animal is using, or set out poison or traps. All those methods are mistakes.

If you patch, chances are something alive is still inside, where it will die, rot and stink. Instead, roll a tennis ball soaked with ammonia into the space. The animal won't like the smell and will move on. Cover the hole with newspaper. If the paper remains intact for 24 hours, the critter has left. Patch the hole.

• Know when you're too late. Swarms of flies, fleas or a bad smell indicate that something died. Call a pro.

(Servicemagic.com can link you to screened animal removal experts in your area.)

Experts can use a snake camera to find the animal. They know where to look, have no qualms about crawling in dark spidery spaces, usually get the varmint, handle any offspring, deodorize, decontaminate and dispose of the corpse. Whatever they charge is worth it.

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