Category: Rodents

Squirrels are cute in the wild, but if one or more gets into your house, their cuteness factor tends to decrease exponentially. If squirrels set up home in your house – generally in places such as attics – just the noise that they make while running around making their nests is enough to drive people to insanity, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of their nuisance factor.

Squirrels also have a tendency to chew through electrical cables, often resulting in their own electrocution, which can cause a potential fire risk, or at the very least then leaves you with the cost of hiring an electrician to fix the damage they have caused, as well as clearing up fried squirrel. Squirrels can also carry fleas and ticks which, if you have pets, can be easily transferred to them also.

Worst of all, squirrels are prone to urinating and defecating everywhere and anywhere they please, resulting in unpleasant smells in the home and even potential health risks to you and your family. In other words, once squirrels get into your home, the first thing you want to do is get rid of them. Quickly.

 

Several Ways to Get Rid of Squirrels

Fortunately, there are various ways to safely and quickly get rid of squirrel problems.

The best ways to get rid of these unwanted visitors are generally considered to be:

• Trapping
• Repellants
• Exclusion
• Prevention

Trapping

Trapping squirrels is one of your best options.  There are small steel cages specifically designed for the purposes of trapping squirrels within.  You set them out with some bait, and you are sure to attract the critters.

When you trap them they are still safe and healthy and then you can let them go elsewhere. This is certainly one of the more humane ways to deal with a squirrel problem.

Repellants

Repellants are commonly used to chase squirrels away and put them off returning to your property.  They tend to be simple to implement and are effective.

There are several custom squirrel repellants on the market. Many use hot peppers – ground white, black and red – as ingredients, while others rely on predator urine to scare the squirrels away. Spray, sprinkle or hang these repellants around your home, in flower beds, etc. You can usually find a decent selection at gardening and hardware shops. Take a trip around your local area and see what you can find.

These days, with all the talk surrounding green and organic products, you can even find squirrel repellant products that are completely natural. Check the label and make sure all the ingredients listed are natural. Basically if there are words you can’t pronounce, you can pretty much guarantee they are not natural.

Exclusion

The goal of exclusion is to find and close all possible entry points to your home.  This can include the chimney, window wells, attic access pointes, etc.  Anywhere or anything that would give them access to your home.   Pay particular attention to attic vents and roof based access points you may not usually consider.  For a squirrel, it’s not problem to get up there.

Prevention

If you start to find squirrels poking around your yard, you need to take a second to look around and see what they are after.  Squirrels are going to be attracted by easy access to food.  Bird feeders, outside pet food, etc. Easy access to food around your house (and sometimes even inside your house) are going to attract them and keep them coming back for more.  Take the time to remove any tempting treats you may have inadvertently left out.

Final Thoughts

Keep in mind that squirrels are most active during the day. In other words, it is best to set up any traps or repellants you plan to use during the nighttime.

And if all else fails and you find you are in over your head, you may need to call in a professional company. They have the heavy duty equipment and proper supplies to take care of the problem.  This is especially true if you’ve had a large infestation, and they’ve left a huge mess.  A professional company will have the cleanup equipment and proper chemicals to deodorize and sanitize the excrement left behind from squirrels.

Squirrels are cute when they are out in nature, but less so when they are damaging your attic or garden. With suburbs pushing farther and farther out into the country, animal habitats are getting smaller and smaller. Squirrels have come up with a solution to this problem, they are moving into homes. These animals can cause damage to your home and their noise in an attic can be a bother.

Inside attics, squirrels can eat though electrical wire, which may in extreme cases case a fire. They also soil and tear insolation. Squirrels can also be pests in gardens and lawns by tearing up flower bulbs and plants and pillaging bird feeders. The best way to deal with squirrels in and around your home is to use traps to catch them.

Squirrel Traps

Squirrels often make homes in attics in the fall and winter for the warmth that it provides. If possible, wait until the summer, when it is too hot for squirrels to live there, to block off entrances to your attic. If you need a more immediate solution, squirrel traps are your best bet. Squirrel traps work by using bait, such as crackers, peanut butter, pecans, or sunflower seeds to attract the squirrel to the trap. The trap should be 18 to 24 inches long with an entrance that is about five by five inches. The trap should be placed outside, as near to the entrance to the attic as possible.

Once the squirrel gets inside a mechanism is activated and the opening snaps shut, trapping the squirrel. You should check the trap twice a day for any captured prey. Havaheart makes traps specifically designed for squirrels, and Human Way makes a repeating squirrel trap that can catch multiple squirrels at one time.

Relocating Trapped Squirrels

When dealing with trapped squirrels always wear gloves, as squirrels may be defensive when caught and can host a variety of parasites. Although rabies is extremely rare in squirrels, if the squirrel acts extremely aggressive or convulsive you should contact the authorities. The best way to deal with relocating squirrels is to go at least 4-5 miles away from your home, in a remote wooded area before setting them loose so they are less likely to make their way back to your home or move into somebody else’s home. After you have relocated the squirrels make sure that you block off entrances to your attic before it becomes home for another squirrel.

Keeping Squirrels Out

In order to prevent squirrels access to your roof tree limbs should be cut back at least eight feet from you home, and wood piles should be moved away from the walls of your home. To avoid attracting squirrels to your yard, get rid of bird feeders which squirrels enjoy eating from. If you don’t want to get rid of your bird feeder you can lube up the bird feeding poll with Vaseline so they can’t eat all the bird seed. Spraying Ropel or Hot Pepper Wax on seeds, bulbs, and flowers can be used as a squirrel repellant.