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Squirrels!

lunatic59

lunatic59

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Anybody have any experience getting rid of these guys? I seem to have little grey squatters in my attic.

I got a haveaheart trap and caught me an interloper, but I think he's part of a gang.

squirrel.jpg


I know where they're getting in (at least the main entrance) but I'm hesitant to plug it up until I'm sure they're out of the attic space. I don't want them trapped and either dying and stinking up the place or chewing through the ceiling to get out.
 
Well, if bait lures them out, and you know where they are, try something that would repel them. Put it in their hole, wait a day, then board it up.
 
The problem I have with repellents is that a.)the things that supposedly work are not the kind of things i'd want my dogs exposed to (I have three) and b.) they don't seem to work that well in the first place.
 
There was an old lady who swallowed a fly ... ;)

There was an Old Lady song

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,
That wriggled and wiggled and tiggled inside her;
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a bird;
How absurd to swallow a bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a cat;
Fancy that to swallow a cat!
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady that swallowed a dog;
What a hog, to swallow a dog;
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a cow,
I don't know how she swallowed a cow;
She swallowed the cow to catch the dog,
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat,
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird,
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly;
I don't know why she swallowed a fly - Perhaps she'll die!
There was an old lady who swallowed a horse...
She's dead, of course!
 
I wouldn't hang around there Luna, they can be incredibly destructive to the roof timbers. Get the pros in to deal with it if necessary, and yes you have to identify their point of ingress. They can also be vicious little creatures when cornered, well that was according to the pest control guy we had in last time.
 
LV426 said:
they can be incredibly destructive to the roof timbers.
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Yeah, I know, that's why I want them gone. The thing is that the "pros" around here will either put out poison or live-trap them like I'm doing. I'll plug the hole once they are out.
 
I would plug the hole and continue with the have-a-heart trap. Especially with the cold weather coming more critters will be looking for shelter. Go to a hardware store and get steel wool and stuff it in the hole. Then there is a sandable Great Stuff that is made specifically to seal holes for animals. The steal wool also prevents them from chewing back through the hole.
 
Several years ago some friends of mine had this similar problem. They didn't want to use repellents or other chemical solutions either. We debated on confronting them directly with brooms and fire extinguishers but later just decided the most practical way was to make what those squirrels thought was a comfy, new home and change it into an uncomfortable one -- left a boom box blaring away with a floodlight pointed directly into the corner they nested in. Took a couple of days but they just left on their own.

As for the opening you suspect to be their point of entry, is it something like a piece of rotted wood that fell out or some kind of vented opening where the screening/venting needs replacing? If the former block it off of course, but if the latter don't forget the need to properly vent your attic. All the heat and humidity that collects in the highest part of your home needs to go somewhere.
 
It's actually a gap in the soffit where the eaves meet the garage roof. It meets at a 45° angle and it looks like they've pushed it open just enough to squeeze in. We had our roof replaced a couple of years ago after a hail storm and I think the roofers had to detach the soffit vent to run the flashing up the side of the garage. It's my guess they didn't reattach the channel properly and Rocket J. Squirrel discovered it.

Now, you have to understand also that our house has vinyl siding and they can't climb it. It's humorous to watch them try. However, at the far corner of our front porch is a birch tree that has grown close enough to the roof that the squirrels can climb up and jump from there. They then scurry across the roof and over the top to the back of the house where this gap exists. I've seen them do it ... and in the evening you can hear then scurrying across the shingles.
 
Why would you all wanted to kill or get rid of such a delightful creatures..they are so cute!!!..they make the rats go away..
 
Xavier Black said:
Why would you all wanted to kill or get rid of such a delightful creatures..they are so cute!!!..they make the rats go away..
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When they have the potential to chew through your whole roof support joists, causing the top of your house to collapse, incurring thousands in damage.
 
Being a city boy living in an apartment I call the Animal Care and Control office. They won't do anything if you have squirrels in your walls but they will send out an officer if the animal is actually in your apartment and won't leave.

We had a squirrel come in from our back porch and run around the kitchen walls eventually stopping on the trim of the kitchen window. When I called Animal Control and told them I have a squirrel in my kitchen they said i should call an exterminator. I said "It's not in my wall, IT'S ON MY WALL!. I'm looking right at it!" The officer used a net, trapped the rodent, and took it to an undisclosed location.
 
Awww, that's mean (unless you intend to eat them, then okay.)

Caught the mate to the first little bugger this morning. They both looked pretty young, so they were either the offspring of the adult squirrels that live in the woods behind the house, or they were a new couple in town setting up housekeeping for the winter. Either way, they've been deposited in the woods on the other side of the river about 5 miles away.

I'm keeping the trap baited until it stays empty for a couple of weeks and the scratching in the ceiling stops.

Next ... chipmunks.
 
This is animal cruelty!, it's bullshit!, if you have then in your roof, kitchen, what have you..then go ahead and feed them..then they won't eat your sheatrock..common sense..come on guys..where's your street smarts??..you all are supposedly "ranked" 33, 3, 21 and so on..where's your intelligence???..you spend a thousand dollars in a gun..but are so cheap to spend a couple of dollars to feed them??..no wonder we as a human race are so ****ing dyslexics..

You all sound just like that damn mother ****er who killed the big lion, just because is cool or because he felt threaten or what ever the **** was his excuse..that's disgusting!!!

Have a good day.
 
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Do you feed worms, mosquitoes, spiders, owls, coyotes, frogs? Do you invite them into your home? I have no problem with the little guys stealing the bird food as long as the birds get some, too, or nesting in the trees in my yard, and if all they did was to make noise in the attic, I'd probably be okay with that, too but these guys can cause real damage to where I live. Not only do they chew through the structure, they chew on the wiring and can easily burn my house down.

Just so you understand, squirrels don't gnaw through wood and wiring for food.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to run out and get a bag of Purina Termite Chow for the cute little guys living in my foundation.
 
Clementine_3 said:
I let spiders stay and fed one because the web was between the window and screen.
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I don't bother the spiders because they eat the little bugs, and the orb web builders are amazing engineers, and I can't bring myself to harm the nerds of the arthropod world. ;)

PetCo was all out of termite chow, so I stopped at the red cross and got some soup for the ticks in my yard. :D
 
Xavier Black said:
This is animal cruelty!, it's bullshit!, if you have then in your roof, kitchen, what have you..then go ahead and feed them..then they won't eat your sheatrock..common sense..come on guys..where's your street smarts??..you all are supposedly "ranked" 33, 3, 21 and so on..where's your intelligence???..you spend a thousand dollars in a gun..but are so cheap to spend a couple of dollars to feed them??..no wonder we as a human race are so ****ing dyslexics..

You all sound just like that damn mother ****er who killed the big lion, just because is cool or because he felt threaten or what ever the **** was his excuse..that's disgusting!!!

Have a good day.
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i sure hope you are being sarcastic ... that was funny

otherwise.. i wont say.. because forum rules.
 
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