It isn’t uncommon for squirrels to invade people’s homes these days, finding access through cracks in chimney flashing or openings under gutters. Squirrels go about their business in your neighborhood and their highways are tree branches. A new highway opens up when some bush or tree grows enough to provide access to another tree. Your roof may also become part of the highway.
Once discovered, every squirrel in the area will be using it. With busy schedules raising young and storing food for winter, like people, squirrels look for shortcuts. If they notice your ‘Squirrel Apartment For Rent’ sign when passing by the hole in your roof vent, they will probably read the fine print that says “If you lived here, you’d be home by now.” It doesn’t take much.
How To Get The Squirrels Out
Once in, squirrels can make a lot of noise playing tag in the rafters, chewing electrical wiring, raising litters there, and turning your attic into squirrel condos for their friends. Many people try to treat this humanely, putting off calling pest control until they are at their wit’s end, but that comes soon enough. And while the problem seems complex and takes many homeowners by surprise, the answer is simple. Access is the key.
Backtrack in your mind to what your house looked like ten or even five years ago. Look how everything is overgrown. Look how those two Rhododendrons with the bright, beautiful blooms that frame your front door have grown to the roof line – they once were only two feet high. Those lovely vines climbing all over your chimney weren’t even there. That large maple with branches leaning on your roof was just a spindly sapling beside the house, and the second floor deck wooden railings you added provide “jumping” access to the roof. Maybe you have vinyl or aluminum siding, but wood corner trim that acts as a squirrel ladder. Or maybe you even left a ladder against the house after doing repairs. One of these things may have been the start of something big.
Squirrels don’t just visit nice cozy areas, they move in. They may have three litters annually, so finding a good time to humanely evict them is chancy. It is best when they are running around noisily, because that means any young are probably old enough to leave by themselves.
You Don’t Need To Kill Them
If you don’t want them killed, don’t call pest control services; they use live traps, but are legally required to kill anything they catch. Instead, call a tree trimmer. Trim the branches of all tall trees so they are 8-10 feet from your house. Install baffles on corner wood trim or replace the trim with something unclimbable - either aluminum or vinyl. Install corner baffles if they can still get up them.
Cut down those tall shrubs next to the house so they are at least 3 feet below your gutters. Squirrels can jump down to leave, but cannot jump up very far to return to the roof area. This is only a problem if mothers are nursing litters, and a chance that must be taken. And don’t expect them to be gone in a day – young may need to get their legs under them to leave a nest. It can take a week or more, so be patient.
Now Fix the Holes and Keep Them Out
Hereafter, keep all the shrubs and branches cut way back. Weeks later when they are gone, get inside and fix any holes with hardware cloth or small-grid wire patches. Squirrels have short memories. They quickly relocate, and by next year they won’t even remember you were their landlord.
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Marie Thomas - Marie Thomas (RieT) is an author in multiple genres, with 18 years in technical writing, and freelance work in science, biographical, and ...
