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squirrels in the attic

26K views 47 replies 30 participants last post by  Jacke 
#1 ·
Hello all! I live in a city house in a corner lot (very small side yards), and the neighbor closest to us had squirrels in his attic for several months. We're not allowed to kill squirrels in the city so he eventually managed to patch up their entrance while they were out one day. Good for him, bad for us. They managed to push open a corner of the 1/4" screen we had protecting our vents and go into our attic. In a matter of a couple of days, we got up there, restapled the 1/4" screen down and put a layer of 1/2" hardware cloth behind it. They tore up the insulation pretty good and built a big nest in a corner, we haven't touched that yet but did toss a bunch of moth balls up there to try and deter them. Since then, we've heard them running around on the roof quite a bit and seen them in the yard but not heard them in the attic. Is there anything else we can do to deter them and prevent them from getting back in? Is what we've done sufficient?
 
#2 ·
Check on your 'patch' frequently. You never know when a squirrel will decide he has nothing better to do than chew on some hardware cloth.

In some parts of the country January is when squirrels are doing what squirrels will do - trying to make more squirrels. So, a female looking for a good place to nest can be relentless at chewing their way to a comfortable nesting place.

When in doubt borrow a good dog. Mine keep the squirrels (and other critters) at bay.
 
#5 ·
Hello jkrodger,
Check out this web site: www.evictorproducts.com The Squirrel Evictor was developed to solve the very worst squirrel problems out there. The terra cotta house in the NBC Channel 10 News Video on the home page HAD squirrels in the attic for 37 years. I just visited the house yesterday and ever since a Strobe Light installation 4 years ago, the homeowner is still "squirrel free". The Free booklet on the home page "How To Evict Squirrels the Safe and Harmless Way" might also be of interest. But.....the Testimonials by Professionals are the reason we now sell in 37 states and 5 foreign countries. Please call if you have any questions......Bill Earl ( Co-Inventor of the Squirrel Evictor )
 
#32 ·
How well does the Evictor work?

Hello jkrodger,
Check out this web site: www.evictorproducts.com The Squirrel Evictor was developed to solve the very worst squirrel problems out there. The terra cotta house in the NBC Channel 10 News Video on the home page HAD squirrels in the attic for 37 years. I just visited the house yesterday and ever since a Strobe Light installation 4 years ago, the homeowner is still "squirrel free". The Free booklet on the home page "How To Evict Squirrels the Safe and Harmless Way" might also be of interest. But.....the Testimonials by Professionals are the reason we now sell in 37 states and 5 foreign countries. Please call if you have any questions......Bill Earl ( Co-Inventor of the Squirrel Evictor )

Hi Bill, I am very interested in the Evictor given all the reviews I've read. However, I do have a few questions about effectiveness. I have a walk up attic that is crammed with stuff. The squirrels are nesting under the eaves and have torn up the insulation on one side of the house.
My first question is - will the strobe light work with all the attic junk in the way (I have no where else to put it)?
Secondly, I've located the entry hole...will the strobe work if I can place the light near the entry? Or do I have to consistently cover the entire attic to inhibit them from just moving to another section?
Thanks!
 
#6 ·
Thanks for the replies! We haven't heard them in the attic since we patched the screen but we're hoping this weekend we can hop up there to check things out and destroy their nest. We're expecting to find a cache of food up there and assume that's why they've been running around the yard so much. We do have a dog (a terrier mix) that chases them when she's out in the yard but they seem content to just run up the trees when she's outside and when they were in the attic all she would do it whine and run around the house, staring at the ceiling wherever the last noise came from. We also have 2 cats that are completely useless when it comes to pests but we do worry about putting any poison up there.

We were worried they were going to try to breed soon, especially because MO got several very nice days in a row and it seems that it's always the same two squirrels we see in our yard.

Neighbors said that before the squirrels moved into their attic, they were pestering the people next to them, I guess they've making their way down the block and will hopefully move on now.
 
#10 ·
Well, the little SOBs aren't back in the house attic but they did chew through the siding on the sun room and are currently living above it. The sun room was an addition so they'll just face brick if they try to get back in the attic and we have no access to that area. Think if I set out those humane traps with bait in the yard I can catch them and then patch up the hole they chewed? I'd hate to patch it and trap them, the only places they would have to go would be up through the roof or down through the sunroof ceiling!
 
#11 ·
You must remove the offending squirrel, period

determine the path taken by the culprit and place live traps with peanut butter and roasted peanuts throw peanuts around the trap to chum them in

take the squirrel at least a mile away and release or save for the stew pot.

This is the only way to take care of the problem
 
#12 ·
True story-my sister lives in the Atlanta, Ga. area and they have the flying squirrels there. Her two story house has two (2) dryer vent type vents on one end of the house, on the outside of the house at the level between the floors of the house. One is for the downstairs bath vent fan, the other is for the clothes dryer on the second floor. These were covered with a plastic vent guard to prevent "varmints" from entering for over six years with no problem. Suddenly last fall there were noises overhead in the downstairs bathroom so she calls me to investigate, I'm only 220 miles away. I get up there an determine that something has eaten through the plastic vent guard, gotten through the metal dryer vent and into the space between the floors of the house. I removed the vent fan of the bathroom, stick my head up there and- -staring back at me are six squirrels sitting in a nest the size of a clothes basket. They made the nest from ripping the paper from the top of the sheetrock of the bathroom ceiling! They had entered by coming through the vent and chewing through the old plastic vent hose connecting the bath vent fan and the outside vent. We convinced them to skee-daddle by using a shop vac with the hose on blower and some foul smelling stuff we mixed up and they went right back out the old plastic vent hose and outside vent. I came home and made a new vent cover from sheet metal and small round metal rod, went back a few weeks later and installed them. TWO days later she sent me a pic via e-mail showing one of the squirrels sitting on the new vent cover chewing it's heart out on the new metal cover. Those little ba$tard$ are persitant for sure.
 
#14 ·
We use a live trap, baited w/peanuts. When the trap trips, I carry it intothe garage, & place the trap in a large plastic bag. I fold over the end of the bag and gently discharge a CO2 Fire Extinguisher in the bag. The squirrel genlty goes to sleep. The tree rat is put in the dumpster and the trap baited again.

We used to use an air rifle, but they did not always die quickly.
 
#21 ·
We use a live trap, baited w/peanuts. When the trap trips, I carry it intothe garage, & place the trap in a large plastic bag. I fold over the end of the bag and gently discharge a CO2 Fire Extinguisher in the bag. The squirrel genlty goes to sleep. The tree rat is put in the dumpster and the trap baited again.

We used to use an air rifle, but they did not always die quickly.
I got home this AM, and was informed the squirrel that got in the trap was in the garage, and I had to take care of it . Two neighbor dogs spotted the squirrel and killed it. The squirrel is still in the cage, dead. But, the cage is OK, so I will remove the squirrel, bait the trap and catch another tree rat. I have to do this after dark, the neighbors love the nasty things.
 
#17 ·
Detering squirrels

Squirrels.....yuk...we had squirrels get into our attic...we tried everything. Finally I heard that spreading bloodmeal in the attic would deter them from wanting to be in there. I purchased 2 pounds of bloodmeal at our local greenhouse (it doesn't smell bad or anything.... just smells like earth to me) and sprinkled it on top of the insulation. We haven't had squirrels up there since we did that (4 years +) It also deters deers and rabbits from eating the garden. It is used and sold at the greenhouse as a fertilizer.
 
#19 ·
I'd close the hole up, that's the #1 fix. If squirrels can fit, so can bugs, and even snow. You want your attic to be fairly well sealed from anything but air. (still want air to circulate, but the air holes should be small and in large numbers).

See if you can live capture them and just bring them far in the bush somewhere. I'd also check for food in insulation since they probably figured the insulation is a perfect place to store winter food, and you don't want that food to rot and cause smells.

Also check for a nest with babies, just see if you can move it outside or see if animal control has tips on that. I would not do anything to harm them but you do want them out of the attic!
 
#20 ·
Do whatever you can to stop them. We spent over $6K (no kidding) repairing damage from the pests. We put up Hardie soffit hoping the cement board would discourage them. The next thing we are going to try to eliminate them is peanut butter, plaster of paris, and vegetable oil in equal mixtures rolled into balls. I am told it turns them into "rock squirrels" when it absorbs liquid from their insides. Plus the plaster cooking them from the inside. One of my neighbors shoots them with a pellet rifle and all of our neighbors are gratefull!
 
#22 · (Edited)
I have to do this after dark, the neighbors love the nasty things.
We really like the squirrels in our back yard. We bought a squirrel feeder so we could watch them, especially in the winter. They sure are cute.

BUT! If they were getting in my attic, that would be a different story. They would be my biggest enemy.

BTW, I was told by another member of this forum that if you sprinkle boric acid in your attic in generous amounts, you won't have animals or bugs up there. They hate the stuff. It's won't be a problem for you or your family if you put it in your attic.
 
#23 ·
Actually if you feed them regularly it seems to keep them out of trouble. Most people here feed them and I don't hear of any issues. I used to tame squirrels all the time at camp. They're fun little fellas to have around. Chipmunks are fun too, they tend to be less timid then squirrels. I did manage to get some squirrels to eat from my hand though. They love Reeses peanut butter cups. Gets expensive though.:eek: And the last thing you want to do is give sugar to one. If I could convince a squirrel to keep running in a hamster wheel it could probably power a whole block.
 
#24 ·
I haven't tried feeding them from my hand. I did feed chipmunks (not Alvin or Theodore) from my hand at the top of a mountain in Estes Park, Colorado. They were fat little guys. I think every other tourist fed them too.

It seems that we're providing lodging for our squirrels as well. The small window in our shed is missing the bottom pane, so I think they spend the winter in there. They don't do any damage though. If they did, we'd spend the $5 to replace the glass. lol

We've tried putting Froot Loops in the bird feeder they eat out of, but they weren't interested. I didn't know they liked sugar.

I rented an old farm house about 24 years ago. Off the back of the kitchen was a 'canning kitchen'. There was a door that closed it off from the regular kitchen. Every time I opened that door, I saw squirrels scurrying to get outside through the ceiling. We moved out after 6 months. They're only cute when they're outside. A week after we moved out, we went back to get the rest of the furniture. We found acorns under the couch and a bed. Yikes! They didn't even offer to pay part of the rent!
 
#26 ·
Squirrels can be trained. We train them not to eat out of the bird feeder. We tell them "No! Bad squirrel, bad squirrel!" Of course that never works, but a bit of cayenne pepper does work! They get a mouthfull of seeds and pepper, spit the seeds out and rub their little faces aganst the lilac bush bark. Once is usually enough.

We have used moth flakes, not moth balls. Flakes work best. It is best to do that just before you leave for vacation. It also kills bugs, spiders and crawly thing. The most potent way to use flakes is put some in a coffee can, set it on the stove and leave quickly.
 
#30 ·
I've used a .22 w/cap rounds - very little noise
I used to prop the basement bulkhead open just enough to shoot
Squirrels can take a lot of hits from a BB gun or pellet gun

We also used to catch them live & bring them over to my Uncle
He had a hawk or falcon that he fed them to
 
#31 ·
If you still have a problem with the cat in your house plants, buy a package of wooden skewers. You can find them in the kitchen utensil dept. at the store. Stick a lot of them an inch or two apart down into the soil in each pot. It won't hurt the cat, but it should keep him out.

Of course, this wouldn't be a good idea if you have small children around.

This also works well if you have a problem with birds wanting to make a nest in your hanging flower baskets. Put the skewers in the baskets at the same time you plant the flowers.
 
#33 ·
Covering points of entry is #1. Not only are you getting squirrels, rats, possums etc but think of all the bugs getting into the attic as well.

I've found this to be the case with my basement spider problem. I did lot of work to block points of entry and as I kill them, I'm finding less and less as there are next to none actually entering.
 
#34 ·
I recently lived on top of the main campus of the University of Illinois. Over one hundred years ago a brilliant UofI professor imported a box of gray squirrels to beautify the campus. Today, without any real predators, they number in the millions. People in other towns and cities have personal trainers. CU people have personal trappers.

The cute little devils pass learned behaviors from generation to generation. The house I lived in in Urbana had them in the attic. Near Parkland College their favorite trick was to rip apart auto wiring harnesses and on any given day they could take out 4-5 in the Spring when nesting.

You cannot shoot them where I lived so the way most were removed was to trap them and move them out into the country. Parkland College hired an animal behavior specialist that decided the way to keep them away from cars was to build them habitats. They built them these structures with stocked mini bars, pre-rolled, cigarettes for after sex, and food delivery menus---or something (I never actually saw one of them). Their populations increased and my trapper did a whopping extra business for the next couple of years. As many or more cars fell victim.

There came a time when the squirrels had to be out of my attic within days in order for the sale of the place to close. Trapping wasn't working fast enough so I hired this exterminator who really did look like one! He had just been to some convention and sprayed the attic with some sort of "Essence of Fox" that I couldn't smell.

I never saw anything like it. I kid you not, every last squirrel came flying out of the attic in seconds! I patched all the ingress and egress points again and the place closed on time. I have no idea how long it kept them away but you might see if you can get your hands on some of the stuff somehow. Clients used the same guy and technique to get them out of their antique buildings downtown. They got back in eventually but it worked for awhile.

As suggested, it is important to keep their holes blocked as much as possible to keep other critters and insects out. The same year as the closing we had an over population of starlings in the area and they were getting into the attic and the exterminator had to poison them.
 
#39 ·
There came a time when the squirrels had to be out of my attic within days in order for the sale of the place to close. Trapping wasn't working fast enough so I hired this exterminator who really did look like one! He had just been to some convention and sprayed the attic with some sort of "Essence of Fox" that I couldn't smell.
quote]


The name of the trapper is? I cannot find Essence of Fox online.

Thanking you in advance.
 
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