Squirrels might be adorable when scampering about the yard, but they quickly lose their charm when living within a home’s walls or attic. Squirrels in homes are energetic and nimble creatures that excel at creating costly damage.
Like most nuisance pests, they’ve become accustomed to living among people because as urban and suburban areas grow, their habitats shrink. So when they need a warm, secure place to nest for the winter and raise their young, homes become their choice of residence.
Squirrel Problems in Your Attic
Squirrels have different motivations to enter your attic. Most often squirrels create nests in the attic to give birth and raise their young.
Female squirrels each year typically have two litters that contain an average of two to four young but can carry up to eight. Litters are usually born in late winter and midsummer. Attics, walls, and crawl spaces are the most common places for squirrels to enter homes.
Squirrels do not hibernate. They do need a warm shelter that protects them from harsh winter weather.
Squirrels often cause damage to attic insulation or electrical wiring in the attic. But the most damage is done over time as multiple litters of squirrels are born in or near the home. As these squirrels grow and leave the nest, they often will set up their own nests within the same attic.
If the initial intrusion is not addressed in time, the damage to your home will increase quickly. Not only will they continue to chew through wiring and damage insulation, but in doing so, they will create more entry points for other squirrels.
The Most Common Squirrel Entry Points
Like most nuisance pests, they’ve become accustomed to living among people because as urban and suburban areas grow, their habitats shrink. So when they need a warm, secure place to nest for the winter and raise their young, homes become their choice of residence.
Female squirrels each year typically have two litters that contain an average of two to four young but can carry up to eight. Litters are usually born in late winter and midsummer. Attics, walls, and crawl spaces are the most common places for squirrels to enter homes.
Squirrels only need a gap of 1.5 inches to gain entry.
The most common places where squirrels find entry into your attic include:
- Soffits – These are the finishing material, mostly made of wood or fiber cement, that covers the underside of a roof overhang. In addition to helping to make the roofline look aesthetically nice, soffits help keep moisture away from the rafters, reducing the chance of mold. Soffits that are not flush with the siding create a gap for squirrels to enter.
- Fascia Boards – These are thin, longboards that run along the lower outer edge of a roof, covering the entire roofline. They help keep water out.
- Ridge Vents – Ridge vents are air exhaust vents installed on the peak of a roof that provides continuous exhaust ventilation at the highest part of the attic. Squirrels are attracted to the warm air that comes out of these vents.
- Gable Vents – On a gabled roof, these vents are located at the peak where the two sides meet. They usually have louvers, allowing air to flow into the attic, which works to cool it down in warm weather.
- Roof Returns – This is the part of the roof that doubles back to the wall of the house. It is between the end of the roof and a home’s walls.
- Chimneys – Chimneys conduct smoke and combustion gasses up from a fireplace, stove, or furnace and can run through the attic of a house.
- Siding Corners – This is the trim used to keep your siding in the place where the corners meet.
- Gutters – Gutters capture rainwater and melting snow and channel it away from the house. Clogged gutters that prevent precipitation from running will cause deterioration along the roof edge through which a squirrel can enter.
- Plumbing Mats – This is rubber matting covering cylindrical vents on the roof that connect the plumbing system used to exhaust gasses.
Example of the squirrel entry point.
How Critter Control Gets Rid of Squirrels in the Attic
The best and safest way to remove squirrels from your attic is by calling the experts at Critter Control Squirrel repellents do not provide a long-term squirrel control solution. Mothballs are dangerous. Bright lights will initially scare the squirrels away, but eventually, they will grow used to them.
One-Way Doors
This is the safest method of squirrel removal. First, you must locate all the entry points the squirrels are using. Then you must install the one-way door, making sure there are no gaps around it. After installing the one-way door properly, seal all other entry points in the attic so the squirrels will have only one way to leave—through the door. After the squirrels leave, remove the door and seal the entry.
Note: One-way doors can separate mother squirrels and their young. This can result in a rather inhumane situation: mother squirrels doing serious damage to your house while trying to get back in to retrieve their babies, and these babies starving. Therefore, if squirrel babies are part of the equation, we recommend contacting a professional wildlife removal service.
Live Traps
If a one-way door is not successful or there are babies present, using live traps with bait is another effective method to get rid of squirrels in the attic. If babies are present, you will need to retrieve the babies with proper animal handling gloves.
- Live traps should be securely placed on a roof, in an attic, or on the ground, however, choosing a location on the ground may lead to catching non-target small animals.
- When trapping squirrels, it is important to thoroughly inspect the attic before sealing entry points, because you need to ensure you catch all target squirrels.
Squirrel Control and Exclusion
Once squirrel removal is complete and the squirrels are set free in their natural habitat, it’s important to ensure they or any other nuisance animals are prevented from returning. Critter Control offers exclusion services that keep you and your family safe from future infestations.
Exclusion is the process of finding and sealing all current and potential entry points to your home as well as making changes to your outside environment that can lead to infestations. This can include capping your chimney, adding screens to vents, and sealing gaps in roofing, soffits, and around attic windows and where services such as electricity enter your home.
In your yard, exclusion can include trimming trees and bushes close to your home so squirrels and other animals cannot jump onto your roof. It may also entail removing bird feeders, eliminating water sources, and eliminating brush where animals can hide.
Why Choose Critter Control for Squirrel Removal