How to get rid of a meddlesome squirrel living under the eaves
Squirrels although cute and fluffy can cause all sorts of problems in residential attics. To start with some squirrels do carry disease including plague, rabies, and hanta virus. Squirrel hoarding of acorns, nuts, and seeds inside the home can lead to secondary infestations of moths, beetles, and acorn weevils. Also, squirrels cause thousands of power outages and fires from chewing electrical wiring. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- quarter inch steel mesh
- tools (hammer and nails, staplegun, caulking gun)
- caulk
- steel or copper wool
- siding or sheet metal for larger holes
- cayenne pepper, crusader duster, respirator, goggles, rubber gloves
Instructions
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Identify entry points. Any hole large enough for a squirrels head to get through is a potential entry. Gable vent screens should be checked. Check attic to make sure that all vent ducts are properly attached. Check flashing on roof/chimney. Pay close attention to the corners where your roofs connect.
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Identify nest site (go in your attic with a good flashlight), are there babies present. If so they will need to be removed by hand or by a wildlife control professional.
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When squirrels are outside feeding and gathering seal the holes. Stuff smaller holes with steel or copper wool and then caulk over. Re-attach ventilation ducts. Attach quarter inch steel mesh to inside of gable vents. patch larger holes in eaves with new siding, paneling, sheet metal, or plywood and paint.
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Do follow up inspections to verify that the squirrels have not chewed through your repairs.
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Tips & Warnings
If the squirrels are hesitant to go outside you can dust the eaves of your house from the inside with chili pepper to give them the proper motivation. This will also deter them from coming back. Be sure to wear a filtered breathing mask, eye protection, and gloves before applying pepper. It's always a good idea to turn your A/C or Heating off for a couple of hours when dusting the attic.
Relocation might be necessary with pesky squirrels. Put a havaheart live trap in your attic baited with apples, peanut butter, and oats. Check Daily. Let the squirrels go miles from your house where nut producing trees are common.
Squirrels must be outside before sealing holes. If they are not outside they will die inside from dehydration. Decomposition takes about 4-8 weeks. Dead squirrels smell really bad.
Be careful of your footing in the attic, and on the roof. Make sure you put your weight on the beams only in the attic.
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Comments
View all 8 Comments-
trying to remove some squirrels in my parents Roof eaves, Under eaves are composed of old red cedar wayne scotting. Easy to put back up, but they keep making new holes. Short of Aluminum Soffit and Fascia wrapping/cladding for the entire house what's you best suggestion to get them out and keep them out. The chilli pepper idea sounds great, and easy enough to do, but this is a 45 to 50' run of soffit that they get into, and that's only 1 side of the house.
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That is funny? They did not mention shooting them with a 22!!! LOL
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that's my buddy (arnie).
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gann
Aug 26, 2007
I forgot to mention, however that the corpses around the water source must be disposed of immediately, or they will become poison for the food chain above them (lazy cats, hungry dogs, rats, etc.) Also red squirrels aren't protected in my area, but greys have a season only for hunting, not if they are damaging or a nuisance to your home and/or family, but as always, check with your local authorities who will have to get back to you because they won't know. -
gann
Aug 26, 2007
Most poison bait contains warfarin (AKA coumadin for Deep Vein Thrombosis patients) or similar. The blood thinners cause extreme thirst, which supposedly causes animal to seek water (exiting the premises unless you have a water fountain for them). I haven't had any in-wall deaths, and found several corpses around the neighbor's birdbath. Works for me!
