Squirrels in my attic!

So its official, we have squirrels in our attic. I was hoping the noises we heard only meant they were on the roof, but no such luck. Last night we came home and saw three of them cavorting on the roof, so we watched. Sure enough, all three of them eventually disappeard through a small hole into our attic! Needless to say, we are not happy.

Has anyone had this problem, and what did you do to get rid of the squirrels? I've been researching a bit and it sounds like not an easy task. I don't want to kill them, and I don't want to do anything that could potentially in any way harm my cats. Has anyone tried these strobe lights? Do they work?

http://www.rodentstrobe.com/

Any advice at all will be seriously apprecaited.

Chase them out and secure the attic - or call professionals in to do it if you can't get up there yourself. I don't know when exactly they have their young, but chances are that they're at least breeding right now - so you're pressed for time to get them out soon.

Are there places for them to nest nearby? If not and you want to convince them to stay out of your house, then maybe add nest boxes in a safe place near the edges of your property?

I agree. You want them out before they become more than three.

Try playing a radio loudly (heavy metal should do it). Get one of those fake owls at a garden supply store. Owls eat squirrels. I know mice don't like the smell of cloves or mints.

I had a problem last year. I called a professional and I let him know I did not want them killed either. They came and set humane traps. They came back 2 days later and none had been caught. They then found the entrance location into the attic and closed it.

We then had the trees cut back that they had probably used to get on the roof.

I cannot remember if he said they would be in their nests in the AM or PM, but whichever it was, he would come when they would be out of the nest.

He came back several times (at my insistence) over the next several weeks to check to see if any had been trapped in the attic when he closed the entrance location. None of the food he set out had been eaten and he never found anymore squirrels.

Originally Posted by Pami

I cannot remember if he said they would be in their nests in the AM or PM, but whichever it was, he would come when they would be out of the nest.

Click to expand...

Squirrels are diurnal so they'd probably be in their nest at night.

Thanks all. I guess we are going to get someone out here to patch up the hole with either one of those one-way doors (in case we don't have all of them out when it gets patched) or something supposedly squirrel-proof. DH is taking care of it (I hope). He's been a little preoccupied doing the taxes , but he was going to make some calls.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Are there places for them to nest nearby? If not and you want to convince them to stay out of your house, then maybe add nest boxes in a safe place near the edges of your property?

Click to expand...

There's a wooded area in back, plenty of trees for them to live in.

Originally Posted by farleyv

Try playing a radio loudly (heavy metal should do it). Get one of those fake owls at a garden supply store. Owls eat squirrels. I know mice don't like the smell of cloves or mints.

Click to expand...

Heavy metal would probably drive me out of the house as well I wonder if they be frightened away by a fake owl? Or would they know it wasn't real? I'm thinking about getting those strobes in the link I provided in the hopes that it will keep out any current and future visitors. I was hoping to find somebody who had actually used them, but no luck so far.

Originally Posted by Pami

I had a problem last year. I called a professional and I let him know I did not want them killed either. They came and set humane traps. They came back 2 days later and none had been caught. They then found the entrance location into the attic and closed it.

We then had the trees cut back that they had probably used to get on the roof.

Click to expand...

According to what I've been reading, even if you successfully trap them and take them somewhere, they will find their way back. Actually, the article said the average professional will take the squirrells an average of 2 miles away, and they find their way back easily from there.

Ours are not climbing up trees, they're climbing up the side of the house! I saw one of them do it (thanks to Swanie having a fit and I had to go investigate).

Originally Posted by strange_wings

Squirrels are diurnal so they'd probably be in their nest at night.

Click to expand...

Which would make sense, since it was around 7:00 PM when we saw them going into the attic. Would that mean that if we got the hole patched up during the day they would most likely be out of there?

I had them in my last condo. It was a town house with a basement and attic. They made so much noise I thought I had upstairs neighbors.

I had been complaining about birds nesting in the eves but management did nothing. Then the squirrels came along and seeing an opportunity threw the birds out and moved into the attic.

Not only were they in the attic they would get up on the roof and then climb down the chimney pipes into the basement.

One day I came home to a mess. They had torn down insulation from the ceiling, knocked over the bottles on a shelf (one bottle of polish broke) and left squirrel poop on top of the furnace.

I freaked out and bought one of those electronic pest repellers and put it in the basement. After that they did not come back. I don't know if that was the reason.

They did make a mess of the next door neighbors basement. Apparently they were making themselves at home there. He was not as sympathetic as I am. His first plan of action was to buy rat traps. Before the exterminators came he had disposed of five squirrels in his traps.

The exterminators had maintenance cover the hole in the eves where they were coming into the attic. They set traps on the roof and installed caps on the chimney pipes to keep them out. We also had to have the trees at the end of the building trimmed back.

The only thing I did not like was that they insisted on setting a rat trap in my basement. I did not want to kill any but I had no choice.

I dreaded coming home for the next week because that trap was the first thing I saw when I came in from the garage. Fortunately I never had any in the trap.

The exterminators never came back to check the trap and after a couple of weeks I had a friend dispose of it. I was glad to see the trap and the squirrels go.

^That's bad, actually. When you hire exterminators in to take care of that sort of thing they're supposed to come back and clean up and dispose of anything trapped (mice, rats, squirrels) as that can be risky for the average person to handle - for you it would probably be very dangerous.

Originally Posted by Misty8723

Which would make sense, since it was around 7:00 PM when we saw them going into the attic. Would that mean that if we got the hole patched up during the day they would most likely be out of there?

Click to expand...

With luck. If not you can try banging around and yelling in the attic - maybe that will scare them out?


And why does everyone say metal music? I listen to a lot of death metal, I can assure you it doesn't bother animals that much. My cats sleep through it.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

^That's bad, actually. When you hire exterminators in to take care of that sort of thing they're supposed to come back and clean up and dispose of anything trapped (mice, rats, squirrels) as that can be risky for the average person to handle - for you it would probably be very dangerous.

Click to expand...

I didn't hire the exterminators. The management company did. I agree they should have come back to check the trap.

I only saw them once on the first day because I was the unit owner that made the first complaint. The guy next door was supposed to be there too but couldn't make it.

I was just glad that no animals were killed in my basement. Even though I was not happy with the squirrels living in my attic I did not want to kill them.

My cousin, who is an outdoorsman type, recommended turning on a radio in the attic when we heard something up there. I don't think it matters what kind of music, , I think the squirrels are just adverse to the whole radio sound in general. Whatever was in our attic (and it sounded huge; you could actually hear it walking) went away on its own. I was so glad. I was so worried about something up there chewing wires.

We hired a service to get them out of our attic. They set a humane trap and leave it for 7 days. They check every 3 days and if there are squirrels, they take them to a local state park and release them. They will also patch the hole. DH and I spent some time banging around up there, and the guy was up there too, so I'm hoping maybe they figured it wasn't a safe place anymore and just go away on their own. I didn't see or hear anything yesterday. I've kinda gotten attached to them I hope everything works out.

For anyone who is interested, wildlife guy said those strobes I was looking at do no good at all.

several years ago we had a squirrel in our attic. Dh went up on the roof found the vent hole it was getting in. He boarded it up. The squirrel went nuts attacking our house. Jumping at windows. She was screaming bloody murder. It was horrible. That evening we heard her babies crying. Dh quickly unboarded the hole. Momma ran in past Dh and went to her babies. So needless to say for the next few weeks we listened to Momma and her little ones. It was kind of cool to lay in bed and listen to her talk to her babies. As soon as they were mobile she left. We boarded up the hole and never seen them again.