Squirrel control, prevention & removal (7 tips to get rid of squirrels)

squirrel control

As squirrels can be cute little furry animals they can also be pests and can do a lot of damage if they make nests in or around your home. They can take shelter in your attic, build nests there, and leave smelly droppings all inside your roof. They can chew through open wiring as they like to gnaw on things that could cause a shortage and eventually a fire. 

Squirrels can chew through wood to get into your attic, causing damage to structure. Squirrels can even eventually chew open piping, causing water damage in your home. They will enjoy chewing through your insulation and make your energy bills go up as well. There are preventive measures you can take to keep squirrels from getting inside your home and there are ways to get rid of them.

Look around your home and take notice to any opened areas that need repairing. Replace or repair shingles on your roofing and caulk up areas around your windows, doors, and areas where siding may meet with wood or framing. Place mesh screens over chimney openings and vents.

This can ensure that no squirrel can get in. If they are already in then call on a professional to help remove them. They may use live traps and if there are baby squirrels involved, they will need to ensure that all the baby squirrels are out before shutting up all possible ways in and out of your home. Another option is one way squirrel doors that allow squirrels to leave your home but not enter your home.

Look around your home and determine what will need to be done next. Are your tree branches hanging over the house? Do you have a bird feeder that is close to the house? Did you recently plant bulbs or have a vegetable garden? Then it’s time to start working around your home.

Trim the tree branches so they are at least six feet away from the house. Squirrels can jump as long as 10 feet so try to make it difficult for the squirrel to get on top of your roof. Bird feeders will need to be placed in an area that is far from the house and hard for the squirrels to reach.

For example, place PVC piping around the pole you have the bird feeder on to make it hard for the squirrel to climb and make sure to clean up any bird seeds that do fall onto the ground. If you have trees with nuts, berries, or fruits, then keep them cleaned up once they fall to prevent squirrels from eating them and sticking around. 

As squirrels can usually cause damage to lawns as they can dig holes to burry and store nuts and other types of food you want to make sure to keep everything cleaned up and put little mulching around the base of trees and shrubbery.

Take measures to protect your plants with a two foot wide and six foot tall metal sheeting placed around the base of the trees. As squirrels also enjoy gnawing on the bark of the tree they could cause real damage to a growing and old tree.

Put a fence around the vegetable garden with one inch wide mesh wiring and 30 inches high. Dig into the ground at least six inches down and out to help prevent any burrowing they might do to get to their food resources. For newly planted bulbs you will also want to protect them with a one inch mesh wiring over them with a little mulch that is soaked with squirrel repellent.

Need professional squirrel control?

When all else fails you may want to call a professional squirrel control company, as they will take various measures to remove squirrels, typically without killing them. Ask them do humane squirrel removal, so that they will take measures that will not harm the squirrels. They can use live traps without having them killed.

Some other basic ways to keep the squirrels from coming around once they are removed is to keep fallen food raked up, remove your trash in secure garbage bins and use squirrel repellents. Granular squirrel repellents can be sprinkled around the structure of your home to help keep squirrels away. Liquid squirrel repellents can be sprayed on surfaces, helping prevent squirrels from wanting to come in or go around your home.

One other thing to consider is having a city worker cover up your electrical wires that run over your home with PVC piping. This makes it hard for the squirrel to run across to get to another area of the home or to trees that you may thing they wouldn’t be able to get to.

Just the city know you are having problems with squirrels and are trying to make sure they are not getting into your home. They will need to come out and cover any open wiring and connections from one pole to another that run near your home from at least 10 feet away.

Published
Categorized as Squirrels

By David Jackson

I enjoy learning about new pest control strategies and sharing what I learn at NeverPest.com. I aim to create a reliable resource for people dealing with all sorts of pest issues.

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