Squirrels In The Attic

[Christine]

My DH spent about 10 hours yesterday trying to get a squirrel out of the attic.

A few months ago, in our master bath, I heard scampering over the bathtub. I told DH and, of course, he thought I was nuts. Well, yesterday, he noticed a HUGE hole chewed through our wood trim. He pulled the trimboard off, looked around, and found a massive nest. There was nothing in the nest. He finally found the squirrel, which REALLY didn't want to come out. He finally got it out with a crabbing net. The squirrel fell onto the lower roof, ran down and proceeded to hide in our wheel wells the rest of the day. My DH temporarily boarded up the trim. Another squirrel came and sat on the roof with it's front legs crossed, just waiting. My DH got close and tried to scare it but it wouldn't budge.

We think there are more squirrels up there. DH cannot get into that part of the attic well because it is narrow. Apparently they are living in the "eave" area and we can't even see in there.

Any experience with this? What can we do?

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

There are companies that will come remove the critters. Look in your yellow pages.

Why don't men believe you until they see it with their own eyes?

Lori

 

[4cruisin]

We've had way too much experience with the litter buggers. They are very destructive and very persistant. They will chew through electrical wiring and cause fires if you are not careful. Don't want to scare you but it happened in our home prior to us owning it. They usually have their litters in the spring (March/April) and in the fall (Sept/Oct) Maybe they have the babies up there and that is why they want in so badly. The best advice is either to call a pro or you can open up the hole again, put a really loud radio nearest the area where you think they are. Have someone watch outside where they come out and as soon as you see them come out, board up the area again.

Once you get that taken care of....make periodic checks around the house for gnaw marks outside. Once they find a house they like, I swear they will always try to come back inside.

I'd cuff your dh off the head for not listening to you 10 months ago (j/k). My dh never believes me when I say something is wrong. I told him about 3 months ago that we had no hot water in one of the showers. We never use that bathrooom. He didn't believe me. I mentioned it to him a few weeks later and he just brushed it off. Imagine how dumbfounded he acted when he tried it for himself...."Geez, you're right, it's only running cold water." No $**t, Sherlock.

Good Luck.
Nancy

 

[Christine]

Thanks.

4cruisin--this sounds worse than I thought!! Yuck.

We are pretty sure that there are babies in there. You know, my "softhearted, animal lover" side is feeling horrible about this, but I know they can't stay. We will probably have to call a professional but I was trying to save the $$$$.

 

[Disney Ella]

You know, there may be a whole family of them up there and if there are, it's going to be expensive, as pest control companies charge by the squirrel (at least around here.) We had a family in the attic a few years ago, and after paying $200 to a company to remove just two of the squirrels, I decided to capture the rest myself.

I got a Hav-a-Heart trap, put a cracker with peanut butter on it in the trap, and waited. The next morning, there was a squirrel in the trap. I ended up taking five more squirrels out of the attic! It would have been expensive if I would have paid the pest control company for five additional squirrels and I learned that squirrel smell bad close up!

 

[Christine]

You know, there may be a whole family of them up there and if there are, it's going to be expensive, as pest control companies charge by the squirrel (at least around here.) We had a family in the attic a few years ago, and after paying $200 to a company to remove just two of the squirrels, I decided to capture the rest myself.

I got a Hav-a-Heart trap, put a cracker with peanut butter on it in the trap, and waited. The next morning, there was a squirrel in the trap. I ended up taking five more squirrels out of the attic! It would have been expensive if I would have paid the pest control company for five additional squirrels and I learned that squirrel smell bad close up!

Well, my co-worker happens to own a professional/humane animal trap so I may have to do this.

 

[Patty3]

We had this problem when we lived in Phila. We would think that they were all gone and they just kept returning. It really was a problem.