What to do about SQUIRRELS!!??

[d.kurz]

I noticed a couple of months ago that my neighbor had squirrels going into the soffet on his siding. Now that the weather is nice I see that I have them in my soffet (actually I HEARD them from inside first) and so does my neighbor on the other side. I called a "squirrel removal" expert and this guy wants to trap them and move them to a new location. I want those suckers DEAD and GONE. They are creeping me out!!! YUCK!!!

Anybody have experience with this????

HELP!!!

 

[VelvetGloves]

I had a friend that used to have them in his attic. They had a professional go in and remove them. It worked for them, no more squirrels. I'm sure they put something around the attic or blocked where they were coming in, but I don't know for sure.

Just remember, the squirrels are trying to take over the world...be careful.

VelvetGloves

 

[KimR]

Oh, no! There's no need to kill them!! We have a very wooded backyard, lots of oak trees, so this has always been a problem for us, too. We've never hired an expert to get rid of them, DH just pust a squirrel trap with some pecans in it in the attic, traps them, then takes them off FAR AWAY to find a new home! For prevention, you can put moth balls in the attic - the squirrels hate them - it really does work!

Kim

 

[Pete's Mom]

Originally posted by KimR
Oh, no! There's no need to kill them!! We have a very wooded backyard, lots of oak trees, so this has always been a problem for us, too. We've never hired an expert to get rid of them, DH just pust a squirrel trap with some pecans in it in the attic, traps them, then takes them off FAR AWAY to find a new home! For prevention, you can put moth balls in the attic - the squirrels hate them - it really does work!

A co-worked of mine tried the moth ball trick at his cabin. He sprinkled several boxes full all over his attic. Guess what? When he came home his lawn was littered with them! The squirrels had removed them! Ditto for cotton balls soaked in the menthol. It's a shame because they are ripping out the insulation in his attic.

 

[Pete's Mom]

Originally posted by d.kurz
I noticed a couple of months ago that my neighbor had squirrels going into the soffet on his siding. Now that the weather is nice I see that I have them in my soffet (actually I HEARD them from inside first) and so does my neighbor on the other side. I called a "squirrel removal" expert and this guy wants to trap them and move them to a new location. I want those suckers DEAD and GONE. They are creeping me out!!! YUCK!!!

Anybody have experience with this????

HELP!!!

Are they doing this?

 

[lilboo]

Originally posted by Pete's Mom
A co-worked of mine tried the moth ball trick at his cabin. He sprinkled several boxes full all over his attic. Guess what? When he came home his lawn was littered with them! The squirrels had removed them!

The squirrels REMOVED them?? That's freaky.

 

[Boo'sMom]

Get a BB Gun....

 

[Pebblszzz]

Don't you DARE hurt those little guys!!!!

Have mercy!!!

I like the trapping idea - it's humane, and you don't have dead squirrels stinking up your attic (and your HOUSE).

 

[DawnCt]

Originally posted by Pete's Mom
A co-worked of mine tried the moth ball trick at his cabin. He sprinkled several boxes full all over his attic. Guess what? When he came home his lawn was littered with them! The squirrels had removed them! :

How cute!!!

 

[BuzzMe]

GGRRRR...we spent months trying to get squirrels out of our attic. They caused extensive damage to our central air ductwork, which in turn caused water damage to ceiling and clothing in closet.
We had an exterminator coming to set traps and remove critters to another area(unlawful to kill them in our area- I'd like to wring their little necks!) and he couldn't close up the hole until he knew he had gotten the whole group. Be patient and persistant!

 

[Towncrier]

We've had squirrels in our backyard since our house was built 17 years ago. We hear them running around the roof, but they haven't done any damage to our house. Yet.

 

[Kallison]

We name our squirrels - Twirly and Whirly. We feed them peanuts in a little box on our deck. Those suckers are chubby!

 

[WilmaBud]

If the "squirrel-removal" expert can get rid of them, why do you want them dead? We have squirrels all over our neighborhood, and they've never caused us any problems. You just have to get them out and close up the hole where they were getting in. There's no need to be inhumane.

 

[d.kurz]

I was thinking I'd probably offend some by wanting them dead. Sorry but I don't like rodents! EEEEWWWW!!!

So funny about the rats with big tails...er...I mean squirrels throwing the moth balls out!!!

The soffet where they are is just on the other side of a crawl space I have on the 3rd floor. So I dumped a whole box of moth balls there. I can smell them from here and I'm on the 2nd floor on the other side of the house! So maybe that smell will drive them away.

If that doesn't work, I suspect I'll go for Trapper John! I'd like to see them dead, but I'm certainly not tough enough to kill them myself!!

Thanks!!

 

[Towncrier]

DW hates our squirrels. She too thinks that they are just rats with fur coats,

 

[suzannen]

d.kurz,
We just had this happen to us in the last two months - squirrels in an attic crawl space. We were told by lots of folks who had this problem that you need to take care of it pronto. Squirrels with their chewing can cause massage damage to electrical wiring, air conditioning...which not only can cause electrical fires, it will also cost a lot of money to fix once the damage is done. We hired our local "trapper John" who trapped them, closed off (for good) the entrances they had used, and took them out to the forests and released them. It was worth the $200 we paid him.

 

[NHAnn]

Originally posted by Towncrier
DW hates our squirrels. She too thinks that they are just rats with fur coats,

I KNEW I liked Sue, TC
d.kurz: my DH calls them "tree rats"


sorry...I'm with the "inhumane"......this is not an occasional or isolated problem in our neighborhood. The population has increased from people feeding them...purposely or accidentally (ie trash and/or bird feeders) causing damage to homes (and in our case our wooden deck and our landscaping ) with their chewing. We have a next door neighbor who thinks they are "cute" and would not approve of DH's use of his air cartridge gun or his 22......but then again there is a neighbor across the street who feels as we do, who would like him to come over and practice target shooting in their backyard anytime.....
Squirrels are varmints, at least around here they are!

 

[CarolAnnC]

Several years ago as I lay in bed I heard the pitter patter of little feet running in the ceiling above my head. It was spring time and unbeknownst to me, squirrels had found there way in through a loose board in my roof and had taken up residence in the attic. It ended up being two mothers and their offspring.

I had a pest control company come in and it is also against the law in NH to kill them. They set traps with peanut butter and caught them one by one. They would drive the squirrels many miles away or they said they would find their way back since they are very territorial.

The trapper told me they have teeth so sharp that they could bite a finger right off! They wore heavy duty gloves and were very cautious with the cages.

AFter they were all out, they went up in the attic and repaired the hole allowing entry. They found extensive electrical wiring damage and I had to have an electrician come in immediately to rewire in order to avoid an electrical fire.

I HATE squirrels LOL!!

 

[GeorgeG]

You can have an expert get rid of them or do it yourself with "have a heart" traps. Of course, once you get them outside, you'll have to figure out what to do with them so they don't run right back in.

Whatever you do, do not use poison! We had a squirrel die in a part of the attic we couldn't get to and the smell was awful.

Whatever you do, once you're sure they're all out you'll need to repair every place they got in (there will usually be at least two places). And don't forget to check all the wiring.

 

[montessori]

For years we had 2 squirrels around, Stubby (he had no tail) and Mischief.
We had a coffee can full of sunflower seeds (for the cardinals) on our screened in porch. One of the squirrels chewed a hole in the screen and then chewed off the lid of the coffee can. There were seeds all over the porch.
We still have squirrels around but we haven't had any problems with them.
Unfortunately, there is a RAT who will get at the birdseed if we leave it out past dusk.
We also had a family of raccoons living in a big coconut palm out back. What a mess they would make! They pooped all over the pool deck and used the pool to wash their food. The parents were HUGE! The Mom fell out of the tree and died.
The others are gone now.