If you live in a private house with a big yard and a garden near it, get ready to pests that always want to become a part of your property. To feel comfortable and safe they look for hiding points not only in tall grass or behind trees, but also in your house. Squirrels are no exception.
What should be done to eradicate them once and for all? First of all, you should think of some repellents, traps and deterrents. Secondly, after successful elimination you must consider prevention options. So, what do we suggest?
How to Get Rid of all Squirrels and Get Them out of Your House?
Squirrel removal from the house is too difficult because the animals can hide in the attic, chimneys, walls, ceilings, etc. This is why you should know the basics on how to get rid of dangerous squirrels in the attic, how to poison them, trap, or repel. We suggest starting with repellents.
Of course, they can’t be called 100% efficient, but at times they really work:
Mothballs. According to the latest research, mothballs (naphthalene) are effective when spread per 2, 000 cubic feet of air (5 pounds). They work a temporary best squirrel repellent. The only possible disadvantage is the fact that their smell irritates not only pests, but also humans. So, if you are too sensitive or allergic, don’t use this solution.- Hot sauce. FYI, today there are commonly available so-called hot ingredients that discourage pests from gnawing. One of the best examples is pepper, BUT some specialists are skeptical about the work of this product.
- Sticky products. To them belong those that contain polybutenes and various sticky materials. They are usually applied to railings, buildings and many other places for prevention of squirrels from climbing.
Of course, these solutions can’t be called magical, but they usually work in those homes, where infestation isn’t that huge.
Another popular and effective method of how to keep squirrels out of your house is using live traps.
These are humane cages that capture the pest and keep it until you decode what to do. Once trapped, the animal cannot escape. You should remove it or call the animal control agency in your town.
But the problem is that you can’t know what you have trapped: if this is mother squirrel, it has babies left without food. Soon its little babies will perish into your house, causing many different problems.
Trap all squirrels and close up the holes, leaving no way for them to get into your house again.
Don’t try to poison these pests, unless you know how to deal with the bad odor coming from dead bodies.
After trapping them, relocate animals as far from your area as possible. Specialists suggest traveling in zigzag; otherwise, they will soon come back. The minimal distance should be 5 miles.
How to Get Rid of Squirrels That Live in the Walls?
Why do squirrels get into the walls of your house? They aren’t trapped and didn’t get lost. They are looking for a warm and nice place, and sooner or later they find it. Besides, this is where they can have their babies safe from predators.
It is impossible to stand the noise of scratching and clawing sounds. If there are the very first signs of this sort of infestation, find out what chances you have for getting rid of squirrels in walls. There’s no doubt that you can address specialists, but why not try to cope with the problem on your own?
If it is March or September outside, the pests in walls are little baby squirrels. Your main task is to find the nest and remove small creatures. Then you should inspect your house in order to find the holes through which old animals get inside. Usually there is one or two holes or gaps. Seal all extra holes off and leave only one – the main hole.
Set several special traps near the entry point. If they are in the roof, you’d better bolt them to it. The best variant is setting a repeater trap or buying a one-way exclusion door. When all the adult squirrels are trapped, relocate them and don’t forget to seal all entry points permanently.
What else can be done?
- Use plywood to cover all openings in exterior walls. We suggest nailing plywood firmly in place. Do not forget to caulk all edges in order to keep the material in place. If you forget to do it, squirrels will pull on these edges.
- Use steel wool, stuffing it into small openings. This will prevent pests from getting past. If they try chewing steel wool, it will cut them.
- Use smoke bombs outside the house, near the openings you find. Collect dirt for closing the openings. Then locate all the burrows and treat each of them by lighting a fuse and then inserting a cartridge into the hole. Before lighting all the openings should be covered, so that gas won’t escape. After the insertion, cover the hole, but don’t smother the cartridge.
How to Prevent Re-infestation of Squirrels in House?
To tell the truth, it is pretty hard to prevent re-infestation of these nasty creatures. Of course, you can seal off all holes and entry points, or you can use different chemicals, like Ropel spray or habanera sauce. You can also figure out some special covering for the chimney, but will that really work?
While doing any kind of squirrels removal job or trying to prevent any problems, try to squirrel-proof the entire building, sealing shut all openings.
Exterior. Take a good look around your house. Check for the cracks that can be big enough for the pests to enter the building. Cover these openings with a special wire mesh or steel wool. Do not forget about the chimney – install a cover for it as well. Shut all entry points, using materials that squirrels won’t be able to chew. However, this is not the only way of exterior examination: you should also cut all the branches which grow near the building or are on the roof. These branches are a kind of a bridge for pests like these. So they all should be at least 15 feet away from the house.- Garden. They feed in your yard or garden and live in your house. So how to get rid of squirrels in your yard? Take care of bird-feeders: they must be squirrel-proof in order to prevent these nasty creatures from stealing seeds. Keep in mind that proper sanitation is also very important. The house and the compound should be clean. Make sure you remove waste food regularly, and the garbage bins are tightly covered.
- Attic. Use strobe lights in the attic for keeping pests away. Usually these animals get rather annoyed by lights, so they try to avoid entering places like this. Today you can buy strobe lights anywhere, as they are always available in the market.
Now you see that getting rid of squirrels and their babies in your house is not that difficult. Of course, if you have never faced the problem like this, at first you’ll find it problematic. Use any of the provided tips and get your house clean of these little but dangerous creatures.
Finding pest animals in your home can be a scary and annoying thing. While it would be nice to get them out quickly it would also be great if you didn’t have to kill them either. So, I liked that you talked about calling in an animal control service to get them out.
Can Squirls chew through wood
Yes. they can chew through wood.
We have a squirrel in our finished basement for about a week now can’t seem to catch the little bastard! I set two rat traps with peanut butter and a live trap with peanuts and Oranges I don’t know what else to do.
Had the same problem. Easiest solution leave a window open just a little. He’s looking for a way out too. This worked for us. We put water bottles along windowsill to let us know if he left and sure thing, the bottles were on the floor & squirrel gone. Worth a try and no cost to you.
Caught a squirrel bastard in my folks house with a 2 ended humane trap, they LOVE peanut butter. drive approximately 5km away, open the trap and you’ve done it.
Ìve dealt with squirrels chewing into my shed, one lower gap I spotted and I stuffed steel wool pads into every hole on the inside, they’ve pulled insulation out from behind the paneling for their nests, not sure if it will work or not, after just reading they only need 1.5 inches to squeeze thru, I have that size gap above the door, does anyone have any suggestions?
Use spray foam in the hole, then after expansion they will not be able to enter. cut off foam on the outside of the house and cover with sealant because the foam will break down over time and allow moisture in.
Forget strobe lights in the attic. It will bother them but not enough to leave. Use a rat trap with peanut butter which they find irresistible.