Replace squirrel-infested insulation?
We have an unfinished attic with fiberglass batt insulation with a paper moisture barrier.
We have a problem with squirrels nesting in the attic as a result of open soffits. Just to give you some perspective, we’ve trapped six squirrels just this week. On any given day, if we load the Havahart trap with bait, we’ll catch one within a few hours. We dispose of them by letting them loose in the forest at least ten miles away from our house.
We know that the soffits need to be closed in, so that’s a given. Assuming that we effectively prevent the suirrels from re-entering the attic, what, if anything, do we need to do with the insulation? The squirrels have torn up some of it, and tunneled into most of it. They have nested in the area between the sheetrock and the paper moisture barrier of the insulation batts. And they have done as all rodents do, and have left droppings and have soiled much of the insulation.
The ceiling under a few of their favorite areas is stained too. Is cleaning and repainting those areas sufficient? Or is the sheetrock going to need replacement in those areas too?
Any help or advice you can give us will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Edited 1/22/2004 6:18:49 PM ET by melissa
Replies
When we bought our house we had flying squirrels in the eaves. We trapped seven in about a week. We were gutting the rooms affected by the squirrels so replacement of drywall and insulation was not a question. The first thing you should do is repair and seal any entrance points. It's worthless to do repairs and have new work ruined. Then I would remove the insulation and drywall. The flying squirrels actually made nests out of the old fiberglass insulation. The paper was literallty left hanging in the stud bays with the fiberglass stripped out four to five feet high. Just use caution when removing these materials. Rodent droppings carry harmful diseases especially when airborne. Use a good respirator-no paper masks-and seal the area off to protect living space. A good solution to keep the dust down is to spray the affected insulation with water before removal. It can create more of a mess but your health is worth it. Good luck!!!
Certain species of mice and voles are responsible for spreading hanta virus through their feces but I am not familiar with any vectors that are thought to be spread through squirrel feces. If you know of any, I would be interested in knowing the name. There is a suspicion that some type of typhus fever was possibly spread by a type of louse carried by flying squirrels, but I believe the link is uncertain and the disease is quite rare in the U.S. All-in-all, it appears that squirrels have a relatively clean bill of health - however, all I know is what I read in the research reports.
You obviously know more about the health risks than I do. I have heard of the health risks associated with mice, however I don't know the particulars on squirrels. I just know I wanted to err on the side of caution. My wife was pregnant with twins when I started that project and I wasn't taking any chances. I sent her out and sealed off all the doorways with plastic and removed everything. Drywall, insulation, and even replaced studs and believe it or not some 1X sheathing that the flying squirrels were chewing on. The room with the bulk of the nests and activity is now the nursery so I didn't want to leave any squirrel remnants in the house.
I'm not saying that there are no health risks from squirrel feces, just that I haven't run accross it and it didn't show up in doing a quick search. I was hoping someone else may have run across something. I do tend to read secondary sources rather than the basic medical research reports. Always better to be safe than sorry, there are concerns over inhaling fiberglass particles and even cellulose fibers (I have an alergy to fine wood dust). A good respirator should be an essential part of anyones tool kit and used much more than they tend to be.
I had a pet ground squirrel as a kid, and I do know that they can take a healthy nip out of a finger...
Hanta virus or none, I wouldn't mess around with my lungs on this one. N-100 respirator is the way to go.
Squirrels make a collossal mess. As the other fellow said, ripping out sections of wall may be required.
Well, they have made a bit of a mess. One section is really torn up and messy, but the rest isn't too bad. There are droppings everywhere, though.
Thanks for the info!
Don't close up the opening until your sure they are all out. I'd suggest you don't wait for warmer weather because they'll have young in the nest. You'd be surprised how hard they are to get rid of if they have young. Believe me, they'll eat their way back in to get to the nest. I wouldn't worry about the cleanup. Just take the proper precautions and wear a mask. Tear out the damaged insulation and replace it, then paint over the stains on the existing ceiling with BIN to seal the stain. Then just repaint the ceiling. Been there - done this!
All out? I've trapped 5 this week alone! I know there's at least one up there, but I'd expect there're more...
I'm using a Havahart, and giving them an express ride out of town (usually 10-40 miles away) so they don't have a chance of coming back here.
There seems to be no end to the supply of them.
These are little ones, too, not the full-size ones I see out in the trees. These are so small that they were able to slip out the 1" or so metal that the traps' made of, so I had to use some hardware cloth to cover the whole trap so they wouldn't get out.
Usually I can almost guarantee that I'll get one the same day I load up the trap...
I'd really like to know the outcome on this. Do me a favor and come back when you solve it to let us know how you made out. Thanks!
"I'm using a Havahart, and giving them an express ride out of town (usually 10-40 miles away) so they don't have a chance of coming back here.
There seems to be no end to the supply of them."
That's because someone 10 miles away is releasing them in your area...
There seems to be no end to the supply of them."
That's because someone 10 miles away is releasing them in your area...
LOL! I hadn't thought of that!
You are funny!
I don't think he's trying to be funny. I think he's trying to gently hint that it's rude to release your trapped squirrels in somebody else's neighborhood. After all, you wouldn't want them releasing their trapped squirrels in your neighborhood. If you're not willing to release the squirrels in your own yard, you need to kill them.
We dispose of them by letting them loose in the forest at least ten miles away from our house.
The forest is a 5,441 acre state preserve. I've got to think there's already one or two squirrels there, and that our additions don't make a difference.
We don't let them loose in somebody's neighborhood, though I can't imagine a neighborhood anywhere around here that has no squirrels at all...
I assume that you would know if you had flying squirrels as opposed to grays. I had the same problem. I was using a Havahart that had 1 x 1 wire mesh on it. When I caught one I set the trap out back and went to get the kids to show them. By the time I got back, the trap was empty. He was probably back in the warm house before I was. I did the same thing and wrapped the whole trap with 1/4 inch hardware cloth.
As I do fix-ups on vents, I put a layer of 1/4 in hardware cloth over the screen to prevent squirrel and chipmonk passage.
This has helped alot.
In one place, I had to seal every joint crack with liquid nails to prevent passage.
I've also started using poison in my shop, as much as I hate to.
The little monsters were destoying everything.
Jeff
mmmmmm...squirrell pie..
Go Stab yourself Ya Putz! Ya think I Parked here?
Hey! Post your address, and I'll mail 'em to ya! It would save me some driving time.
I wonder if they'll run out of the trap right into the mailing box...
:)
strap em to your doors and send them ..if they are flying sq.'s ya gotta go AIR MAIL..he, he, he..
Go Stab yourself Ya Putz! Ya think I Parked here?
Well, Jeff, that does bring up a point.
I was wondering if, when we finally close in the soffits and eaves, I should cover it all with hardware cloth first...
Yes
I don't know if they're flying squirrels. I've thought that maybe they are, though. They seem to climb up the side of the house to get in, but I don't know how they get out.
But I swear I saw one just dive out one day. It was such a blur past the upstairs window that I didn't notice how it went, or how it landed, so I don't know if it was flying, or just taking a big first step... :)
Edited 1/27/2004 2:31:40 PM ET by melissa
Flying squirrels are smaller than grays. They have beady round eyes much like a deer mouse would. they also have shorter tails that are not as bushy as grays. They have flaps of skin under their front legs that act as a sail when they extend them. They can actually soar for quite a distance. If you've never seen one they are definitely peculiar looking. You won' t see them during the day though, they are nocturnal.
Thanks for the description. They do have buggy eyes! I haven't been able to see the flap of skin, but then again, I haven't really studied them much on their way out...
They must be flyers, though, since I do seem to catch them more at night.
Thanks!
Melissa
Take out the FG insulation and pump in cellulose, it is a better insulation and rodents won't nest in it. While you have the fg removed, you can seal up all of the bypasses around junction boxes, wire chases and other holes.
Simple.