Bought old house; found major squirrel nest between floors.
Two questions;
How do I get them out? Will seal ports of entry for the future.
And in addition to tearing out the ceiling; how do I clean out the stink of squirrel piss?
Old houses are fun.
Replies
Insert mothballs
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where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
I noticed you didn't mention where to insert them...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Go here http://www.unexco.com/trapsquirrels.htm
Buy the trap. Putt part of a peanut butter sammy in it.
Catch invasive rodent. Take the trap outside. Fill a garbage pail with water. Carefully place trap in water. Be careful not to put your hand in harm's way, and you may have to hold door closed.
Drown the perpetrator. Been there, done that. I felt more satisfied than guilty.
By me, as the article says, my choices are to kill it or let it free on my property. Defeats the purpose. Kill the bast@rd!
Good luck.
Glenn
I've heard that putting the trap in a big box and running your car exhaust through a hose into the box will kill them somewhat mercifully (be careful not to cook them by using too short a hose or too little a box).
To be honest, after he ruined $400 worth of vinyl gable vents, I wasn't at all thinking of being merciful.My wife didn't want our son to see it dead, at 10 he's kind of emotional, but he came out to watch it go and LOVED it.The only thing quicker would have been a gun, which I do not own.Your way takes to much to do for something that needs to be put out of MY misery.Glenn
I've hauled rabbits to a park on the other side of a river from here.Another option is to trap a squirrel in a live trap and forget you'd set it. My neighbor did that with a rabbit and rabbits were curiously absent for a couple of years.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
I've used the car exhaust method before - put the trap in a trash bag, hold it up to the car exhaust for a few seconds, tie it shut and wait a couple minutes. Doesn't take long at all and they just go to sleep.
Or stick them in a freezer for a couple of hours.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
...and when wet, they resemble rats enough that even my wife felt better....that's not a mistake, it's rustic
Seal all access except one area (where they seem to be going in/out the most) and install a one-way "excluder" gate there. (Don't do this final step until after any young uns are grown.)
Eg:
http://www.livetrap.com/cgi/search.cgi?user_id=&database=dbase1.exm&template=products.shtml&2_option=1&2=One+Way+Doors
(Based on the pictures, apparently they're available pre-loaded with squirrels.)
Found this at a university site:
A squirrel excluder can be improvised by mounting an 18-inch (46-cm) section of 4-inch (10-cm) plastic pipe over an opening. The pipe should point down at a 45o angle. A one-way door can also be used over an opening to let squirrels out and prevent them from returning.
A sack of rattlers will get rid of the squirrels. No idea on the stink cure.
for the stink, you have to open things up, and cut out the saturated framing members or spend a month spraying them down with clorox every day
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Actually, there are products made to remove pet odors. Then there is the white vinegar too.
My sister had a squirrel eat into her porch. One day he stuck his head out and dad shot him with a pellet gun, but it didn't kill him... right off. A few days later my sister turned on the bathroom light and it was full of maggots. Turned out he died on top of the box. What a stinking nasty mess.
Everything you need to know about ratpiss.
http://www.chezneumansky.blogspot.com/
Also a thread here about the same house, ny Madscientist.
Joe H
I had squirrels in my gutters and attic and can offer a few observations. The pest control company I had look at it wanted $9 per foot to "rodent-proof" the exterior and catch the perpetrators. You can do your own math, but it was an expensive proposition. Instead, I went online and found a company that sold squirrel traps. The traps are very inexpensive, about $25 each. They catch the squirrels alive and you can decide what to do from there. I consider squirrels rats with longer tails and my solution involved a BB gun. Since the squirrels seem determined to overcome whatever barricades I errect, I occassionally have to resume the offensive, but the traps work well and in a few days I'm living free again.
Stuffing dog hair in their holes allegedly disuades them. ( The hole
in the building, not the squirrel , although ...) I find covering the holes
with hardware screen effective. They spend their time chewing on the
screen and usually give up. With sheet metal covers etc. they promptly
chewed new holes. We have so many squirrels here that killing them
was like bailing out the ocean.
Hydrogen peroxide will help with the smell. You may need to saturate the area several times before the smell is neutralized. Other option is to open up the area and paint it with shellac to seal in the odor.
Was thinking of using lemon scented bleach; 1/4 & water....Good / bad...
I used to hear of ozone generators being used to deodorize houses. Is that still done, or is it strictly verboten now?
I think it's still done. Safer than other means, though of course all plants, animals, and humans must be removed during the operation.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin