I finally found a contractor to finish the tippy top of our old city house – replacing cedar shakes, some rotted wood, and (especially) squirrel damage to crown, fascia and soffit boards. The job came in at a bit under $5000 for a lot of hours and many days rental of a very large lift, so I was very pleased to finally get this job doen at a reasonable expense. But, one week later the squirrels are back, chewing through the brand new crown molding under the roof. Once again, I could fix it myself, but it is beyond the reach of a 40ft. ladder. ARRRGH. What to do?
Our plan so far: cut down/trim tree adjacent to house, trap and kill as many of the little f***ers as I can, poison the squirrels nesting above the soffit. My wife is skeptical about the tree, believing that they can still gain access by scurrying long the power cable drop.
Any ideas? Have you ever seen a shield that can be installed on a power line, like those dog collars to keep dogs from chewing on themselves?
Replies
12 guage, dove and quail shot.
Great idea, except we live in a dense city neighborhood.
Poison
I had a mouse house as big as me in the back of a storage shed I cleaned out 2 years ago.
Never again.
Jeff
Kidnap an alley cat and lock him up in the attic? :)
I think there was a thread here long ago re: cleaning up soaked in cat urine from hardwood floor...
.177 pellet rifle.
Slow acting rat poison mixed with bird seed... Mindful of the birds.
Rat traps..
Live traps.
Mole cricket bait.
Lynx.
Be relentless. What you don't get the others will learn that you have an anti-social neighborhood and move on.
These guys'll walk right up the wall of the house.
Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....
Squirrels have one known weakness.
http://www.theonion.com/3945/opinion1.html
Careful with the poison. Nothing worse than a dead animal in the wall (well, I did have a dead skunk under the porch, so one thing is worse!)
I used a live trap the last time I faced this, but a rat trap with peanut butter cups works too. Just remember to check trap frequently, or you will need to wear a haz-mat suit to get it out.
Neighbor tried lead flashing. They ate right through it! Now we have all these low-IQ squirrels running around the neighborhood...
Seriously though, if you can get at the backside of the hole, wire cloth will keep them out. If you keep them out long enough, they will give up and find a new home. The next generation will have no emotional (or chemical) attachment to your attic. Their winter food supply is probably in there...
I went through the exact same thing this summer. I think the trick is 1) trim the tree to make it more difficult for squirrels to get there (although I've seen them climbing straight up the side of my house) and 2)you have to get rid of every squirrel that knows about the holes in the house.
They are very single minded...if they've been living in there and you patch the hole, they'll chew their way back in before you can put away your tools. I trapped 25 of them before the damage was repaired, and at least for a while there were zero squirrels in the immediate area. Eventually, other squirrels showed up, but they were newcomers to my yard and (so far) have been content to build nests in the trees.
However, I decided that I'll just have to keep trapping them, even though it's like trying to bail out the ocean. I figure if I can keep the population down to a reasonable level they won't run out of trees to live in and start eyeing the house. An interesting thing I've found is I don't have to bother baiting the live trap...I just leave it out in the yard and eventually they walk right in. If you're trapping them, make sure you haul them a good distance away as they can find their way home pretty quickly if you just take them down to the local park. I usually take them at least 8 or 10 miles away before I release them.
Be careful with the local constabulary.
Relocating trapped animals is illegal around here, unless you have some sort of license. They issue fines every so often just to make an example of some unfortunate folks.
"Be careful with the local constabulary.
Relocating trapped animals is illegal around here, unless you have some sort of license. They issue fines every so often just to make an example of some unfortunate folks."
Actually, around here (in Minneapolis) the only legal way to get rid of squirrels and the like is to relocate them. I suppose different cities have different rules.
I imagine there may be someone in another part of town catching their squirrels and letting them out in front of MY house...the only real solution is a house built of 1/4" steel plate, I suppose.
Don't know if it works, but it's entertaining. My local hardware store sells a plastic owl. Solar powered, the head moves back & forth. Its supposed to scare them away. It scared me away since it was $50.
It only works for a short time. Then everything gets use to it...
Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....
I have a few squirrels in the attic, too (take that any way you want). I didn't think it was worth the price. It could make an interesting conversation piece in the living room, though.
It's not so much the squirrels as it is the nuts issue. either you are or you aren't.
Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....
javier,
Zatarans crab boil will stop them from chewing. Mix small bottle with 1/2 gal water and spray with pump sprayer. Protect your eyes. I like the pellet gun and a dark gravy over grits!
http://www.zatarain.com/products/product.php/60
KK
Don't know if I'd much on one of those city sliker squirrels...
Who ever invented work didn't know how to fish....
Had a customer with same problem. I was there fixing damage from squirrels. He
was told by a pet store?(Critter Ritters) to use fox piss(there natural enemy) in a jar
with a wick. He said ever since he hung the jar on his dormer he hasn't had a
problem. I guess it's worth a try.
do you think somebody else wants them? other folks are probably bringing them to your neighborhood. like some pointless foreign squirrel exchange. btw- they're lousy swimmers- at least while they're still in the trap.
m
How do you convince the fox to aim for the jar?
;)
.
Excellence is its own reward!
You're killing me, and I thought you knew everything(lol). Now ifn I have to tell ya
piffin you now I'd have to........ well never mind. All kidding aside it works and no I
don't know how they get the fox to hit the jar.
That "relocatin'" idea sounds like a winner - relocate the head to the front yard and the bits of fur and inards to the side yard.
Wouldn't have to use a 12 ga., even a 410 would work.
Patience and a pellet gun......those things are just rats with a good PR man....I'm an ethical hunter with one huge exception..squirrels! To me there is no "out of season", they come near me and they die. Had the next door neighbor trapping and relocating for awhile..till one day I heard the "have a heart" get one near the shop door..I stuck the pellet gun in the trap door and iced him in the cage... I'll go to hello for that one I'm sure.
My ex brother in laws aunt would pay him to kill squirrels in her backyard with a pellet rifle he would stand between their favorite trees and shoot them on the run until one day he knocked one out of the tree and it ran up him and down his back. Scared him so bad he shat his pants and he never shot another squirrel.
ANDYSZ2I MAY DISAGREE WITH WHAT YOUR SAYING BUT I WILL DEFEND TO THE DEATH YOUR RIGHT TO SAY IT.
I have been fighting squirrels for years. One year I trapped 100 and my neighbor 35 before we stopped counting. I took them to the state park ... about 5 miles ... at first. I thought they were coming back, so I spray painted several of their tails yellow before releasing them. I never caught a squirrel with a yellow tale, but I did see several at the park ... that must have excited some naturalists.
I started taking them anywhere I was going ... 2 and 3 trips to the park in the same day got old. They do swim quite well. I let some loose near a creek. They looked like a little mink as they quickly swam across.
I let one out near some trees in the far corner of a Wal-Mart parking lot one day. The dumb thing circled through the busy parking lot and went right in the front door. He raised quite a commotion in there. When it finally stopped for a few seconds a little boy asked his mother if he could pet it. She told him "No! It's wild." He pointed to me and said "No! It's that man's squirrel" He must have seen me let it go. Needless to say I quickly left Wal-Mart.
The game warden came to my door one day A neighbor had called him twice and reported me. She was afraid I would get rid of all the squirrels ... fat chance. The game warden said he hated to bother me because he had seen me releasing them, but he figured if he didn't do anything she would call his boss the next time. He told me how to get a 60 day permit to relocate them. Now here is the Kicker: This same neighbor wanted to borrow my trap a few months later. A squirrel was in her attic.
My latest venture was squirrels eating the paint off a new house I was building. I called the paint manufacturer, and the engineer told me that he had heard of it before. He said the only thing that he knew would work was to spray the area with puma urine. Where am I going to find a puma? Even if I could find one, how do you get a puma to pee into a bottle?
john , you ust kill me ...
we had a squirrel in the attic of a house we were sidewalling with red cedars..
nice round hole right thru the shingles about 2" diameter..
shingled over it.. next morning ... same hole , same place in the new shingles...
trapped him out .. tried to teach him to swim... no luckMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
That was my solution to several of those rats with fancy tails. Chunky peanut butter in a Hav-a-hart trap. One garbage can for swimming lessons. I always forget to take them out of the trap first. When wet, they look just like rats which helps anyone with a fuzzy, cutesy critter problem....that's not a mistake, it's rustic
" tried to teach him to swim... no luck"
Next time you have to work up to it.
Don't put the heavy tool belt on them until they have learned the basic strokes.
>> ... how do you get a puma to pee into a bottle?
Tell him it's a condition of employment.
Wouldn't it be easier just to trap the Puma and put him in the attic?
Perhaps you could!
I understand some of these have returned to Vermont, though I believe you call them "catamounts" up there. Didn't have any when I lived in Vermont.