Squirrel control and catching squirrels

Squirrels are a problem for man people across the county. Many times people hear mysterious thumping or scratching up in their attic or maybe they find one messing up their garage. Squirrels are very troublesome for people and they are constantly on the look out for way to get rid of squirrels. Catching them are really your best bet if they are in your house. Using a live trap is the path most people go with where they bait the trap with nuts or peanut butter. Depending on the laws in your state it is possible to kill the squirrel with a rat snap trap. There is another product called the squirrel evictor that is an electronic device that emits a strobe light that deters and makes squirrels uncomfortable to eliminate them from the area (like an attic) that they are frequenting.

Squirrel Baits

Squirrels can be a friend or a foe depending on how you look at things. Some people love the furry little creature and others would sooner have them all disappear off the face of the earth. Many ask me the best way to trap them and I say to use a havaheart trap or a live trap and bait it with a good attractant. A good squirrel attractant can be nuts, peanut butter, or a premix bait like Baron's brand squirrel bait. Premixes work well because they are tailor made for the target animal you are looking to capture. With any trapping program you have to have patience and a plan. Be sure you know where you are going to let the animal go because if you let it go too close to your house they will be back to settle in.

Squirrel Evictor

Squirrel Evictor

Getting rid of squirrels in the attic can be frustrating and an overall pain in the butt! There are several ways of dealing with a squirrel in the attic; trapping and sealing up the hole is one of them and a product called the squirrel evictor is another. It is a strobe light device that you hang in your attic and the flashing lights agitate the squirrel's sensitive eyes. One of their MB10K models can cover a 900 sq foot area. The web site to check out the product is www.squirrelevictor.com

SQUIRREL IN MY ATTIC!

There is a squirrel in my attic!

I received a question about how to get rid of a squirrel in the attic. This is a common and unwanted problem that homeowners have to deal with unfortunately. Let me set the stage for you. You're lying in bed and hear the scampering of little feet above your ceiling and scratching sounds and you can't fall asleep. What do you do?

You have a few options open to you. You can go to your local pest control shop or your local Home Depot store and buy a live trap or a humane trap. This will only work if you have an open attic without a floor where you will be able to put this trap out in the area of activity. Bait the trap with peanut butter or nuts and carefully, let me say that again, carefully place the trap in the area you hear activity or the closest to it. Be careful not to fall through the ceiling and be careful not to get attacked by the squirrel!

Your other option would be to look and see where the squirrel is coming into your house from. Is there a piece of flashing that has come away fro the house or is there is hole that he is getting into? Then you can go up there and put a sticky repellent that most pest control stores will sell you called "for the squirrels" or even "for the birds" around the hole entrance. This sticky repellent will agitate the squirrel as he goes in and out for food and he will not return. You may have to re-apply this a few times. You also must take care not to stain your siding. It can be messy. After the noise has stopped at night you must seal the hole to prevent him from returning.

I wouldn't recommend just sealing the hole without first knowing for sure that he is out because he may panic and find his way to an area of the house you don't want him. Also there is the chance he will die up there and you will eb dealing with an odor and a possible fly problem. Trapping and/or exclusion is your best bet.

Some other tips to avoid this problem would be to prune back any tree branches that fall on your roof and utility companies have squirrel guards that they put around wires that go into houses or near the roof to prevent squirrels from climbing the wire. Also don't feed the cute squirrels. They will never go away!