Squirrels In Attics

Are you hearing scratching in your attic? Something waking you up in the morning, but you don’t know what it is? Could it be squirrels in the attic. Attics are very common places for squirrels to be found. Squirrels get into attics for a number of reasons from simply getting out of the weather to squirrels breeding in the attic. Give us a call for all of your squirrel removal pest control needs.

Attics provide a nice warm sheltered environment for squirrels. They can use the insulation for nesting and can easily get outside. The squirrels can jump from trees to the roof so they stay safe from predators. Squirrels in more urban areas are very accustomed to attics. Since the trees have been removed the squirrels quickly adapted to life in attics. Just think of your home like a giant hollow tree that a squirrel can live in.

In Virginia we find most squirrels nest in the attic during the fall and spring. This is their birthing season. When you hear squirrels in the attic this time of year it most likely means there are baby squirrels up there as well. You will also have squirrels in the attic during the cold winter months. They use attics as their nesting areas to stay warm and keep out of the elements. Though you may want to provide a safe warm place for squirrels to live, it is not safe to have squirrels living in the attic.

Squirrel Damage in Attics

Squirrels can cause all kinds of damage in an attic and it is extremely unsafe to leave them unaddressed for very long. One of the main problems with squirrels in attics is chewing wires. Squirrels are a member of the rodent family, and with that their teeth continue to grow. This means that squirrels must constantly chew. The squirrels chew on wires, they chew on boards and the squirrels can even chew in HVAC ducts. This can lead to fire hazards especially if squirrels chew the wires bare and then they short together.

They will also destroy the insulation. By running around the attic all day they are constantly compressing the insulation. Effectively destroying the r-value of the insulation. Unless you have a house broke squirrel, they also do not always go outside to use the bathroom. Over time the attic will become soiled with squirrel feces and urine, this can lead to serious health risk. Squirrels are known carriers of Leptospirosis, Salmonellosis, Tularemia and Rabies. Once we get the squirrels out of your attic we can perform a complete attic remediation if it is needed.

Squirrel Removal from Attics

How do you remove squirrels from attics? This is a question we always get when somebody finds out there is a squirrel in the attic. There are a number of ways we can trap or remove squirrels from the attic. One of the most unsuccessful way is to set a baited squirrel trap in the attic to catch a squirrel. It takes a long time, because squirrels instinctively go outside to look for food. Even if you do catch the squirrel it does nothing to address how the squirrel got into the attic.

We prefer to first find all of the squirrel entry points on the house. We then seal up and repair all of the entry points except one. Then we can either install a one way squirrel control door or a trap mounted over the hole. This will allow us to not only get the squirrel out but be able to monitor the attic to make sure all of the squirrels are out. Once we are sure all of the squirrels are out of your attic we can seal the final entry point and make your attic squirrel free.

Once the squirrels are all out we will determine how much clean up and remediation is needed. Sometimes the squirrels are contained to one area of the attic and only that needs to be clean. Sometimes we come across homes where squirrels have free range of the attic and the entire attic needs to be remediated. In either case we can handle it all. We will clean up all of the mess, repair the damage and your home will be good as new and squirrel proof too.