Squirrel Pest Control

If you live in an area where squirrels are abundant, continuous prevention will be a strategic part of your squirrel pest control. Squirrels are fun to watch and are very cute. Being a rodent, they love chewing on everything. In fact, they are one of the most aggressive pests and can be very hard to get rid of. Their teeth grow continually and chewing helps keep the teeth at the right length. If they did not gnaw on everything, their teeth would get to a length that would make it impossible to eat. They chew through all types or wiring, wood, and insulation. Fires in attics are sometimes a problem caused by rodents chewing on wires. Young trees can die because of squirrels gnawing on them. They invade your gardens and ruin many crops. Ground squirrels burrow into and destroy lawns. If they get into your home, their droppings and urine can make you house smell so badly, that it becomes impossible to live there. If one dies in your attic or walls, you may have to tear down the wall to remove it.

If these cute furry animals invade your home, you need to have a very well thought out, squirrel pest control plan in place. Preventing their invasion is the best practice before they can cause damage.

To prevent their invasion there are some things to consider. Squirrels include the ground squirrel, the tree squirrel, and the flying squirrels. All squirrels can cause destruction of one type or another.

• Ground squirrels cause the most damage to your lawns and gardens.
•  The flying squirrel can also get into your house, but they are not as frequent a home invader as the tree squirrel.
  
• Tree squirrels cause the most damage to homes, but they also cause damage to lawns, gardens, flowers, and vehicles. The grey and fox squirrels are tree squirrels and cause the most damage to homes. They love living in the attic and walls of homes where they find protection and can easily raise their families. They normally enter through chimneys, vents, and spaces under floors, however will come into homes through any opening they find. They will also gnaw an opening to make it larger for easier entrance.Since squirrels are prolific, their numbers can grow very quickly.

Squirrel pest control starts with prevention. All openings, even very small openings, need to be sealed. Chimneys need to have wire screen and metal flashing for protection. Since bird feeders attract squirrels, be sure that they are a safe distance from the house. Make sure that you use squirrel proof bird feeders only. Keep tree branches trimmed so they cannot climb and jump onto the rooftop. Do not stack things around the outside of your buildings, such as firewood. They like living in firewood stacks as well as climbing up to gain entrance into your home. Installing motion detectors help keep squirrels and other animals away from your home. Strobe lights are a new device, and once installed in your attic, keeps squirrels and other animals from entering. There are also electric fences that work around perimeters to keep squirrels and other animals away. Control all access to food, including bird food, dog and cat food, small animal food, and garbage.

If you did not set up prevention techniques as part of your squirrel pest control plan, and become invaded by these furry critters, it’s time to control and eliminate them. You can hire a professional pest control company or even call your local animal control. There are many products on the market available to buy that help control squirrels.

Squirrel Traps. There are metal wire traps. Wire traps need to be the right size and type for the squirrel that you are trapping.

Squirrel Repellents. Repellents are in abundance at your local hardware and gardening shops. If you use poisons, be sure that they are not accessible by children or pets. When using poisons you also take the chance of a rodent dying in your attic, under your floor, or in your walls, which is going to leave a very bad smell in your home.

Once you have squirrels that are damaging your lawns, flowers, or homes, you will need to keep the prevention and elimination as a regular routine.

In the following videos an expert explains how to get rid of squirrels, how to catch a squirrel, how to kill a squirrel humanly and how to repell squirrels.