Squirrels In The Attic

[HobieMarty]

Yeah, not an Aerosmith album!!!
I've been dealing with some squirrels that decided to break into my attic. I'm going to try this one-way cage extruder thing. You attach it at the access hole, squirrels can leave for food, and they can't get back in.
Does anyone have any tips about how to remove squirrels from an attic?

I've also got some repellant.

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[Soterik]

Coyote urine on cotton balls. Worked for us. We plug holes with steel wool and then shoot foam sealer into the steel wool. Mothballs didn't seem to work.

[Heel n Toe]

Show no mercy.

[sc_rufctr]

Unfortunately you'll have to go full Viking on any wild animal that has decided to take up residence in your roof.

I had an issue with rats and in the end I had to get professional help.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Soterik

Coyote urine on cotton balls. Worked for us. We plug holes with steel wool and then shoot foam sealer into the steel wool. Mothballs didn't seem to work.

How do you get coyotes to stand still when you try to hold a cotton ball under them while they pee?

[sc_rufctr]

FIO: ... You can buy Coyote urine.

(And almost any other predator urine)

[1990C4S]

Once they get into your attic and nest, you need to kill them, to take them a loooong way away.

They will do anything to get back in.

[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Unfortunately you'll have to go full Viking on any wild animal that has decided to take up residence in your roof.



I had an issue with rats and in the end I had to get professional help.

We use a pest control company for spraying our yard for mosquitoes, and their website listed that they performed squirrel removal services, so I called them. The man I spoke with said they no longer have that service, but he would tell me what they would do and he told me they used the one-way extruder cage like the one I posted a picture of. He also said to keep using that spray that I have, and when the squirrels are out, seal up that hole with some metal.
Yesterday morning, I went up into the attic and sprayed the repellant all around pretty heavily, in fact, the smell kind of wafted into the living space and my wife opened up some windows and lit some scented candles and it was all good. When I got home from work last night, the smell was actually gone.
Today, so far, I haven't heard any activity from up there.

We have woods behind our house, and surprisingly, there are not many squirrels around here at all. The two that have been in the attic are usually out in a hickory tree in our backyard. I was just outside with our Yorkie, and I saw one squirrel at the edge of the woods. I find it strange that even with the woods all around us here, I can count the number of squirrels in my general area on one hand. Thanks for the tips, guys. I truly appreciate it.

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[john70t]

You also need to fix where they are coming in. When my house was first half rebuilt, the insulation was missing from the top half of the ceiling and replaced by small black chunks of whatever. The smell was awful to say the least. The was space under the eves where they were getting in. Play loud music, do the urine thing, spray lysol, and reclaim the space so they leave. There is probably a branch near the roof.

Birds regularly fly up to my cracked window, chirp and flop at the screen, and check out a possible place to bed for the winter. Had to chase them out of the garage as well. Such is nature.

[HobieMarty]

Yes, when I know they are out of my attic I will seal the hole with some galvanized metal and paint to match the eve.

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[MikeSid]

Growing up in an 1920's brick colonial this was a constant problem since the squirrels can easily scale brick. They usually got in to the attic at a corner of house where the roof eaves/gutter meet the brick in a not so perfect fit.

Step 1. Seal the hole. Seems odd to do this first, but trying to time it so they are out of the attic when you seal is a fool's errand. Just seal your perimeter in broad daylight hours and hope you get lucky. Use metal carpenter paper or tin flashing - something their teeth can't chew. Trim any trees or branches that are giving them easy access to your roof. Wires are easy access points too. Slice a plastic funnel to enable you to place it on any wire going to your roof. Face the large end of the funnel away from the house to prevent squirrels from traversing the wire. They'll start to push the funnel toward the house, so set it far enough away to buy some time, but close enough to capture any access point they have to the wire itself. If you're fortunate enough to keep them out (as opposed to trapping them) you may have to move the funnel back several times as they will keep trying their usual access point.


Step 2. If squirrels remain in your attic, set up a one way live trap in the attic and buy yourself some heavy gloves. They will fight like hell in those metal traps but they work. Conventional rat snap traps don't seem to work too well with squirrels - at least in my experience. The squirrels will bloody their faces trying to chew their way out, so the gloves are very important.

Step 3. If you unfortunately have to transport a trap with a live squirrel, take it across a body of water if you can, or at least a sufficient distance. Don't unload him in the park down the street.
Face the trap opening toward the base of a tree and open the gate with a long stick.

We had a neighbor that would accomplish step 3 in a much more simple fashion using a large garbage can full of water. That sort of thing might not be to your taste, but it solves the problem conclusively.

Good luck.

EDIT: That Amazon link you posted will work, with one very critical condition. You have to be able to adequately mount the trap at the access point such that they can't get around it. If they're coming in at a spot that is in the middle of a wall where you can reliably attach all 4 of those flanges to the siding, great you're in business. But in my experience, those traps are too clumsy to mount to the exterior of the access point and won't completely seal the area. They are likely getting in at a seam or corner and that trap probably won't just fit perfectly in the area you want it to.

Nevertheless, if you try and it doesn't work, you can use it as an interior trap. Otherwise you can typically rent interior traps at tool rental places.

[GH85Carrera]

One of my buddies used to flip houses. Buy low, fix them up, live there for a while to finish the odds and ends, and sell it.

One house he bought had a squirrel make a huge nest in the attic of a house that no one lived for several years. That house had an upstairs game room, and a door to easily walk int the attic. The squirrel nest just close to the door.

He sealed up the hole and repaired the house, but he left the huge nest in place. He sterilized it with some chemicals as he rebuilt the house. He bought three ostrich eggs and put them in it. He had a 10 year old son that had lots of friends come over to play on the three pinball games, and several video games.

Invariably one of the boys would ask where that door went. He would make them all get real quiet, and open the door slowly and tell the other boys they had a huge bird that live up there. When they saw the eggs, they all were blown away, and of course told their friends about it.

My buddies son had a bunch of friends come see the nest.

[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

One of my buddies used to flip houses. Buy low, fix them up, live there for a while to finish the odds and ends, and sell it.

One house he bought had a squirrel make a huge nest in the attic of a house that no one lived for several years. That house had an upstairs game room, and a door to easily walk int the attic. The squirrel nest just close to the door.

He sealed up the hole and repaired the house, but he left the huge nest in place. He sterilized it with some chemicals as he rebuilt the house. He bought three ostrich eggs and put them in it. He had a 10 year old son that had lots of friends come over to play on the three pinball games, and several video games.

Invariably one of the boys would ask where that door went. He would make them all get real quiet, and open the door slowly and tell the other boys they had a huge bird that live up there. When they saw the eggs, they all were blown away, and of course told their friends about it.

My buddies son had a bunch of friends come see the nest.

Now that's a great story.

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[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by MikeSid

Growing up in an 1920's brick colonial this was a constant problem since the squirrels can easily scale brick. They usually got in to the attic at a corner of house where the roof eaves/gutter meet the brick in a not so perfect fit.

Step 1. Seal the hole. Seems odd to do this first, but trying to time it so they are out of the attic when you seal is a fool's errand. Just seal your perimeter in broad daylight hours and hope you get lucky. Use metal carpenter paper or tin flashing - something their teeth can't chew. Trim any trees or branches that are giving them easy access to your roof. Wires are easy access points too. Slice a plastic funnel to enable you to place it on any wire going to your roof. Face the large end of the funnel away from the house to prevent squirrels from traversing the wire. They'll start to push the funnel toward the house, so set it far enough away to buy some time, but close enough to capture any access point they have to the wire itself. If you're fortunate enough to keep them out (as opposed to trapping them) you may have to move the funnel back several times as they will keep trying their usual access point.


Step 2. If squirrels remain in your attic, set up a one way live trap in the attic and buy yourself some heavy gloves. They will fight like hell in those metal traps but they work. Conventional rat snap traps don't seem to work too well with squirrels - at least in my experience. The squirrels will bloody their faces trying to chew their way out, so the gloves are very important.

Step 3. If you unfortunately have to transport a trap with a live squirrel, take it across a body of water if you can, or at least a sufficient distance. Don't unload him in the park down the street.
Face the trap opening toward the base of a tree and open the gate with a long stick.

We had a neighbor that would accomplish step 3 in a much more simple fashion using a large garbage can full of water. That sort of thing might not be to your taste, but it solves the problem conclusively.

Good luck.

EDIT: That Amazon link you posted will work, with one very critical condition. You have to be able to adequately mount the trap at the access point such that they can't get around it. If they're coming in at a spot that is in the middle of a wall where you can reliably attach all 4 of those flanges to the siding, great you're in business. But in my experience, those traps are too clumsy to mount to the exterior of the access point and won't completely seal the area. They are likely getting in at a seam or corner and that trap probably won't just fit perfectly in the area you want it to.

Nevertheless, if you try and it doesn't work, you can use it as an interior trap. Otherwise you can typically rent interior traps at tool rental places.

Thank you for all the tips. I actually watched one of the squirrels scale the brick wall near their access hole. Last Saturday, I didn't hear any movement that I had heard the previous day, and I sealed up the hole with some spray foam just to seal it up quickly. The next day, I observed a squirrel in the backyard, and I watched as it got on the roof and went straight to where the hole had been, and I watched it use a cable like a trapeze and a high wire and it went straight to where the hole had been. The next thing I knew, there was the other squirrel, and it was inside the eve. The eves of my house are kind of wide and have a continuous metal mesh strip in the middle about an inch and a half wide, and the squirrel that was inside was at mesh strip. It reminded me of someone in jail, and the outside squirrel was trying to break it out. Lol. After seeing this, I got out my stepladder, and I cut the spray foam out of the hole in hopes that the other squirrel would escape. I then went to Home Depot and bought some animal repellant. When I got back from Home Depot, I used a broom handle to tap around on the eves of the house and listened for any rustling. There wasn't any. I sprayed the repellant into the mesh screen of the eves and worked my way toward the hole, thinking this would "funnel" the squirrels to the hole if they were still in there. Monday, I put a spikey rubber ball in the hole and really wedged it in there. Monday night when I got home from work, I checked and the ball was gone, I found it in the yard!! Lol. Tuesday morning, I got up in the attic and sprayed repellant everywhere. So far, no one in my house has heard and noises from the attic, and today, I didn't hear anything at all. Before heading to work, I put the spikey ball in the hole again just to see what happens, and I will check it when I get home.

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[dad911]

I used the rodent spray foam. It was called pest-block.

[HobieMarty]

Originally Posted by dad911

I used the rodent spray foam. It was called pest-block.

I've seen that stuff at Home Depot. I figured it was just the same as "Great Stuff" only marketed as rodent foam or whatever. I haven't researched it. Maybe it is treated with some sort of repellant, but I have no idea.

When I got home tonight, I checked, and the spikey ball is still right where I left it, and my family said they hadn't heard any noises from the attic all day. Maybe the repellant that I sprayed in the attic did the trick. Time will tell.

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[HobieMarty]

It is Thursday morning, and the spikey ball is still in the access hole where I placed it.
If it remains there the rest of the week, then that tells me that the squirrels have vacated the attic. My plan for the weekend is to get back up there in the attic, do a good sweep of things, and repair the access hole and any voids I see in the screen mesh on the eaves of the house and good to go!!!

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[rwest]

That rubber ball was a brilliant idea. Lets you make sure the squirrels are out before you make permanent repairs.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by HobieMarty

It is Thursday morning, and the spikey ball is still in the access hole where I placed it.
If it remains there the rest of the week, then that tells me that the squirrels have vacated the attic. My plan for the weekend is to get back up there in the attic, do a good sweep of things, and repair the access hole and any voids I see in the screen mesh on the eaves of the house and good to go!!!

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Sounds to me like the squirrels are gone, congrats!

Is the ball hard enough to get out that they couldn't pull it out from the outside?

[KFC911]

I just want you to know that I've had Steven Tyler (on 8-track it wuz) screaming "Swirlz ... Skwirlz ... Skwirlz " in my head lately

Well done!