BAKICOLJ

20 Apr 2009 10:01 am
firecat: red panda, winking (Default)
[personal profile] firecat
How do you get rid of squirrels in the attic?

Date: 20 Apr 2009 05:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cantkeepsilent.livejournal.com
I fixed it myself (or rather, got my dad to do it). If you can find the hole (and they can be small), then it's just a matter of screwing up a piece of tin sheeting to cover it. (Not wood, since the squirrels' first reaction is going to be to gnaw through your plug.) All you need is a ladder, a cordless drill, a pair of tin shears, the sheeting, and metal screws. If it doesn't work out, then you haven't lost much when you call in the pros.

Then again, I was pretty certain that the squirrels were out of the house when I did it. If you've got a litter of babies in your attic, then I think you've really got to go with professionals to make sure that there aren't any live squirrels in the house when the holes are sealed.

Date: 20 Apr 2009 07:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] flarenut.livejournal.com
Yeah, you drive them out somehow, usually with a professional, and then patch with metal, and a big patch too, because they will not look kindly on having the door to their nice warm home blocked by someone who isn't even a rodent.

When it happened to my parents' house, the squirrels ate through two or three plugs before I gave up an covered a couple of square feet with sheet metal. After rebuilding that whole corner of the house, because the squirrel hole had gotten it wet, and the ants had eaten most of the adjoining rafter...

Good luck

Date: 20 Apr 2009 07:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] flarenut.livejournal.com
Just make sure you don't have anything you care about in the attic. Squirrels have serious teeth and like to market their territory. You could use steel wool to make some areas less appetizing...

Date: 20 Apr 2009 11:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] prairierabbit.livejournal.com
My concern for that approach would be that they could decide to come down to your living space, plus they can damage any wiring in the attic. (At least around here they like to chew on indoor or outdoor wiring.) The risk of fire would worry me.

I'm inclined toward the "call in professionals" approach, either Animal Control or somone who does live trapping. Good luck!

Profile

firecat: red panda, winking (Default)
firecat (attention machine in need of calibration)

January 2026

S M T W T F S
    123
456789 10
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated 16 Jan 2026 05:58 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios