Do you have squirrels in your attic and live in the Cordova TN area? If you have squirrels in the attic of your home, you’re not alone! One of the main issues we get calls about here at Apex Wildlife control is squirrels in the attic. These little visitors may be small, but they make a big entrance and a lot of noise.
Signs That You Have Squirrels In Your Attic
Some signs that you may have squirrels in your attic are chewed holes the size of baseballs or smaller. You may see squirrels running around on your roof a lot too. In your home, you may hear a running around, chewing, or scratching noises above your head. This can take place in the attic or even in the walls. Once the squirrels get into your attic, they can travel throughout your entire home.
What Happens If A Squirrel Gets Stuck In A Wall?
This is especially bad because sometimes they can become stuck or lose their footing and fall into small crevices. If you hear scratching, crying, or screeching noises in the bottom of your wall an animal is most likely trapped. If the animal is not rescued quickly it can pass away from de-hydration and exhaustion.
As sad as this is, it’s gets worse. If this happens you will start to smell it decompose. This decomposition can also attract flies and other wildlife. You will also have a repugnant smell that will permeate your entire home. This can take several weeks to a couple months to stop smelling. If it’s a large animal and the weather is warm, it could take even longer to get the smell out. Fortunately, in most cases we are able to remove the animal, and deodorize the area to get the smell out. However, it can still take several days for the smell to fully leave.
Squirrels Attract Other Animals To Your Attic
Squirrels can also attract other predators if they are nearby and hungry. It’s not uncommon to have raccoons and rats get into an attic once a squirrel finds it’s way in. The most activity during the summer months will be early in the morning and when the sun is going down. They will leave the attic when it gets too hot during the daytime. Squirrels are most active during the day, but you can still hear them sometimes during the night. During the winter months, squirrels will stay in their nests to keep warm and are not very active. You can still hear them in the attic, and see the holes they are entering through, but they may not be seen outside of your home as much.
Squirrel Breeding And Gestation
Squirrels will mate around December or January. You may see several male squirrels chasing the female squirrel like a game of tag. This is when loud noises begin. Once they have mated, the females’ gestation period is about 40 days. This gives her plenty of time to start on her nest if she doesn’t already have one. Squirrels like to build nests in attics because they are quiet and secluded.
This keeps them away from predators and out of the weather. The squirrels typically have their young in the springtime. The babies will stay in the nest for up to 3 months before they start to explore outside. Squirrels have around 3 babies in an average litter. Once the babies become active it can get pretty noisy.
What Kind Of Squirrels Are In The Attic Of Your Home?
When clients call, we like to ask questions to determine the species we are likely dealing with. We first need to see if all the signs point to the species in the attic being a squirrel. We ask questions such as when do you hear noises? This helps us to determine the type of squirrel or rodent we are dealing with. Depending on the species, some squirrels are active at night and some during the day.
For example, gray squirrels are mostly active during the day, and flying squirrels are active at night. Flying squirrels are nocturnal. Another question we ask is have you seen squirrels go into your attic? Sometimes people assume it’s a squirrel because they have seen them outside. Sometimes what we think we hear is completely different than what is going on. You could possibly have a quiet raccoon in your attic! Sometimes there are actually multiple species living in the attic. It’s not uncommon for us to find rat, squirrel, and raccoon evidence in an attic.
Typical Questions We Ask And Why We Need To Know
After we ask about the type of sounds then we want to understand the condition of your home.
- Do you have a lot of holes in the wood?
- Have you seen chew marks?
- Is there a lot of rotted wood?
These questions all have a purpose. When we ask about holes we are also looking for the size of the hole. Squirrels tend to make baseball size holes. If someone calls in describing the hole as bigger than a baseball it is most likely a raccoon. If it is the size of a golf ball it could be a flying squirrel. Even smaller holes could indicate roof rats or mice.
Squirrel Trapping And Exclusion Process
Once we know what species we are dealing with we can proceed further. Following a positive identification we can begin the trapping and exclusion process. The trapping process will vary depending on species. However, we normally have the process completed in one to two weeks. Now it is time to see about fixing your home up and sealing it from wildlife re-entry. However, one thing that can slow things down is if you have rotted wood on the home. Rotted wood can be a big problem, and is sometimes very costly to fix. It is always good to know if rotted wood is abundant before we come out.
You May Need Carpentry Work So Be Prepared
Our company does not fix rotted wood or do any major carpentry work. If there is a lot that needs to be done we ask that you have a carpenter come out to assess your home and fix those areas first. The foundation needs to be strong and sturdy before we seal the home. Our main focus with exclusion work is sealing up the small gaps, securing vents, and patching up the smaller holes. If there is rotted wood around your home it needs to be repaired before we perform exclusion because we can’t secure any of our work to something that could fall apart or be chewed through easily.
Apex Wildlife Control wants to always have the highest quality work and to always have satisfied customers that know our work is going to hold up and last!
