Do you have squirrels in your crawlspace in Memphis TN? Have you been hearing scratching under your feet during the day or at night? If you notice holes around your foundation, this is an indication that you may have squirrels in your crawlspace. If you do have squirrels in the crawlspace of your home, we can help.

Squirrels will chew through the wooden doors that lead into your crawlspace. There are a number of ways squirrels can get into your crawlspace. They also use ground vents to gain access to these areas. 

Squirrels go under your home for several reasons. Some squirrels nest under a home because it is cooler than an attic during the summer. They want to raise their young in a comfortable, quiet and safe place. Squirrels will also use this area to store caches of food they are reserving. They will store food for the winter and hide it so other animals can’t find it. Rats are also known to be under homes and in crawl spaces. A crawlspace is the perfect place to store food because it allows for easy access.

There are several primary concerns relating to squirrels and rats in your crawlspace. In your crawlspace, there are various pipes that lead to all areas of your home. Water and sewage lines are exposed under your home. Squirrels and rats will chew through the pipes if they are plastic or a weaker material. If these animals do start to chew through the pipes, you can have serious water or sewage leakage problems.

Small leaks are easily missed and can cause a constant flow of moisture under your home. This moisture can get into the wood that supports your home and cause rot. Foundation issues can be very costly and time consuming to repair. In addition, you also need to be concerned about mold. Mold can cause serious health issues and you could rack up large medical bills due to a mold-related illness.

Electrical lines are found above homes, as well as in crawlspaces. If a squirrel or rat gets under your home, they can cause extensive wire damage. If they chew through the wires, it can create power outage issues in your home. The power could short out or stop working altogether. Squirrels have been known to be electrocuted while chewing on wires! This can lead to potential fires under your home. This situation can lead to the destruction of your home, but more importantly to loss of life.

If you have a squirrel or rodent problem, ask yourself the following questions:

1.  Have you noticed any flickering lights or problems with your outlets?

2.  Have you smelled anything burning such as electrical smoke?

If you answered yes to either of these questions, please contact an electrician immediately.  Squirrels and rodents chew constantly in order to keep their teeth filed down so they can eat, and they always go for wiring in your home.  If any of these dangerous situations occur, it can be deadly and very costly in the end.  

Sometimes there is just an overabundance of squirrels in your area. No matter what measures you take, they still try to find a safe area to stay away from predators. In this case, we need to reduce the population by trapping. Our technician will place several traps around your property where the most activity is seen or heard.

Once the traps are set out, we bait and trap the squirrels for seven days. The technician will return to your property every other day to relocate the squirrels and re-bait the traps.

Apex Wildlife Control is here to help you if any of these situations.  As soon as you realize you may have squirrels in your crawl space, give us a call. We will schedule an inspection. Our technician will inspect the interior and exterior of your home and document any signs of damage with photos.  Afterward, he will provide you with an estimate for not only trapping the animals, but also sealing up your home against further entry by squirrels.

Squirrels are known to carry numerous diseases, though only a few are dangerous to humans. Some of the more common include tularemia, typhus, plague, and ringworm. Such diseases are transmitted through bites or other forms of direct contact with infected squirrels. Tularemia, typhus, and plague have symptoms that mimic the flu and can be deadly when left untreated. While all mammals are capable of getting rabies, squirrels are very rarely rabid.

Other diseases squirrels transmit to humans come from the various parasites they carry. Rife with parasites such as fleas, ticks, and mites, squirrels living in proximity to homes frequently pass these tiny pests on to both humans and pets. Some of the diseases humans can get from the parasites include Lyme disease, Encephalitis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Many of these diseases are fatal when left untreated, so individuals should monitor for symptoms, and seek medical attention after coming in contact with squirrel urine or feces.  Breathing in particles of the animal's excrement is the most common method of disease transmission.  Squirrels can build nests in your attic, soffits and gutters that can contain all kinds of disease that can make you and your family very sick.

Keeping squirrels off your property and out of houses is the best way to ensure the health and safety of both homeowners and their pets. While screening and capping vents and chimneys is effective, entry points like windows, doors, and holes in the roof should also be properly sealed.

Our company does not fix rotted wood or do any major carpentry work. If there is a lot  of rotted wood or carpentry work that needs to be done, we ask that you have a carpenter come out to assess your home and repair those areas first.  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.  We stand behind our work, so we will  secure any of our work to rotted wood that could fall apart or can be easily chewed through.

At Apex Wildlife Control, we pride ourselves in providing the highest quality work. We want satisfied customers who can depend on a job well done!

So if you have some little fuzzy-tailed trespassers living in your crawl space, give us a call today.  We're here to help!