Squirrels in the attic

[Pharaoh]

January a year ago a pair of squirrels took up residence in our attic. They gnawed two holes in our top fascia board. Because of a front gable they located in a perfectly hidden corner that we can't get to. Got the trap but were not able to trap them inside the house. So I put the trap on the rear deck rail in hopes of catching the resident pair. This has been successful three times. Apparently trapping and releasing only puts out the welcome mat for others. The longest squirrel free gap is only about six weeks. I hesitated to fix the holes until we knew we had the right ones gone. I figured they would just gnaw another hole.

I trapped a total of 93 different animals in one calendar year. All from a single location on my deck. Squirrels flow like a river. They mate for life and are territorial. Remove a pair and another pair will appear the next day. I'm on my third large jar of peanut butter. Where 93 squirrels came from is a mystery. If you look around our neighborhood you will never count more than half a dozen at any given time.

I spray paint their tail ends before release so I can tell if the same ones return. I started out taking them over to Broad Run Creek and none got back. Then I used the old entrance to the Hidden lane landfill. None returned. Then the soccar fields, the pavilion by the water park, and eventually just inside the entrance to Algonkian in turn. I live just two blocks from there. Only one ever returned and it was almost immediate. Smart squirrel that one. Back to Broad Run creek with him. Number 50 was a milestone. When I went to spray paint his butt orange, I found someone else had already painted it blue. ( Great minds think alike!)

Eventually the CCA wrote me up for the holes in the fascia. Fair enough. I had the boards replaced and covered with a 1/4" steel mesh. With the paint you can't even tell it's there. Fine, except the squirrels went up to the peak of the roof and tore off a section of ridge vent. This will let rain into the attic. I can install a wire mesh screen under the ridge vent and it will probably keep them out, but they will still be able to pry off the ridge vent itself; so this is not a permanent solution. No doubt the CCA will soon write me up to repair the ridge vent. Now there are two pair fighting over the territory inside the attic. They make a terrible racket, particularly around dawn.

A friend said to use mothballs inside the attic. Supposedly squirrels eat them and then die when they drink water. We'll see. If anyone knows of a remedy that works, do tell.

[SAMtheBushman]

You have been in a war for some time now. You have put up a good fight but by now, I am sure you have realized you are losing. No shame in this revelation, you are up against a worthy adversity. Squirrels are making monkeys out of all of us.

Traps may work before they get into the house. I have displaced about 45, hoping to avoid the situation you have. So far it has worked. I have eliminated the population around my house, at least until recently when my wife started to feed the birds in the snow. Now a couple are back. “Do gooders” are just busybodies in disguise.

At first catching them was fun. The fun did not last long. It became work. I took them further away, up and across Rt 7. Internet advice suggests that you need to take them 6-10 miles away. I believe those distances have more to do with land that is contiguous to you house, with no obvious barriers to their return like major highways.

However, just taking them two blocks down the street cannot be doing much at all. Even if you prevent them from coming back to your house, all those homes along the park will become their targets. As I am sure you know, in rural areas they have fall hunting seasons that had a second order effect of eliminating this very problem.

I know other horror stories, similar to yours where fighting this battle alone, has not led to a solution. Traps, pellet guns, and even shotguns have been used out of frustration. Still the squirrels prevail. I know one fellow that told me he captured and transported over 300 of the critters. Humans are fighting a war with hand-to-hand combat while the squirrels have superior equipment and tactics.

They can climb almost anything --trees, branches, bricks, gutters, and wood that I know of. In addition, they may also have some affinity for your attic --easy access, nesting material, and perhaps by now, some sentimental attraction.

I have no idea what you can do --mothballs? --but I suggest you get professional advice or help if this does not work. These critters are deceptively dangerous. As you have already suggested, they can and will destroy anything. The danger lays in what appears an insatiable ability to destroy with no rational predictably. You, as a homeowner, have no idea of the risk to your property or person.


In addition to being better equipped for this war the critters also seem to have personal vendettas to carryout.

[Pharaoh]

Obviously, you know what you're talking about.

Algonkian Park may be a bit close as a release point, but it is a wildlife refuge. There is a woods buffering the release point from other houses. So far only one has returned. I caught number 95 today. But your point is well taken. There is no shortage of other sites elsewhere.

They are insidious and vindictive. When the bird seed runs rather than move on they chew up plants and cushions as retribution. It's a war. I keep thinking " Where are they all coming from?" Why don't they just stay where they are rather than moving in to my deck just as soon as I've removed another pair? It's like there's a vacuum sucking them in the moment others are removed. Only alternative is feeding one pair well enough so they defend the territory from others. Better the devil you know. I did that for years before any of them got into the attic. That changed the equation.

My current color is day-glo orange. If anyone sees a squirrel with an orange butt, it's mine. I am curious about who is using blue. Anybody know a taxidermist ?

[SAMtheBushman]

You are probably right about Algonkian Park. It is probably as good as any place but seeing one come back, would make me and especially my wife paranoid. She is already paranoid about them.

It is very easy to take them personally. However, it does not sound like you have let them get to you this way. I hope you can continue to keep your equanimity.

[Pharaoh]

Caught two more today, and it's not over yet, another one appeared as I returned from letting the second one go.