How to get rid of squirrels in an attic

When squirrels gain access to your attic, getting rid of them can be very difficult and you might as well find yourself at a huge loss in eradicating them. Even though repellents can be effective, many wildlife specialists suggest that the only effective way of eliminating these dangerous animals completely is by blocking them from gaining access or trapping them if they are already inside the attic.



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Below are some of the methods you can use if you find out that they are living in your attic

Method 1: Exclusion
Seal off the attic

Inspect all over the attic and close all spaces that are large enough for a squrell to intrude in. the following are some of the measures you should take

-Cover all vents using wire mesh fencing
- Put a chimney cap or even a wire mesh over your chimney
- Cover up any chewed out holes that leads to the outer side of the house apart from one hole which you will require in order to exit squirrels, however this particular hole has to be patched a few days after the problem ends.
- Ensure to lock all openings between the attic and your entire house, reason being frighten squirrels might furthermore gain entry into your house if it finds out that the attic is no longer a comfortable place for them.

Create an exit.

Construct a pipe out of a fine wire mesh or a sheet of a metal then fasten to the outstanding hole in your attic and straighten the narrow end outside.

- ensure that the funnel is roughly 1 foot or 30.5cm long
-Place the wide end of the funnel over the hole on the outside of your house and it must be around 12-15 inches or 30.5cm long
-extend the narrow end of the funnel out and must be as wide as the hold in the woodwork or perhaps somehow smaller.

Draw them out.

Create a space outside the funnel attractive through putting food such as apple slices or peanuts closer to the narrow mouth of the funnel. Even though this might not be necessary because squirrels will leave the place on their own in search of food but on the other hand placing a source of food near might inspire them to vacate sooner.

Method 2: trapping
Set the right sort of trap

Use tiny, live cage trap and place it in a corner or any secure hidden area of the attic. This is because the probability of squirrels approaching the trap is high when it is placed out of the pathway other than in the open middle of the attic.

Make sure to use smaller traps because they might get frightened and end up hurting themselves in bigger traps. The guidelines below are very significant;

Use a good trap of about 6 by 6 inches by 18 inches

Buy live cage traps at any hardware stores

All traps can be set a little differently therefore make sure to read the instructions in order to set it up correctly.

Use the correct sort of bait meaning squirrels will only go near a trap if you put some appetizing food inside, these include; walnuts, apple slices, peanuts, bread crusts, peanut butter and soda crackers.

Method 3: repellents
This wildlife is afraid of sounds therefore scare them off by placing ultrasound repellents or radios inside the attics. When you are using a radio just turn it on to a talk station such that the squirrels continually h and it has to be loud enough to scare them aware. Getting squirrels out of the attic is going to be an extensive job, and you must make sure you do it properly. You must first work out how the squirrels are getting in, and this might take some investigative work. These animals are mostly active in the early morning and in the evening too. Keep an eye on your home from the outside to see where the squirrels are coming from. Using that as your center-point, inspect the property, both at night using a headlamp, and during the day using natural daylight, to identify any damaged or weak areas. You will need to address these, but systematically. You will need to leave their primary entrance hole unblocked and unsealed until you have managed to get them out. To do that, you'll nee to use exclusion devices - one-way doors. These mean the squirrels can get out, but they can't get back in again. Once they're all out, you can then seal up the remaining primary hole. If you don't do this with all damaged and weak spots, the squirrel will come back. If that one doesn't, it'll be another, and if it's not a squirrel, it'll be another wild animal instead. Once the holes have been sealed, you will then need to repair any damage. This could be complete replacement of the insulation in your attic, or electrical re-wiring. For such small animals, they can cause quite the damage in their wake, and that's before you get onto the subject of their bathrooms - the areas in which they left their urine and droppings. These will need to be removed using a vacuum with a filter, before being thoroughly scrubbed using an antibacterial, high-strength cleaning agent. This ensures that no bad bacteria is left behind, particularly the kind that can spread disease.