Your Wildlife Habitat

Unlike bats or raccoons, squirrels aren’t nocturnal and if they have invaded your attic you will hear them scampering around during the day. A squirrel’s sharp teeth can cause considerable damage in your home, chewing through electrical wires and pipes. They must gnaw continually to keep their incisors from growing too long. Many house fires have been caused by squirrels.

It’s not difficult for them to chew their way into your attic, especially if trees are overhanging your roof. Plastic vent covers and metal screens don’t seem to deter them. Typically, it will be a female looking for a place to give birth and raise its young. The mother will tear up insulation or any other material found in your attic to build its nest. Preventing access is so much easier than trying to encourage them to leave once their nest is established.

If you manage to exclude the mother from your home and the babies are left in your attic to die, you will create an even bigger, smellier problem. In Ontario, any captured wildlife must be released no more than 1 km. from the location it was captured. Removal could be trickier than you think, so learn the ins and outs of squirrel removal by exploring the links below.

The Ontario SPCA provides a fact sheet on how to deal with squirrels in your attic and also gives tips for dealing with squirrels in your garden and your birdfeeder.

The Canadian Association for Humane Trapping provides advice for selecting a wildlife control company and makes some helpful suggestions for preventing squirrels’ access to your home.