Category Archives: Squirrels

Anything to do with squirrels

Squirrels

Trapped Squirrel

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Hello; I’m writing to you from the inside of my small, dark prison as a trapped squirrel. I don’t remember how I got here and I can’t tell you when, time is practically untraceable in the blackness that surrounds me, but the incident that led to my capture is clear as day, so here it goes. My brother and I found this house a couple weeks back, the neighbors were nice and it was clean so we decided to bunk here for a while, there was no sign of any other residents (or particularly dangerous predators nearby) so we didn’t think we’d be doing any harm. Occasionally, a strange beast would come in and stomp around but didn’t cause any trouble; until he saw us crawling around the attic, when that happened he let out a small roar and chased us all over, but there was no way a creature like him could catch two squirrels as quick as we; until he brought in a larger, much quicker animal that threw my brother out and proceeded to trap me INSIDE.
I wandered about for a good day or two, crawling through the stuffy walls and around the attic, searching for a way out, any way out, but the tall, naked creatures were everywhere! After my encounter with the first two I was careful of where I ventured, as to keep my whereabouts hidden to them. That was until I found myself inside the walls of the smallest human’s room, running for my life from who knows what. A booming voice had sounded from her side of the wall, one only capable by a giant surely, yelling (or singing possibly) something ‘from the other side’. I moved faster than I had ever moved before, and yet somehow it caught me and now here I am, sitting in a steel trap that has yet to prove escapable. I think the beasts are trying to torture me for I often find the walls around me heating up rapidly and making loud whirring sounds, many times these are followed by the smell of various foods. So here I sit, a lonely squirrel just waiting for whatever fate has in store for me, I’m going nuts. If you have received this message, tell my brother what happened to me and please send help.

Sincerely,
A trapped squirrel

Squirrels

Neighbor Vs. Neighbor in Squirrel Issue

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Squirrel (9)Recently, neighbors in a Lincoln County, Maine area are suing a woman for feeding wildlife.  They have been trying to get her to stop feeding squirrels and chipmunks, because they say the wild animals she attracts to her home are getting into their homes and yards and causing costly damage.  One neighbor is quoted as saying, “The chipmunks and the red squirrels are getting into my house and destroying my furniture every winter.”  Others claim mice, rats and skunks are also attracted to the area, because of her efforts to feed wildlife.

It’s easy to see both sides of this legal issue.  Feeding birds, squirrels and chipmunks seems a perfectly normal and humane thing to do!  It’s fun to watch squirrels chomping on seeds and nuts, or chipmunks stuffing their cheeks full of food.  People like to watch these animals and don’t see the harm in helping them get through the winter.

On the other hand, deliberately attracting wildlife to your yard affects everyone around you.  It can range from simple annoyance at cleaning up dropped seeds or nut shells to having squirrels nesting in your chimney, wall or attic because your neighbor likes to feed the squirrels.  Squirrels can cause a great deal of costly damage to a home, chewing on electrical wiring, soiling and destroying insulation, infesting the area with mites or other bugs, and attracting further wildlife, like mice, rats, raccoons, skunks or snakes.

Most wildlife protection agencies agree that feeding wild animals can actually end up harming them, by making them less capable or willing to seek out their natural food sources. Their diets change, making them weaker or sick.  And, they become less afraid of humans, which endangers both them and people.

Squirrels

Prince Charles Orders Cull of Grey Squirrels

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A man hunting a squirrel before the infestation comes. (Artwork by Sharon Davis. Contact us for her contact info.)

In an effort to protect the red squirrel population, Prince Charles has ordered the estate managers of the Duchy of Cornwall estate to cull the grey squirrels.  Grey squirrels carry a poxvirus deadly to red squirrels, and are also extremely destructive in woodlands.  There are 2.5 million grey squirrels estimated to live in Great Britain, compared to an estimated 140,000 red squirrels.

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Squirrels in the Fall

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Squirrel (9)Squirrels in the fall don’t care if you’ve spent a lot of money buying tulip or crocus bulbs.  They don’t care that you’ve spent most of a weekend planting bulbs around your home in hopes of a gorgeous flower show in the spring.  They see, or rather, smell, the bulbs as a fabulous treat.  As they feast on bulbs in the fall, they are also looking for easy places to hoard food for the winter and safe, warm places to hole up for the winter months.  If the squirrels are attracted to your yard, they’re more likely to investigate your attic, chimney or walls as possible places to store food or as dens for the winter.  An experienced wildlife control technician can inspect your property, sealing up any possible entrance points against curious squirrels, keeping the squirrels out of your home.

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Dead Squirrels in Wall

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Squirrel (4)     I thought I’d take care of the squirrel in the attic on my own, but I had no idea I’d end up with dead baby squirrels in the wall.

I’d discovered I had a squirrel in the attic one day when I heard some noises, went to investigate, and found the evidence.  Some of the attic insulation had been pushed down to next to nothing, there were droppings everywhere and a nasty smell, and the boxes we used to store our stuff had been chewed through.  The quilt my grandmother made had some of the stuffing pulled out of it, and some of the books and papers we had stored up there were trashed.

My husband’s been stressed out at work, so a squirrel in the attic was the last thing I wanted him to have to deal with.  He’d survived his company’s layoffs, but he now had to work twice as hard without extra pay to cover the work that was normally done by three people.  I decided not to tell him about the squirrel in the attic until I’d solved the problem.

Early in the morning, about the time I usually heard the noises in the attic, I armed myself with a hammer, nails, and chicken wire, and waited quietly outside watching the roof line.  Sure enough, after about 25 minutes of waiting and watching, a squirrel squirmed out of a small gap next to the attic vent and jumped up into a nearby tree branch.  I grabbed the ladder, and spent the next two hours climbing, swearing, sweating and trying not to fall while I hammered ugly chicken wire over the gap.

Problem solved.  Husband none the wiser.

About two months later, I started to smell a nasty smell in my son’s bedroom.  I made him clean it, then I cleaned it properly while he was at school.  I still couldn’t find anything.  I spent the good part of an afternoon sniffing around, and finally determined the smell was coming from inside one of the walls.  Yet another problem I didn’t want to add to my husband’s burdens.

I ended up cutting away a small square of the wall, put the flashlight setting on my cell phone, turned its camera on, and stuck my phone inside the wall so I could figure out what was going on.

Dead baby squirrels were inside the wall.

I must have sealed up mama squirrel’s access to my attic, without knowing there was a nest with baby squirrels in there.  Apparently they squirmed around and fell down inside the wall.  I could only see two of them.  I hoped there weren’t more.

I think it just might be time to involve my husband.  Unless . . . I could get Allstate Animal Control out here in the next day or two and they could get the dead baby squirrels out of the wall.  Maybe, just maybe, my husband doesn’t have to deal with yet another problem.

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Squirrel on the Roof

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Squirrel (5)           My father, dressed in his suit, stood on the desk in his home office, barking at the ceiling in the hopes of scaring away a squirrel on the roof.  My father is a tall, stately man, well-traveled, speaks several languages, and easily converses with industry leaders and heads of state.  So, it was surreal to watch this calm, thoughtful, knowledgeable man lose his cool completely and bark at the ceiling.

The squirrel on the roof had become increasingly bold over the previous weeks.  In the beginning, my nature-loving family enjoyed watching the antics of this squirrel jumping onto the roof from the nearby trees, sweetly gnawing on the seed and nuts we left out for it, and grinning up at the ceiling when we’d hear the little pitter patter of its tiny feet.

In the end, that squirrel on the roof drove us all mad.  Around five in the morning, I could hear it running around above my bedroom.  My mother would find squirrel droppings and shell hulls scattered around the front porch, dropped from the roof.  And, my father, who did so much of his work from his office at home, was constantly interrupted by the sound of the squirrel chewing whatever it was chewing in the attic space right over the office.

We finally stopped feeding it, and tried chasing it away when we saw it in the trees or running around the yard.  My parents had me clean out the rain gutters while they searched for holes in the roof or attic.  We would think it was gone, and then it would come back within a day or two, finding some new way into the house.  Mom was afraid it was a female squirrel building a nest for squirrel babies.

We tried everything we could think of, but that squirrel kept coming back.  The squirrel would run around on the roof, the squirrel would chew things in the attic, and we could not get rid of that stupid squirrel!

Which is why, one day when my father was preparing for a very important meeting, he finally snapped when a tiny little squirrel foot broke right through the dry wall on the ceiling.  Little bits of ceiling rained down on his laptop.  And, my stoic father jumped up on his desk and barked at the ceiling.

Mom made a phone call for help.  Not for Dad’s mental state, but help to remove the squirrel from the roof and seal up the attic.  Dad has never barked at the ceiling again.

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Squirrel Infestation

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get rid of squirrels

One or two squirrels in the attic or chimney?  Sure, that’s a problem.  People try to catch them or chase them out on their own, and end up screeching and running with their arms doing the windmill thing when the squirrel understandably freaks out and tries to get away from these huge screaming humans.  Even worse are the times people don’t even know there’s a squirrel or two in their house or building until it’s too late.  The squirrel’s already nested in amongst their holiday decorations, or chewed through the cardboard box that held little Jimmy’s baby clothes, or gnawed through the wiring and almost caused a fire.

Yeah, one or two squirrels are bad enough.

Try forty or fifty.  That’s a downright squirrel infestation.  Can you imagine what kind of damage that many squirrels will do to your property?  Usually, the ground-dwelling squirrels live in colonies that large.  The tree-dwelling squirrels are a little more solitary.  But, the ground-dwelling ones cause just as much damage.  They’ll burrow throughout the lawn, chew on anything they can find (try garden hoses, sprinkler systems, planters, etc.), and eat their way through gardens and flower beds.  They’ll get into the house or other outbuildings and keep their teeth the right size by gnawing through walls, wiring, boxes and belongings.  Imagine nests of blind baby squirrels wriggling around in the walls, crawlspace or basement.  Imagine pulling out a box of old family pictures and dumping out mounds of rotting nuts.  Imagine the stench of several squirrels, dead in the wall behind your bedroom, kitchen or living room.

Many people don’t have to imagine it.  They’re living with the frustration right now.  Squirrels can infest apartments, condos, mobile homes, golf courses, houses owned by multi-millionaires, businesses, warehouses, barns.  They’re adorable and fun to watch, no doubt.  Watching them play outside in their natural habitat is one thing.  Dealing with the stench, the noise, the damage, the nuisance . . . well, that’s something else.

Now, a lot of people figure they can handle a squirrel infestation themselves.  They go on-line and study up and think they’re experts.  We get a lot of calls from people who have learned the hard way that they just don’t understand how to get rid of squirrels for good.  They either don’t get them all, or end up sealing some inside to die in the walls or chimney or attic, or they just get overwhelmed with frustration.  We understand.  That’s why we’re here.  We’re equipped with experience and knowledge to seek them out and seal them out of your property, we can clean and repair the messes and damage, and we have the equipment and expertise to take care of your squirrel infestation once and for all.  It’s what we do, and we’re good at it.  Call Allstate Animal Control today.

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Get Rid of Squirrels

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get rid of squirrels

“Mom, why do we have to get rid of squirrels?”  My four year old daughter looked up at me, her blue eyes filling with tears.  She’d been a little touchy lately, especially after her fish Leon died.  My son is allergic to most pets – cats, dogs, rabbits, ferrets.  We had hoped that a tiny Siberian hamster would be okay, but he broke out in a rash as soon as he got near one.  So, our family is a fish family.

Squirrel
A squirrel looking at your home to call his home.
(Artwork by Sharon Davis. Contact us for her contact info.)

We made a big production of taking a Saturday morning to go pick out the perfect aquarium for our house, and each of us got to pick out a fish.  My husband hates the idea of fish as pets, but he saw how important it was to our kids, so he relented and the family took a trip to a local aquarium store.  Normal pet stores cause an allergic reaction in my son, so a specialty store was the only way to go.  We had to drive about thirty minutes, and spent a good hour picking out an appropriate aquarium and the fish to put in it.  Everyone wanted a different fish, but not all fish get along well.  Fortunately, the employee was very patient with us and helped us get everything, and every fish, we needed.

My daughter got a little blue fish that looked like it had neon stripes on it.  She was so proud of it.  I have no idea where the name Leon came from, but that’s what she called it.  My husband set up the new aquarium, we got the water levels and chemistry correct, acclimated our new family members to their new home, and taught the children the appropriate care and feeding procedures.

But, then, my daughter got a little overzealous early one morning.  She decided all the fish needed more food, and she poured the flakes all over the surface of the water.  As soon as I walked out of my bedroom to make everyone breakfast, I saw the catastrophe, and quickly scooped up as much as I could.  By then, though, it was too late for Leon.

My daughter cried bitterly, dealing with the death of a beloved pet at an early age.  Which is why I found myself having to explain to her, very carefully, why we have to get rid of squirrels.

Two days ago, I noticed my son was getting more and more rashes.  An allergic reaction to something, but I couldn’t figure out what it was.  I quizzed him to see if his class had a new pet at school, or if he played at a friend’s house who had a pet.  It turned out, after quite an extensive investigation, that we have squirrels in the attic.  We found out early enough so that they hadn’t done a lot of damage, but they’d soiled some of the insulation up there.  I called Allstate Animal Control and arranged for someone to come out and get rid of squirrels, and my daughter overheard me.  Apparently, she had thought they were her new pets.  I explained the squirrels were just confused and thought our house was a good place for them to live, but that they really needed to live out in the trees.  We also made a second trip to the fish store that day.

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Squirrel in the House

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get rid of squirrels

I’m just about to go insane with squirrels in the house.  I think we’ve taken care of the problem, and then it starts up again, and the kids and I are being terrorized by the maddening gnawing and running and crashing going on above our heads.  It started with a squirrel in the house last spring.  The first time we heard the noise, my son had just returned from a sleep-over at a friend’s house, and they of course had watched a scary movie.  Hearing chewing and running sounds above his room early in the morning, while it was still dark, just about threw him into a screaming fit.  I climbed up into the attic to see what was going on, and saw the flash of a little bushy tail as the squirrel in the house scampered across the attic space.

 

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Squirrels making a nest in your attic.
(Artwork by Sharon Davis. Contact us for her contact info.)

I tried everything I could to get rid of it, from making sure the vent was open so it could escape to setting out poisoned bait.  It still woke us up all night and early morning with its constant noise.  When I investigated again, the attic space was a mess.  Boxes had been chewed into.  It had gnawed on the soffits and joints.  Squirrel droppings were littered everywhere.  I’m not very handy.  In fact, I’m kind of useless when it comes to this kind of thing, so I wasn’t surprised that my efforts hadn’t worked.

 

I had a friend come over, who’s a lot handier at this kind of thing.  But, he just ended up doing exactly what I’d done.  This time, though, it worked.  The noises stopped for a while, and I realized the squirrel was probably dead.  By this time, it was winter, so I didn’t think about it too much.  The kids and I were just happy the noises had stopped and we could finally sleep all night through.

 

When it warmed up, though, I was reminded we’d had a squirrel in the house.  Since we don’t go in the attic that much, we didn’t have to deal with the odor.  But, the invasion of flies reminded me of the death above.  I begged another friend to come over and help me get rid of the dead squirrel in the house, and she and I managed it, even though we gagged the whole time.  I thought that was the end of it.

 

Now that it’s fully into spring, we have squirrels in the house again.  This time, there’s more of them.  A nest, maybe?  The constant noise is awful, and I am afraid to even think about the damage they’re doing.  No more calling favors in, and begging friends to help.  I’m going to get a professional.  I’ll call Allstate Animal Control, get the squirrels out of my house, get the damage repaired, and get it all cleaned up upstairs.  If this goes on much longer, I really will go insane.

 

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Squirrel Removal

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squirrels in the roof

My mom says I have a “heightened sense of curiosity,” so it didn’t surprise her when I stuck around to watch the squirrel removal from our chimney.  Plus, the guy who came to get the squirrel out of the chimney was kind of cute.  I didn’t tell Mom that was one of the reasons I pulled out the camera and recorded the whole thing.

Dad had come up with this great idea last weekend to light a fire in our fireplace and roast marshmallows and eat s’mores while playing board games.  I thought it was a pretty cool idea, even if it meant hanging out with my mom and dad all evening.  I had planned on going over to my friend’s house that night to work on our science project on bugs and then chat online with a boy from my class.  Dad found out about that last part, and since he feels a twelve year old girl shouldn’t be “online unsupervised,” I couldn’t go to my friend’s house that night.  To make me feel better, he suggested we play games and roast marshmallows.  I stayed sullen long enough for him to know that I was really unhappy about not getting to go to my friend’s house, but I actually was looking forward to that night with mom and dad.

Unfortunately, as Dad set up the fireplace, he realized we had a squirrel living in the chimney.  No fire, no marshmallows, just a squirrel.  He quickly closed up the fireplace so the squirrel wouldn’t come running out in the middle of the night, and we popped popcorn instead.

The next day, the guy came to remove the squirrel from the chimney.  He was gorgeous!  He acted like he didn’t even notice me, but he told my Mom it was okay for me to video the squirrel being removed, so I got to stay in the room and watch the whole thing.  Mom told me I had to get out of the room if the squirrel got free, though, so I wouldn’t get bitten.  I agreed and pulled out my phone and turned on the camera.

The guy didn’t even hesitate.  He pulled on thick gloves, pulled the hood on his sweatshirt up over his ball cap, and climbed right inside the fireplace with nothing but a flashlight.  He looked around for a little bit, then reached up, and pulled the squirrel out.  At first, I couldn’t figure out what the squirrel was doing, but then I realized it was biting this guy’s finger, holding onto his hand with both paws.  The guy didn’t even seem to mind.  I guess the gloves were thick enough and he was probably used to removing squirrels out of chimneys.  Still, it looked freaky to me, seeing the squirrel gnawing at the end of his finger.

He got the squirrel in a trap, and then looked around the chimney some more.  He said he was looking for squirrel babies, but he didn’t see any.  Then, he was gone.  Removing the squirrel from the chimney didn’t take any longer than about ten minutes, but it was enough to get some good video.  I’m gonna send it to my friend tonight so she can see just how good looking squirrel removal can be!