Getting Rid of Squirrels

As much as we all love Sandy Cheeks from Spongebob and Scrat from Ice Age, we find it really hard to tolerate squirrels in our properties. The problems that these highly territorial and damaging rodents bring to households far outweigh their cuteness.

The common difficulties that homeowners encounter because of squirrel domination are faulty electrical wires that are fire hazards, and huge damage to insulation and roofing systems. These pests create nests using home insulation and tree cavities, which are the main reasons why they easily multiply and invade properties.

Understanding Squirrel Behavior
Squirrels are territorial. Once a mother squirrel finds an opening and enters the roof of your home, it’s the start of a chaos. What’s more, you can expect this female rodent to mate outside, especially during the late winter and early spring, and bring with her two to seven more of her kind.

They are also excitable and cautious animals with an excellent peripheral vision. These skills enable them to sense danger easily, run, and climb up the nearest tree to escape. Their highly excitable nature can lead to damaged attics and soffits.
 
As for their diet, they eat nuts, seeds, fruits, and field crops.

Proper and Regular Home Maintenance for Prevention
Nothing beats regular and proper home maintenance practices when it comes to avoiding a single squirrel from entering your home. It will be best to have recurring home inspections and repairs for possible entry points of these rodents, especially damaged soffits and eaves.

Chimneys are their easy entry points too, so better install chimney caps. Cut all the tree branches near your home exteriors because they can be their bridge to your roofs.

How to Eradicate Them
With the cautious and excitable nature of squirrels, it’s really very difficult to eliminate them. You might find your house in a big mess, with damages to furniture and centerpieces, if you try to chase them inside.

One of the remedies you can resort to is to use a live trap. You can put this on a flat surface right beside their entry point and bridges. Once a squirrel is trapped, you can inspect the attic or other dark and frequently closed areas of your house for the nests of young squirrels. Look for their food sources too. Right there and then, you can put these nests and food supply out of your home.
 
The next step would be to seal the opening of your properties. But make sure you’ve inspected all their possible hiding places before you do the sealing. Otherwise, they will make more damage when they found out that they cannot escape.

A small number of squirrels can be manageable using these methods. But when they have dominated your property that you actually hear their gnawing sounds every now and then, it’s time to call the pest control professionals from Jersey City Exterminators. They have the proper training and expertise to put an end to your squirrel problem.