I’ve been hearing skittering in the upstairs walls lately. I suspect small red squirrels since I have caught a few in my basement this fall. It’s usually just your standard field mice. Called in a pest control company. Quote was $3200! Now this is a 90+ yr old farm house and I think their aim was to close all rodent entry ways, hence the high cost. I was thinking my handyman and I could close up the little holes on the roof line/dormers for a heck of a lot less, but need to kill any resident squirrels. I know poisons are controversial, but does anyone know if a squirrel poison that doesn’t have secondary poisoning concerns?
Can’t say on the poisons. IMO best to avoid at all costs.
What I see here are one way excluder traps set just outside, on the roof or gable, where the squirrels come and go. Plug up most holes except that one and you’ll get them. We have Eastern grey squirrels for the most part.
1 Like
The problem with poison is you can end up with a dead squirrel in a place you can’t get to.
Then you have to live with the stench as it decays.
Ask me how I learned this 
In my case something died in an inaccessible part of our BR ceiling. In Summer.
I slept on the LR couch for a couple weeks until the smell dissipated.
5 Likes
Your handyman can certainly try to do the work to close off any access openings, but is the handyman offering you any guarantee?
Check (anonymously) your homeowners insurance too. They might use pest damage to deny any claims or even drop your coverage. And squirrels can potentially do a lot of unseen damage inside until they chew on wires, create an electrical problem, and cause a fire.
A bonafide pest control company with a guarantee would be my choice for my house. I have had the attic squirrel problem before. That’s the path I chose - no way was I going to spend that much ladder time trying to search for and work on holes all around my two story house knowing that I might miss some access points and even risk a fall.
2 Likes
We had 3 gray squirrels in the attic. We were able to close them in w chicken wire and push them out the way they came in. We then closed the hole w chicken wire. That solved the problem… 120 + year old farm house.
6 Likes
You don’t want to poison them. That’s a big mistake! They will die somewhere you can’t reach and stink up the house. My neighbor had something die underneath her house and had to hire someone to crawl under the house and find the dead thing. Plus the additional money to seal the bottom of the house so nothing else gets under there.
1 Like
I’m getting help from my favorite farmer and cousin who is a slate roofer and doesn’t mind roofs to seal up the holes on the roof. Setting traps on the attic. If that doesn’t get them I will call the exterminators.
But as far as the stink of dead things, they only stink for a couple weeks at most and that’s when it’s warm. Maybe I don’t have that great of a sense of smell, but while annoying, it’s not that bad. Since I live on the main floor and there’s a second story between me and the attic and it’s winter, it’s not that big of a concern to me.
But thanks fornall your replies!
Do not contact your HO insurer. Squirrel damage is excluded. Rodent damage is excluded. I have been licensed for 40+ years and the exclusion has been along longer than my licenses.
I also have had squirrels my attic. This what you do. Find out where they are getting in. It can be a fairly small hole or it could be easy to spot. Get them out of the attic. Chase them out, wait until they leave it in the summer. Then totally repair the hole. Do not stint because they will come back. These varmits don’t quit. Then make it harder for them to get on your roof. Trim back all your trees to that leaping onto the roof will be hard to do. And be vigilant because as I said before, these critters will try to return.
3 Likes
Interesting! My insurer covered rodent damage to my car. We’ve trapped one squirrel already using old fashioned rat traps and my roofer is coming this week.
1 Like
Auto insurance has different rules and exclusions than does homeowner’s insurance.
1 Like
