Squirrels nesting in the roof

November 10, 2014 8:34 PM

There are squirrels inside my roof. It is basically impossible to get up there. What to do?

My house is bungalow style -- it has an extremely steep pitched roof, which is directly against the interior walls of the second story (so there is very little attic).

I can see squirrels going in and out of a football-sized hole near the eave, about 18 feet off the ground. I am terrified to go up there -- too high for me, and everything is covered in snow and ice here. And there is definitely no way I can access it from the interior, the wall it's against is maybe six inches thick and 8-10 feet away from the attic.

I can't actually hear the squirrels, but I'm concerned about water leaking into the house and the squirrels eating other stuff like insulation and wood.

Should I call a pest control person to try to put up squirrel traps near there? Then a roofer to fill in the hole? Or can a pest control person put up a temporary patch to keep them out, and I can have a roofer fix the hole in the spring?

The snow is supposed to melt in a week or two ... can I wait until then, and then call someone to go up on a ladder and fix it? Who do I call?

I'm in Minneapolis if it matters.

Thanks everyone, I'm kind of losing sleep over this.

posted by miyabo to Home & Garden (13 answers total)

Aww that is a pain in the ass. I went through this last year. They were in my walls and I could hear them. It made me agitated. We called pest guys (like for mice) and they were all like "nope you need a trapper" (I am in MA) and so I called Spencer, the Squirrel Man who they suggested. Spencer came up to my house and took a look at where the squirrels were going in and temporarily plugged the holes and then put have-a-heart traps inside. He checked them every day (I was not in that part of the house while this was happening) and caught three female squirrels. Better now than in the Spring when they have babies and it's much more of a mess. Depending on your state they may have to kill the squirrels or they may be able to trap and release them because of various laws. Worth knowing that going in. Spencer did a crude plug of the hole the squirrels were getting in and one of these days we'll fix it up right, but it solved the problem in the short term and we stopped putting out birdseed and they've mostly stayed away. It was cheaper than I thought it would be. I think we paid by the squirrel.
posted by jessamyn at 8:41 PM on November 10, 2014 [8 favorites]

Do a search for "Wild life control Minneapolis". That should get you some companies to choose from.
posted by stray thoughts at 9:13 PM on November 10, 2014 [1 favorite]

Another vote for wildlife control. I rented an apartment in a house with squirrels in the roof-wall. I called management. They called wildlife control. The company didn't trap the squirrels -- what's the point, there are 100 on any given block. Instead they built a sort of doorway/tunnel/contraption out of some chicken-wire like thing. The squirrels could climb out, but once out they could never get back in. After the squirrels were out and had found their new homes, they took the contraption down and sealed the roof properly.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 9:40 PM on November 10, 2014 [3 favorites]

Another vote for wildlife control.

squirrels are bad neighbors unfortunately, certainly when they get as close as they have here.

So for clarity, they're rodents (even if they have fluffy tails). In other words, they're rats. You need to call the professionals.
posted by philip-random at 10:10 PM on November 10, 2014

You could try an ultrasonic squirrel repeller. We used something similar to deal with martens nesting in our roof, and it worked quite well. They packed their little bags within days and haven't been back.

(Link is for the first such device that I could find, not one that's specifically recommended.)
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:03 AM on November 11, 2014

In my experience the only thing that works in the long run is finding and closing all possible spots where they can get in. That's not easy in old houses, especially if you have flying squirrels, which can fit through a tiny opening. My landlord spent a lot of time and money getting rid of a major infestation of red squirrels and southern flying squirrels in my walls. After a lot of failed attempts using one way doors on the obvious spots, he found a spot along the foundation under my porch where they were getting in. That took a lot of effort to close, but once he did I was squirrel-free for 2+ years. Unfortunately, I've heard one in the walls again recently, so they've found another point of entry. I live in a 130 year old house, so it's not easy.
posted by jkent at 3:27 AM on November 11, 2014

Just want to stress something jessamyn mentioned: you want them out now, snow & ice notwithstanding, rather than waiting a few months till Spring and a baby-squirrel population explosion.
posted by easily confused at 5:36 AM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

If can afford it and you like animals, you probably want to pay someone else to do it. I didn't go that route and I guess I wish I did because who wants to wake up at 6am on the weekend to deal with pissed off rodents.

I used a have-a-heart trap and trapped 6 squirrel over several weeks one winter. I was unable to trap the last because he was too timid to go for the bait. He ended up hit by a car.

I put the trap where I knew they were going based on observations. The snow can help you know what routes the squirrels are taking around your house and that will assist you in placing your trap. I put two bricks on top of the trap because they learned that they could tip the trap over and get the bait. I baited the trap with peanut butter and sunflower seeds on a piece of cardboard behind and under the trip plate. I would twist tie the trap so the door would not trip to acclimate the squirrels to eating from the trap. Then when I had time to deal with them, like on a Friday, I would remove the twist tie after the sun when down so I could catch them in their early morning foraging sessions. The trip mechanism on these traps is crude and you should carefully set it so it will be triggered with little force.

Also prune back any trees that encroach on your eaves in the spring. I think you can also wait till the early spring to repair the hole because squirrels are not going to be exploring for new territory in the winter.
posted by bdc34 at 6:41 AM on November 11, 2014

Yeah, get the Critter Patrol or whoever out there to get rid of the critters (humanely) then hire a handyperson to patch it up so no more critters get in. (and to clean up critter poo.)

This is a problem it's best to throw money at.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 7:52 AM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

If you know where they are you can get one way door/trap thingys that you attach it will let them out but not let them back in again. When all a gone you can then seal the hole. Better to do it now than in spring & have babies to contend with. A pest control guy can install them for you no worries and it's easier/cheaper than trapping as someone doesn't have to keep going up to check the traps. When there is no more sign of squirrels you can call the roof guy to come & do his thing.

If you have more than one entry way you can simply just block the others with wire (if needed for ventilation) or seal them.
posted by wwax at 8:25 AM on November 11, 2014 [1 favorite]

Oh boy, this can be a huge pain. First you have to get rid of them, then you have to plug the holes.

To get rid of them, call in the professionals, either pest control or wildlife control. In my experience, having them trapped and relocated never seemed to work, as they'll make the Incredible Journey and come back home. I'm a heartless SOB so I had the fluffy-tailed rats in my roof killed. They never came back. A professional service ran me about $300. It's probably different where you live.

Then you have to plug the hole. Or holes. If you have an old house this can easily lead to a series of unpleasant discoveries. In the case of the 100+ townhouse I lived in at the time, it involved having the decking on my roof replaced, then re-roofed twice (the first time due to a totally incompetent contractor). If you live in an old house, they will likely find something else wrong with your roof. Either way, get it taken care of before the worst of winter sets in. You're hearing them now because it's getting colder. When it gets really cold, they're like us and will only go outside when they need food. Good luck!
posted by slogger at 1:10 PM on November 11, 2014

I used to do this as a part time job in my teen years, and squirrels can not have evolved that much in the centuries since. I trapped them using fur-trapper style nasty connibear scissor traps (small size - 50 or 60) set along attic beams. I used at least five at a time. I would pre-bait the area at least a week ahead of time, putting out unset traps with a bait mix of oatmeal, peanut butter, molasses and fennel. Once they got used to that it was time to set the traps. I got paid by the squirrel.
posted by zaelic at 3:55 AM on November 12, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I am not a fearful or anxious person but this was really stressing me out in a way I can't explain. Mice and even rats don't bother me. But squirrels in the walls eating away at things makes me crazy.

I called a professional squirrel remover and now have traps on the roof very close to the squirrel entry point (which is obvious -- most of the eaves are covered in metal soffits that are in good condition, but in one spot the soffit came off and there's a very obvious hole). Professional was completely not bothered by our crazy weather (I'll barely go outside, he was up on a tall ladder....). This service is going to be quite expensive ($270 + $40 a squirrel + $50 per trip he has to make out here to fetch squirrels) but it's worth it I guess.

I was clueless before getting everyone's advice -- I thought that roofers or pest control people would be the ones to call. Ask saves the day!
posted by miyabo at 7:47 PM on November 12, 2014 [2 favorites]