Recommend me an effective Austin company that will get rid of attic squirrels.

January 18, 2008 9:27 AM

I think I have squirrels in my attic. They make scratching noises, fighting noises, and noises that sound like something is galloping around up there. If you have had a similar experience, can you recommend a good pest control company? I am in Austin, TX.

Nice techniques are not important to me. I don't care about catch and release or anything like that. I care about mostly about effectiveness, and I care some about cost.

posted by 23skidoo to home & garden (16 comments total)

Could be squirrels, could be roof rats which are prevalent in Austin. Could be both. Any well-known pest control company will handle this with no problem. Traps + exclusion. BTW, it helps to cut trees back and away from the house to eliminate a bridge to entry.
posted by langedon at 9:38 AM on January 18

Talk to your local animal control agency. Most of them will provide you with free humane traps you can place in your attic to capture the little buggers. They might not be squirrels -- they could be rats, possums or raccoons.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:39 AM on January 18

Thanks for the answers so far! I'd like to have a recommendation of a company however. I'd rather just not pick one at random, and I don't want to have to do it myself.
posted by 23skidoo at 9:48 AM on January 18

If you do go with a pest control company, be very careful to read the contract in detail first; you want to make sure you are not charged a ridiculous per-visit or per-trap fee.

We had skunks in the basement here, and the company had to come back about 10 times before we sure it was clear; although they never caught a skunk, I ended up owing them over 1000$ because the contract was a per-visit fee. (I had misread and thought it was a one-time fee). I found out later another company would have done the same job for about $200.

So ask questions, don't sign something until you're sure you understand it, if at all possible agree on a maximum cost. But mostly, do try to get a local recommendation for a reputable company. (Sorry I can't help, i'm in CA).
posted by nat at 9:52 AM on January 18

Could be a roof rat, could be squirrels.
Step one: find where they are getting in.
Step two: seal the hole with tough wire mesh.
Step three: form a one way door with the mesh so they can push their way out, but not get back in.
Step four: after a week close the one way door permanently.

If this self help method doesn't work, then spend the money on pest control, but you are still going to need to find where they are getting in and seal it off or they will just come back. When I had a squirrel coming in I couldn't find the hole. Our painter did while lying an his back painting the eave where it abuts the chimney. A squirrel ran out of a small gap between the eave and chimney right across his chest. If you can get your finger through a hole an animal can probably get through too.
posted by caddis at 9:56 AM on January 18

Here is a one way door you can purchase. If it were me, I would just leave the other door open to let the animal out rather than trap it.
Here is a description of one way of making one yourself.
posted by caddis at 10:01 AM on January 18

Could be something as small as a field mice too, it's amazing how much bigger those little things sound when using the ceiling as an baseboard. I'd honestly go the DIY route, buy a trap and then once you catch the ones up there look at sealing off entry points with wire mesh (or do both at the same time...they'll likely be afraid and won't attack you if they're up there.) It'll be $30 compared to $100's for something that is usually a very simple fix.
posted by samsara at 10:04 AM on January 18

When we lived in Austin, our rental house had some fierce squirrels in the attic (seriously--one morning, I saw a tiny hole appear in the ceiling, and a tiny paw poked through). Our management company used a good pest-control company; they covered the holes into the attic and managed to get the squirrels out. I don't know the name of the pest-control folks anymore, but I'm sure the management company could tell you: Eyes of Texas Properties. Good luck! At least it's not a possum family living underneath your bathtub. We had that, too.
posted by paleography at 10:09 AM on January 18

23skidoo, you've mefi mail
posted by langedon at 10:14 AM on January 18

I had squirrels in my attic and I basically did what caddis stated but what I also did was put ammonia in a spray bottle and spray where they were coming in, I mean really soak it, because I remember reading on the internet that the squirrels will try to come back and chew through the same spot even if it is covered. I still spray the ammonia in the spring time and in the winter and I haven't had a problem since.
posted by govtdrone at 10:18 AM on January 18

Squirrels are a cakewalk compared to mice. We had a squirrel problem and I solved it by just putting in an animal trap with a small pile of peanuts. Caught the annoyed squirrel and released him several miles away in the woods. Then I plugged up the hole with foam sealant. That stuff hardens into rock. Never had any more squirrels since we plugged the hole.
posted by chips ahoy at 11:22 AM on January 18

That's what the racoons in our attic/crawlspace sounded like.
posted by winston at 12:25 PM on January 18

Whatever you do, don't let anyone plug up the hole before you're darn sure all the animals are out of the attic. My ex-husband left baby squirrels in the attic when he thought all the squirrels were out. Peeuuuwww! He had to cut a hole in the bedroom ceiling, go up there and clean it out.
posted by Joleta at 12:49 PM on January 18

I know you want to get a pest control company, but I have to tell how I built a tiny deck outside the squirrel hole three stories up, bungee-corded a live trap to the deck, and every few days carried a fierce, lunging squirrel down two wobbly ladders and into my car for a long drive to the other side of a lake because the Extension guy told me I had to take the squirrels at least three miles away or they'd come back. There. I feel better now.
posted by PatoPata at 4:21 PM on January 18

We've been pretty happy with ABC Pest Control. We switched to them from Terminix for good reasons which I can't recall at the moment. We had some rodent problems a few weeks ago and ABC came and set traps in the attic and crawlspace, then checked them a couple of times before removing them later on in the week. It wasn't cheap, but it wasn't too bad. Under $200, I think.

Unfortunately, our rodents had vacated the premises before ABC came out, so it was all for naught.
posted by Addlepated at 5:51 PM on January 18

So, mr kantgirl and I had an epic 10 year battle with raccoons in our attic in Austin. They sounded just like the noises you describe. Not to be Debbie downer here but, we never really won in fact we just moved. We did use ABC Pest Control.

What worked for a while:
ABC Pest came and trapped and removed the raccoon. Then we had the area they were getting in at repaired. They put i think coyote urine up there. I guess that helped for a few months
Metal Duct work. If we had done this the first time we would have saved much $ over the long run. We had to replace duct work 3 times because of raccoon damage. (They want to be warm/cool to you know)

What didn't work:
Mothballs. Well yes they got rid of the raccoons for a while but we couldn't stand to be in our house. It didn't help that they had ripped up all our duct work so all that nasty air was being pulled into our living space.
(Oh and on a side note, have your HAVC checked out as soon as the pests are gone. They tend to rip up duct work and leave nasty surprises that you want cleaned up. Trust me. )
We put a barrier around the ground floor of the condo (all 4 units did, it was a mix of chicken wire and concrete) The raccoons just dug under/smashed through.
We patched entry points in the roof these repairs held better but they kept ripping new entries.

For your sake I hope they are squirrels and not raccoons! Best of luck to you!
posted by kantgirl at 6:46 PM on January 19