squirrel in my celing

[Coyote machine]

Eddie is right. Our 1830's CT home had squirrels getting in the unheated attic through a large gable end vent that was made of just louvered slats, NO screening. We screened the vent. They chewed a hole through the siding under an eve. We patched it. They chewed through the EXACT same spot! If I hadn't seen the patch I would not have believed the repair had been done. They are relentless! Find it/them, trap 'em, KILL them. Be on lookout for more!
They will eventually burn your house down.

 

[HillStreet]

I know this is an old thread but I would like to pass along some info given me by a licensed exterminator (he cannot do this, but I can). Put D-CON in some peanut butter balls, and roll them in oatmeal. Place each one in a sandwich Baggie and place in the attic or other entry point.

They will eat it, then go outside looking for water, where they die.

 

[MarkF48]

I know this is an old thread but I would like to pass along some info given me by a licensed exterminator (he cannot do this, but I can). Put D-CON in some peanut butter balls, and roll them in oatmeal. Place each one in a sandwich Baggie and place in the attic or other entry point.

They will eat it, then go outside looking for water, where they die.

When I had chickens and grain in feeders, I had rats in the walls and ceilings of my old farmhouse. I did the D-Con thing and they died in the walls and ceilings. The odor of a dead rat is not nice and lingers for quite sometime. Traps were the best solution.
Squirrels have gotten in my barn, not the house fortunately and ruined a few things in storage there. Havahart traps and a pellet rifle have diminished the squirrel problem enough that I haven't found any evidence of the critters in the barn.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I know this is an old thread but I would like to pass along some info given me by a licensed exterminator (he cannot do this, but I can). Put D-CON in some peanut butter balls, and roll them in oatmeal. Place each one in a sandwich Baggie and place in the attic or other entry point.

They will eat it, then go outside looking for water, where they die.

I know we're adults here, but it doesn't hurt to remind ourselves of the safety issues. A few years back, a local exterminator treated some vanilla wafers with poison, which if I recall correctly, he was setting out for rats. He left his truck unattended and while he was gone, some kids got in his truck and took the cookies and of course ate them. Several died. My neighbor killed his dog when he let him get hold of some bait he was preparing for gophers. Sometimes you can't be too careful, especially with poison bait that is likely to attract the wrong victims. Don't mean to be preachy, but I guess being overly cautious is just the Grandpa in me.

 

[DrRod]

I've been told that dryer sheets repel mice and other rodents. I know a couple of people who spread them all around their travel trailer in the winter and swear they never have a problem. Can't say I've tested it myself but will soon at my cabin.

 

[JRobyn]

Almost bought a house one time. So I was doing a detailed inspection and went up in the attic. Squirrels had chewed off ALL visible wire outer jacket, ALL of the neutral line insulation, and you could see numerous bite marks on the hot wire! There was not a shred of thermal fiberglass insulation left anywhere. Then we found where they had chewed their way down through the outside walls all the way from the attic, through the second floor, through the first floor and into the basement. From what I could tell, the house was almost a total loss. Would have needed to be completely stripped down to the studs.

We did also find where they had been coming in; the pre-fab sheet metal chimney cap had been punched for both a fireplace flue and a separate water heater/furnace flue but the second flue hole had NOTHING in it! Squirrels had been coming and going through a 8 inch hole ever since the house was built! I'm guessing that if we had looked around the house in the woods we would have seen a bunch of squirrel nests with nice, warm, pink insulation! The previous residents must have been completely clueless, blind, and deaf. What a shame and what needless destruction.

- Jay