Professional Squirrel Removal
Humane Squirrel Removal
Squirrels are one of the more common nuisance animals encountered by humans. These critters love to live around humans and often plant their roots right in your house or yard. Squirrels should be removed very quickly, as they cause many problems related to the diseases they carry and the damage they do to homes. Continue reading to learn more about squirrels and how you can remove them.
What attracts squirrels to a property?
Squirrels are very similar to many other types of pest animals in that they will always find easy sources of shelter and food to be irresistible. Squirrels love easy food sources, and they eat many different types of foods. Depending on the plants, trees, and bushes in your yard, they may have hit the jackpot. In addition, any easy access to a garbage can cause serious attraction for squirrels. Beyond the easy access to food, squirrels are suckers for great shelter. This is especially the case for areas where there may be natural enemies of squirrels, such as birds of prey, larger animals, and even the weather. Squirrels love to find or create a way into homes and other buildings, but they are also content to build a nest high up in a sturdy tree.
What problems do squirrels cause?
Between the diseases, they commonly spread and the large amounts of property damage they cause, squirrels are one of the worst nuisance animals to have in your home or on your property. To begin with, squirrels carry and spread dozens of different bacterial and viral infections. Squirrels are able to spread these infections in a variety of ways. If you are bitten or scratched by a squirrel, there is high disease potential. Coming into contact with a squirrel’s urine or feces can also be a way to contract an illness. Finally, squirrels often contaminate food sources and food preparation areas if they are able to access your whole house. Removing these critters is vital to protect you, your family, and your pets from the diseases they carry.
In addition to the health problems squirrels can cause, the damage they cause is just as jaw-dropping. Squirrels are an animal that will chew through virtually any material if it has a desire to gain access to certain areas. This is particularly the case when they chew entrance holes into your attic or roof. Once a squirrel does this, these entry holes are open for more squirrels, other nuisance animals, and the weather. Upon gaining access to your attic, these critters often begin chewing on electrical wiring, which can potentially cause fires. Insulation is often torn up in the creation of nests, and many pregnant squirrels decide to raise their young in the warmth of an attic nest. Since squirrels will continuously gnaw on more and more materials in your home, it is important to get rid of them as fast as possible.
How can squirrels be prevented?
In order to prevent squirrels, there are two approaches that should be taken. First, decrease the appeal of your property. Clean up your yard, paying attention to the removal of brush piles, tall weeds, and other debris. Next, be sure to secure any trash left out and be sure to keep any plants that may attract squirrels secured as well with chicken wire or other devices. Next, you will want to be sure that your home is sealed to prevent any squirrels from entering. It is smart to examine your home, looking for any problem areas around the roof and attic of your home. If you find any problem areas, be sure to repair them or hire someone to fix them.
How should squirrels be removed?
Removing a squirrel from your home seems like a nice, easy DIY type of job. This is not the case more often than not, as squirrels can create some complications that make amateur removal very difficult. There is a great chance that the adult squirrel in your home is a mother squirrel who has had her young in your attic or walls. If you remove only the mother, the babies will die, causing foul odors throughout your home. For this reason, it is generally recommended that you hire a wildlife removal company to get the job done for you.
Why hire Woodlands Wildlife Elimination?
At Woodlands Wildlife Elimination, our licensed specialists have spent years removing squirrels in many different situations. Not only are we proud to provide a high-quality squirrel removal service, but we also offer animal damage repair, animal exclusion, attic restoration, decontamination, and odor removal services as well. We are proud to provide our services at affordable prices and focus on customer satisfaction throughout the process. If you are dealing with a squirrel infestation and live in Houston or the surrounding areas, be sure to give us a call at Woodlands Wildlife Elimination today!
How to Keep Squirrels Out of the Roof?
While sleeping under your own roof might be a blessing most of the time, there are a few issues with having a roof – part of that would be a squirrel’s tendency to find its way up there. Squirrels seem to be able to find their way just about anywhere, and that’s thanks in part to just how versatile those little animals can be sometimes.
Although that’s great for them, that’s not too great for you, especially if you want to keep squirrels off your roof. Squirrels can climb virtually anything, but there’s more than just blocking off climbing in stopping squirrels from messing around with your roof. Without further ado, how can you keep squirrels off the roof?
Finding How Squirrels Get Up There
The first thing you need to do is find how squirrels even get to your roof. There are a few ways that they like to find their way to a high place, although it depends on each property and how high your roof might be. Nonetheless, in most situations, there’s likely a tree or an overhang that gives squirrels a much easier path right to the top of your home.
Unfortunately, that’s not always the case – the majority of squirrel issues are probably caused by long limbs or overhanging spots where a squirrel can jump, although it’s not all. Sometimes, vents, gutters, and exposed sections of a home can give enough of a foothold to boost a squirrel to the top of your home.
Either way, it’s important to find out which one it is; both have simple solutions, although they’re very different from one another. Nonetheless, fortunately, there are a few ways that you can take care of either method for a squirrel to get up to your roof. In the end, it really comes down to making the journey as tough as possible for the squirrel, so prior knowledge is helpful in making the right choices.
Making It Tough
The best way to keep squirrels out and off your roof is to make it tough for them to get up there. Luckily, that’s as simple as trimming your trees. Cutting off excess branches that reach towards your house and moving other parts of the tree that come close to your roof can make it nearly impossible for a squirrel to make its way to the top of your roof. It’s not impossible, but it’s close.
On top of that, however, you can install guards and mesh designed to make things hard for squirrels. These are designed around either being impossibly slippery for squirrels to climb or to give an overhang that keeps squirrels stuck underneath. While these don’t go on your roof, they do go on trees that might lead high enough for squirrels to jump to your roof, preventing them from getting the opportunity.
Of course, there are other less direct methods too – whether that’s calling animal control or local company or simply removing bird feeders, there are quite a few methods. If you put guards on trees, and trim branches, and the squirrels still don’t stop making their way up to your roof, then you might want to try moving gardens inside, making bird feeders inaccessible, or moving whatever might attract the squirrel.
In the end, it really depends on your situation. For many, cutting tree branches is more than enough to prevent squirrels from accessing your roof. For others, they might need active removal or to add PVC/other slick surfaces directly to the roof. That’s why it’s important to see how squirrels get up to your roof, to begin with, as it gives you a way to know what has to happen to fix the problem.
How to Keep Squirrels Away from Garden?
There are many different species of nuisance animals that cause severe damage to gardens, both the flower and the produce varieties. One of the most harmful critters that will cause damage to the garden you work so hard on is the squirrel. Squirrels are damaging to gardens in many ways, but they often like to eat different roots and stems of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. In addition, they will also try to hunt around your garden, digging things up and breaking stems. Continue reading to learn how to keep squirrels away from the garden.
Bring in Some Professional Backup
The most effective way to keep squirrels away from gardens is to hire a professional wildlife removal company, such as A+ Animal Solutions. Wildlife removal companies have seen many different squirrel infestation scenarios and know how to deal with each of them. If you decide to remove the squirrels, these professionals can take care of this for you, as well as provide prevention services that will keep any future squirrels from getting access to your garden.
Use Some Fencing
Another great way that will physically not allow squirrels to be able to get to your plants is to build a fence that surrounds your garden. An obvious error to this idea would be the fact that squirrels can climb. This is why it is necessary to install a chicken wire or mesh-material cover to create a “roof” over the top of your plants. A fence might be a lot of work, but it works wonders not just for squirrels, but most of the other nuisance animals that want to eat your plants as well. Once you have your fence up, it will be impossible for birds, deer, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, and many more critters to cause you any problems.
Plant Some Special Plants
Since the topic of discussion is keeping squirrels away from your garden, it is only fitting to talk about planting certain plants that squirrels are deterred by. There are some common plants, such as marigolds, mustard plants, mint plants, and garlic plants, that are very effective. In addition, there are more exotic plants that could be used as well. The basic theory of using these plants is to plant them around the border of your garden, creating almost a wall of deterrents.
Startle the Squirrels
An interesting idea to keep in mind that can keep squirrels away from your garden is to never let them get comfortable. Many people like to let their dog or cat roam around their yard already, so this is an easy one. Since a roaming potential predator instills fear in squirrels, it is likely that they will either not get into your garden at all, or that they will spend very little time there. In case you do not have any outside pets, there are some other options. Try setting up a scarecrow in the center of your garden. You can even try using hawk decoys, owl decoys, coyote decoys, and fox decoys in order to frighten squirrels.
Scent Repellents
In addition to using any plants that squirrels hate, there are some other deterrent methods that can be used to keep squirrels away. There are many different pre-made solutions that can be purchased that are said to deter squirrels. If you want to opt for the homemade route, there are many different squirrel repellent recipes you can try. One of the most common homemade options is to find a spray bottle. Once your spray bottle is ready, fill it partially with cayenne pepper powder, and then fill it with water. This can also be done with minty essential oils, hot sauce, vinegar, and other such substances. Spray this mixture around the perimeter of your garden and it should keep the squirrels away.