What exactly attracts squirrels?

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Just like other wild animals, squirrels are usually attracted to homes or other buildings because of a ready supply of food and water. The squirrel is also attracted by a warm and cozy spot to nest in, and this is even more so the case with female squirrels who are trying to take care of her young.



If you feed a squirrel once in your back yard, it’ll come back again. You’ll probably fed it a second time around, because, well, the squirrel came back. It’s almost like you have a bond now … (We’re joking, don't worry!) The third time, when the squirrel comes back, it’ll get aggressive because you no longer have a fistful of peanuts to offer it. It knows that you have food in your home, and now it knows that, it's going to try to get inside your home.

It’ll probably succeed.

Learn more about squirrel repellents: Repellents That Work to Get Rid of Squirrels

Squirrels live way up high, so it’s not unusual to find squirrels on the roof. To them, your roof is just another tree. Once they’re on the roof, they will start to investigate. It’ll chew and tear at flappy bits and broken bits, desperately trying to find a way in.

Again, it’ll probably succeed.

These animals are cute, and it is almost a special moment when a wild animal lets you feed it, but they carry diseases. Quite a few of them. Not only that, they can be quite vicious. If it doesn’t feel you have offered it enough food, it will just help itself. It’ll grab and run … right off with your food!

Feeding squirrels is a bad idea, and rather than looking at what attracts squirrels to your garden, you should first be looking at how you can better protect your home. Only when you are 100% sure that you have squirrel-proofed your home should you even think about inciting in a whole bunch of other wild critters with food.

For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How much does squirrel removal cost? - get the lowdown on prices.
How to get rid of squirrels - my main squirrel removal info guide.
Example squirrel trapping photographs - get do-it-yourself ideas.
Squirrel job blog - learn from great examples of squirrel jobs I've done.
squirrels in the attic