How to keep and prevent Flying Squirrels from entering your house

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Flying squirrels are often confused with bats at first, mostly because there are a few similarities. Both critters fly around at night, like to set up roosts and nests in the higher and quieter sections of your home or building, such as in the attic, and need to be dealt with in pretty much the same way. This method involves combining different approaches — exclusion and prevention — to get rid of the animal(s) and then make sure that it can't come back.



There are a few things that you will need to take into consideration when you look at how to keep flying squirrels out the house:
1 - You will rarely have just the one flying squirrel in your attic or house. These animals come together after winter/coming into spring to give birth and rear their young. Females will come together, sometimes as many as eight or ten of them at a time, and they will give each other a hand to feed and take care of the kids. Even if you were to find just ONE flying squirrel in your attic or house, it would more than likely be a pregnant one, and therefore wouldn't remain as just one animal for long.
2 - Certain species of flying squirrel are protected because of their endangered status. There are also MANY laws to bear in mind, regarding trapping, releasing, killing/harming, and even transporting these animals, and many more like them. Before you take ANY action, you MUST do your research. AT the very least, get in touch with a professional wildlife handler and removal expert to see where you stand in your state.
3 - If you don't do a complete job of removing them, and then sealing your building up again so that it remains devoid of wild critters, they'll come back, and they'll bring a few friends along with them. The same hole will be revisited by another pregnant flying squirrel, probably with her gal-pals who are also pregnant, and the same would could even come back if you don't do a good enough job of relocating it. (If that is the route you have chosen to go down.)

In order to prevent flying squirrels from being able to get in your home, you're going to have to do a good job of sealing it up. These creatures glide, rather than flying as their name would suggest, and this means they have much easier access to the upper levels of your home. This is the first place you should look at, inspecting both the interior and exterior of the building. Flying squirrels can be just as small as rats and mice, and those rodents needs a hole just about the size of a large wedding ring in order to get in your home. That's the kind of holes you will be looking for, and also gives you some idea of how difficult this task really is. Just one hole left behind, unsealed, will be enough to have that creature come right back in just a couple of days and start up all of your problems again.

Just as with bats, you can sometimes use the reliable pattern of these animals to help you figure things out a little faster. They tend to leave whatever building they are hiding in under the cover of nightfall, so when the sun starts to go down, head on outside. You will need to be discreet, patient, and very quiet. The aim of the game is to see where these creatures are going from, and also where they're heading. That will give you a great idea of where to start hole-hunting.

While you're doing all of this, there are other things that you can do to minimize the risks and hazards. Stripping back tree branches that lead animals just like the flying squirrel into your attic is a great place to start. These branches not only work as little walkways, but also as shelter too. The leaves offer them protection while they're gliding and moving around, and it makes them harder to see, not just for you, but also for predators. When everything has been stripped back a little more, the animals are left feeling more vulnerable. As much as you may not want to strip back that beautiful tree in your back yard, it might just be necessary to avoid animal encounters.

As well as that, you will need to seriously look at how much food you're leaving out for these creatures, intentional or otherwise. Bird feeders are often the worst culprits, scattering fruits, seeds, and nuts across your land that birds, squirrels, flying squirrels, raccoons, and a wide range of other animals will then come closer to feed on. Once they know there is a steady source of food available, they won't leave. Food can be hard to come by, especially during the winter or when they have youngsters to take care of, they need to jump on every opportunity.

Growing plants and flowers are other hard-hit areas, flower buds eaten, roots destroyed, and leaves munched on by a wide range of critters. These can be somewhat easily taken care of, using underground mesh wire and over-ground mesh protection. You should also look at having a good old cleanup too. Stacked firewood that has been left against a building will make for a cosy little hiding spot, as well as a bunk up to the upper levels, and even cracks in the foundation of your building can all allow for flying squirrels (and others) to gain access. These are all spots that will need to be sorted out, in one way or another, and you will need to make sure that you're using the right materials for the job too. Squirrels, just like other small rodents, have a nasty habit of chewing, and the flying squirrel is no exception. Even holes that seem too small for one of the creatures to crawl through is no match. They will simply chew the space until it IS big enough for them to crawl through.

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 flying 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 - what to do to solve the problem.