Squirrels in the Attic

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STEP 1) Inspect your house and find the hole(s) they are using to get into your attic. This is probably somewhere along the roof lines or the eaves.

STEP 2) You can set squirrel traps on the roof near the entry holes, or better yet, mount a special one-way exclusion door or repeater trap right on the entry/exit hole.

STEP 3) Once all the squirrels are out, remove the traps or excluder door, and seal the hole shut.

Sounds simple, right? Well, in some cases it is somewhat simple, but in other cases it can be very difficult. For example, there may be a nest of baby squirrels inside the attic. Or the architecture of the home might be complicated, and the squirrel entry holes hard to find, difficult to get to, or numerous. The squirrels might not readily enter the traps. One-way exclusion doors can be difficult to mount properly. If you don't do the job just right, you have a good chance of either failing to solve anything, or of causing frantic squirrels to chew their way into or out of your attic, causing further damage. Or you could kill a nest of baby squirrels and end up with a bad rotting odor in your home. Removing squirrels from an attic is not an easy task. In many cases, I recommend hiring a professional wildlife control company to help you.

Click here for my nationwide list of 100's of professional squirrel control experts!



Here is a photo of two squirrels caught inside an attic. It is not necessary to set traps inside the attic itself. Squirrels don't live inside 24/7. They constantly go in and out of the attic. They have to go out to eat and drink. They are just inside because your attic provides safe shelter.

Here are some links to other helpful articles I've written:
Squirrel Trapping - guide on how to successfully trap squirrels.
How much does squirrel removal cost? - get the lowdown on prices.
Example squirrel trapping photographs - get do-it-yourself ideas.
Squirrel job blog - learn from great examples of squirrel jobs I've done.

"Help me get the squirrels out of my attic!" - I hear that request all the time. The most common scenario in the field of nuisance wildlife control involves animals that have invaded a person's attic. All kinds of wildlife love to live in the attics of homes. Attics provide a warm, safe, dry shelter that really suits the needs of many animals. Squirrels are one of the animals that will frequently inhabit an attic, and for which trappers provide attic removal. Squirrels are used to climbing and living in trees. If they can, they will find the hollow of a tree to live in. However, an attic of a home is like a great big hollow tree to a squirrel. Squirrels can climb almost anything, and they will crawl all over the roof of a home until they find a way in. Once inside, they often build a nest in the insulation, or even rip up insulation, drag in other nesting material, and they will often gnaw on wooden support beams or even wires.

At first people notice the sound of squirrels running around overhead, as if in the ceiling. These sounds most frequently occur in the morning or evening, but may be heard throughout the day. People then wonder how they can get rid of the squirrels in the attic. Removing squirrels from attics requires a good inspection of the home, in order to understand how the animals are accessing the building. The squirrels need to be trapped and removed, and all the holes and gaps leading into the attic fixed.

Squirrels cause a number of problems for people. The most common conflicts that occur with squirrels involves their desire to live inside of buildings. Like all members of the rodent family, squirrels are excellent chewers, and they will chew their way into your home or commercial building. Once inside, they may even chew on wires or pipes! People often hear the squirrels running about in the attic or ceiling. They often bring in nesting debris, and can create a fire hazard, not only due to the debris, but also by chewing electrical wires. Squirrels will also chew on the woodwork of a home. Everyone knows about how squirrels steal food from birdfeeders, but that problem can be solved by buying squirrel-proof feeders. Squirrels have two litters per year, and reproduce quickly, like all rodents. This means that at times the squirrel population can grow to high numbers, and extra pressure is placed on buildings. Squirrels will move into attics or chimneys, or even places like drier vents.

So, how do you get squirrels out of your attic? It's actually pretty involved, because most of the time there's a nest of baby squirrels up there. The young squirrels grow quickly, so they may or may not be mobile by the time you notice them up there. If they are younger than 6 weeks, meaning that the mother squirrel has been running about up there for that time, then the nest must be found and the young removed by hand. If the young are weaned and are going outside, you have the option to trap and remove them, or exclude them with a one-way door. Traps can include cage traps set on the roof (never set in the attic, actually - the above photo is the rare exception) or a repeating trap can be set on the main entry/exit hole, if all other areas have been sealed off. An exclusion door is another excellent option. It's very important that all entry points are sealed shut.

People nationwide need to get rid of the squirrels in their attic, and luckily, there are pros all around the country who are experts with squirrel attic removal.  Most trained wildlife control professionals have excellent experience in solving squirrel problems, so if you need squirrel control, click the links on this page to find a wildlife removal company in your neck of the woods, and get rid of those squirrels once and for all.

For more complete info, read How to get rid of squirrels - my main squirrel removal info guide.

AAAnimal Control is a professional nuisance wildlife control company located in Orlando, FL. We provide wildlife removal education, including squirrel control. Wildlife services include animal trapping, capture & removal, plus animal damage repairs and preventative measures. We also offer biological cleanup and many other services. You can always browse this site for more details and info and advice on how to get squirrels out of your attic. If you live elsewhere in the US and have found this site and need a local trapper in your area, click here for a nationwide list of 100's of professional squirrel removal experts. You can even check out prices ahead of time.