Orlando Squirrel Control Company

Eastern Gray Squirrels have two litters of young per year. One is in the winter, around January, and one in late summer, around August. A female squirrel searches for a safe place in which to bear and raise her babies. She often selects the attic of a home or building. She has 3-4 young, and they grow quickly. Most people don't call me to take care of the problem with the squirrels until the young have grown to about 4-6 weeks old, and are running all over the place, making a ton of noise. If the squirrels are not trapped and removed, either the mother or one of the young will use the attic as home and a nesting place for years to come.

How Do They Get in the Attic? Squirrels get into the attic via a number of areas. Sometimes they enter in a soffit vent area, particularly if the soffit is ventilated with a flimsy screen. They can easily chew through or push through such a screen. Sometimes they enter via a roof vent, particularly if it has a weak or missing screen. Gable vents are another vulnerable area. The most common area of all may be the area of architecture where roof edges and soffits meet the roof surface, such as at a dormer. Open ridge cap plugs are another common point of entry. In fact, squirrels often have several options to use to enter the roof. It's important to realize that the only way to solve a squirrel problem permanently is to find these points of entry and to seal them off permanently with steel that no squirrel can chew through.

What is the Risk of Squirrels in the Attic? Most people call me because they don't like the noise - the pitter patter of little squirrel feet, the running and scampering, the clawing and chewing. However, squirrels can cause more significant problems than just noise. They chew, as do all rodents, and they often prefer to gnaw on electrical wires, a problem that can cause power outages or worse, fire hazards. I've also seen many cases in which squirrels chew on piping insulation and PVC plumbing pipes in attics, causing leaks. They also chew on woodwork. Furthermore, they bring nesting material into the attic, along with parasites and fur and the like. They can also cause a biohazard with their droppings and urine, and can make an attic smell bad.

Do You Hurt the Squirrels? No. I trap the squirrels in humane live traps and then relocate them, usually over 20 miles from the capture site. If you release them nearby, they'll find their way back to their home territory, and just chew their way back into the same attic again. Sometimes, if a home is totally squirrel-proofed, I can just exclude the squirrels - get them out with a one-way door - and keep them locked out. This causes a minimum of stress to the animals. Regardless, I make sure that the job is done right, and that the home is permanently squirrel free.