Dealing with a Squirrel

[TechBoyJK]

He's chewed a hole into our fascia by the chimney and is using the tree to jump over to our house and get access. All caught on the vid above.

Hiring a trapper is expensive, so I'm going to do some stuff first to try and take care of this little tree rat since more could come back.

1) The fascia is already damaged and needs to be replaced. Since color matching and bending a replacement to match the left side would be difficult, multiple roofers have said just to replace the entire side because it'll be just as fast and will guarantee it all matches.

Since it needs to be fixed, I'm going to do it in two stages. I'm going to have someone come remove the fascia and the soffit (soffit can be re-used). This way the squirrel has nowhere to run and go to. With the underside exposed, I can then inspect and address any further damage that may have been done that isn't visible now.

This way I don't have a guy out there ready to replace everything when/if we find damage that needs to be addressed first.

2) I'm going to have the tree trimmed back as well so the squirrel can't make the jump. The neighbor whom owns the tree has said he has no issues with us having it trimmed, but let us know he can't afford to pay for it. He's in Mexico on a missions trip and won't be back for a week or so, and I'm going to wait until he gets back to get it trimmed so I can make sure I don't have it trimmed too far back for his liking.

In the meantime, I'm going to wrap the tree trunk in tin as it's supposed to prevent squirrels from climbing it. Just need to wrap a strip of 24" weed tin around it.

I'm well aware that the squirrel can likely and easily get back up there without the tree and it's likely just his preferred path because it's so direct.

3) Once the soffit/fascia is pulled off and the tree is trimmed (and tin wrapped) I'm going to have the fascia replaced.

Thoughts?

Wife said we can pay for a trapper only if the squirrel still comes back after all of this.

 

[NutBucket]

close up the hole, poison the squirrels.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

close up the hole, poison the squirrels.

Only if you know the squirrel isn't still in your soffit.

 

[mindless1]

Pellet gun fun.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Hiring a trapper is expensive, so I'm going to do some stuff first to try and take care of this little tree rat since more could come back.

Thoughts?

Wife said we can pay for a trapper only if the squirrel still comes back after all of this.

Trapping squirrels is not hard to do. $25.- trap on Amazon. I trapped a few that were in the attic prior to replacing the fascia. Relocated them to a nice park.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Trapping squirrels is not hard to do. $25.- trap on Amazon. I trapped a few that were in the attic prior to replacing the fascia. Relocated them to a nice park.

I used that exact trap years ago to catch a red squirrel at my parents place and a ground hog at my place. Same drop off point too. The Land Beaver was more bad ass than expected, he waddled out of the cage in no particular rush, looked back at me like come on man and waddled off.

 

[Red Squirrel]

If you trap make sure you bring it very far or they will come back but it would be the easiest and most humane way to do it. If you poison them they will chew everything like mad, looking for water then die somewhere you won't be able to access.

Though I'm suspicious there may be something in your attic they can smell. For them to actually chew through it means they really want in. I would try to see if you can find a possible source of food inside. You may also be able to put something to repel them, I think ammonia works. Maybe some Windex or something in a container that is closed and has small holes on the top? No idea how well that would work though.

 

[Rifter]

grab your .22 and go shoot it, this is a .05 cent problem.

 

[KeithP]

Time for the Hammer.

-KeithP

 

[Thebobo]

Trapping squirrels is not hard to do. $25.- trap on Amazon. I trapped a few that were in the attic prior to replacing the fascia. Relocated them to a nice park.

I did the same thing.

Don't poison animals its indiscriminate.
And whatever you do they will return.
Best to squirrel proof your house.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Where's cousin Eddie? Doesn't he eat those damn things?

 

[Muse]

I had major (to me) squirrel problems for years. I grow kabocha squash annually and when the squash would get pretty ripe, a squirrel (maybe more than one, don't know) would start attacking them, would eat right into them and eat the seeds, ruining each. I'd lose a significant part of the crop and it drove me nuts. Tried various things. I killed a couple, I guess, setting rat traps. Later, I bought a trap. Then another because the first was lousy. I caught around 3 that way and set them free up in the hills in a local large wilderness park.

Now, I make a DIY spray using hot pepper flakes, simmered briefly in water, then strained. I hand spray the squash with a small sprayer bottle and the squirrels stay away, end of problem. They HATE the taste of that stuff. I keep extra in the freezer, because the solution loses its potency sitting in the refrigerator. I thaw, spray, and if I have any left over, it goes back in the freezer. Repeat every couple weeks after the crop gets anywhere near close to ripe.

 

[Chaotic42]

I never had any luck with traps at all. I ended up having to have someone come out and remove the squirrel. If you do catch it and don't want to shoot it, supposedly one of the most humane ways to deal with it is to drop the trap into a large bucket of water and drown the squirrel. Capture and repair cost me $3,000.

 

[Muse]

I never had any luck with traps at all. I ended up having to have someone come out and remove the squirrel. If you do catch it and don't want to shoot it, supposedly one of the most humane ways to deal with it is to drop the trap into a large bucket of water and drown the squirrel. Capture and repair cost me $3,000.

I had good luck with this: Havahart 1078 trap thru Amazon $41.09 shipped in 2013. I'd release the rodents into the wild. You wouldn't believe how fast they run when released! Still have it but don't use it because spraying my squash periodically with pepper spray deters them.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Uhhhh drowning is not exactly a humane way of killing something. Just go release it far into the bush or something. If you absolutely must kill it then blunt force trauma to the head is probably the most humane way just make sure the first hit does it in.

 

[Micrornd]

Dealing with a Squirrel

…..

I realize this is OT and probably not appropriate, but the irony of this , well ……………………

 

[john3850]

I had a raccoon climb up my roof gutter drain pipe with four babies and chewed a large hole in the side of my porch roof and moved in.During the night all the little guys would walk up to a window and look at us while playing on the roof.I even tried to smoke them out with out without success.I even thought of trapping the mother but the babies would have died do to there young age.A short time after I used the smoke cans the mother raccoon carried the babies one by one off the roof and relocated them.