Squirrel in the attic

[boomerang]

At least I think it's a squirrel. Whatever it is, it's got claws because it's scratching around up there. The big question is always how in the hell do they get in? And that's a rhetorical question because I know they manage to find a way.

It's in the exact same location that we were hearing all the carpenter ant noises earlier this year. I don't know if it's feasting on the dead carcasses or not. Google says they do eat insects.

The area it's in is where there is a saddle built on the roof adjacent to the fireplace. The fireplace is wide and the roof slopes towards it. There would be a lot of water wanting to pool there so the saddle provides a means for it to shed to the roof and then run into the gutter.

I never have felt comfortable up on the roof and as I've aged, I decided it was no longer something I was going to do. I haven't been up there in five or six years. So, I'm going to have to hire a handyman to head up there and take a look.

If a hole is found, I'd obviously like to get the squirrel out before it's sealed. It's set up housekeeping in a very small area, probably between two joists based on where the noise is coming from and the roof construction in that area is 2x12's. I've heard it referred to as a studio ceiling. The drywall ceiling in the room follows the underside of those 2X12's. The saddle is slapped on top of that butting up against the chimney.

I'm reading that they don't like moth balls. That should be fairly easy. Find the opening, put in some moth balls and after the squirrel leaves, patch the opening.

What says H&G?

 

[highland145]

The only solution is to burn the house down (after removing tools). The neighbor's house too. Then the wife won't have a place to stay except Nipples, FL. Sunny, warm Nipples, Fl.

What say boomerang?

 

[boomerang]

What say boomerang?

I think you're not even the slightest bit helpful.

 

[Raizinman]

Now that the weather has turned cooler, small varmints are moving indoors, if possible. If you head over to your local Tractor Supply store or similar store, you can purchase a trap for about $25. Bait the trap with a little peanut butter. You will have your squirrel the next day. Then you need to find how they are coming in. I've found the best way to do this is to go up in the attic on a bright sunny day. Turn out the lights and look for where light is coming in. Fix the hole. Don't forget, squirrel tastes quite a bit like chicken.

If you don't feel comfortable in trapping the squirrel yourself, go to Craigslist and find a pest control or such to trap it for you.

 

[Mike64]

Bait the trap with a little peanut butter. You will have your squirrel the next day.

It is amazing just how much rodents like that stuff, innit? If you have them handy, a potato chip piece or 2 stuck into the PB never hurts either - even humans can smell those things from quite some distance...

If you don't feel comfortable in trapping the squirrel yourself

Trapping them's not such a big deal, it's the releasing part that can get a little hairy...:biggrin:

 

[boomerang]

Now that the weather has turned cooler, small varmints are moving indoors, if possible. If you head over to your local Tractor Supply store or similar store, you can purchase a trap for about $25. Bait the trap with a little peanut butter. You will have your squirrel the next day. Then you need to find how they are coming in. I've found the best way to do this is to go up in the attic on a bright sunny day. Turn out the lights and look for where light is coming in. Fix the hole. Don't forget, squirrel tastes quite a bit like chicken.

If you don't feel comfortable in trapping the squirrel yourself, go to Craigslist and find a pest control or such to trap it for you.

Thanks for the trap advice. But this part of the roof is inaccessible from the attic. There is no way to get in there as it's constructed out of 2x12's. Drywall, 2x12, roof sheathing, shingles. The entrance must be found from outside the house. The saddle it is living in is only accessible from the outside. I watched every piece of the house being put in place.

Right now, we've got 10" of snow on the roof. That friggin' snowstorm came through yesterday so getting up on the roof is going to have to wait for a melt. Can this critter be lured outside to a trap? I can put the trap on the top rail on the deck which is practically abutting the chimney. A few short hops for a squirrel. I guess what I'm wondering is with that much snow on the ground is the squirrel hunkered down until the world becomes more "navigable" for it.

 

[Raizinman]

Why would the squirrel leave such a great dry and warm'ish place? When he gets hungry, he will start tearing up the insulation and walls to try and get to food or else die of starvation, and start smelling in your attic. You might want to consider cutting a door in some closet ceiling for access to the attic to set a trap. Should you find the entrance where the squirrel entered, should you block it up, you will only trap the squirrel in forever. I hope you considered the possibility that the squirrel is pregnant and there could shortly be 8 to 10 little squirrels running around in your attic.

 

[pcgeek11]

Well it could also be a rat. Not much different than a squirrel, they just breed more.

Call an exterminator. You do not want rats in the attic.

 

[MongGrel]

The only solution is to burn the house down (after removing tools). The neighbor's house too. Then the wife won't have a place to stay except Nipples, FL. Sunny, warm Nipples, Fl.

What say boomerang?

I agree.

Then you only have to worry about allygators, citrus rats, palmetto bugs and stuff like that

The Leezards are actually useful.

Least no snow.

 

[MadScientist]

I had a squirrel in the attic last winter. It stripped 2 rows of insulation down to the paper to build a pink R-13 nest in the oak tree in our back yard.
I climbed up a ladder and came face to face with him at the hole it had chewed/clawed in the flashing.
Used a broom to herd him out of the attic and then double flashed the hole over.

 

[tjtech94]

I don't know about mothballs, but I have a spray bottle of 50/50 ammonia and water as a repellent, at least temporarily. Though overall, I've heard any repellent measures like that work in varying degrees. But yeah, def check the flashing, particular if you've had any roof/gutter damage. You'd be amazed how they can squeeze through small holes - under all that fur they're pretty skinny

 

[Greenman]

Moth balls work, but they stink like hell for a very long time. A rag soaked in ammonia will do the job as well. Just be sure he's out before you close up the hole. I just went through having a dead rat in my wall and thought I was going to have to burn my house down.

 

[PowerEngineer]

OP, my brother had a problem similar to yours a few years back. He looked for and found the opening that the squirrel was using, and then he attached a one-way swinging door that allowed it to get out but not get back in. Waited a few days to be sure it had left (for the last time) and then sealed up the opening.

 

[boomerang]

My problem ended up being mice. I am amazed that mice could make the kind of scratching noises we were hearing but evidently that is the case. I had a critter catcher dude come out. I was pretty impressed with the way he conducted himself. He did a really thorough visual of the outside of the house and around the property where the lawn meets the wilderness looking for nests. He spent 20 minutes up in the attic wading around in the 6" to 8" of blown in insulation on top of the bat insulation and spread poison that dries them up from the inside. I've used the same stuff in the garage and it works very well. No stink, just dead mice that are really flat.

Outside, he found a void on the top of a concrete block that the rear garage wall is built upon. It's been there since day one when the house was built in '87. They chipped it off by accident when they were prepping for the garage floor concrete pour. He felt that was where they were getting in and sealed it off. It will need a more aesthetically pleasing repair in the spring when it warms up.

I have been around this place numerous times and have found no place where they could enter. He went around and found this. I knew it was there but never considered that they would enter there and get into the house from the garage but that was due to my ignorance of the modus operandi of mice.

The problem is that it's been almost a week and we are still hearing activity. In the beginning it was a lot more than we had been hearing which I chalked up to them freaking out having realized they'd been poisoned. We had one day of total quiet and now the noise has resumed. Last night, my wife nudged me awake thinking someone had broken into the house. In the wall in the hall the noise was so loud that it did in fact sound like someone was rummaging around the house. Neither of us could pinpoint the noise until I got up and started investigating.

The house for the most part is sided in T1-11 siding which was in vogue when the house was built. Now I'm starting to think that maybe they are shinnying in under the siding where the siding overlaps the block wall. Unless they are entering through the roof, which was my original assumption, I just don't see how else they would be getting in. This guy guarantees his work but asked that I wait a week if I'm still hearing activity. Monday I'll call and get him out here and up on the roof.

It's a little upsetting. The house is well maintained and there is no obvious means of entry. I fully understand that they can get in an opening as small as a dime but I have looked very thoroughly as has a pro and we're not seeing anything.

In the meantime, I've got a friend who just bought a $1200 quadcopter and I'm going to try and get him over here today or tomorrow to get some video. He says the resolution is so good that it can be zoomed in on tremendously and all the detail remains.

 

[twinrider1]

Squirrels...

Squirrels...

Squirrels...

 

[calahan]

Squirrels...

Squirrels...

Squirrels...

Your affection for this lovely beast hard to ignore