How To Get Rid Of Squirrels (Repellent, Traps, Poison, Baits)

Squirrels can cause a lot of damage to your garden, house, as well as vehicles, thereby disrupting your normal life. In fact squirrels are much more destructive than many other types of pests and therefore their infestation requires serious attention and effort.

Reasons why you should get rid of squirrels?

A major problem with squirrels is that they have easily adapted to humans. They will disrupt your life in different ways, including the following ways:

-They usually use your buildings for nesting,

-They break into your house and make their home in the attic,

-Whenever they find a small opening that leads to the inside of a building, they will chew a wider hole in order to access to the building,

-They bring nesting material into to your home, making it look untidy,

-They make a lot of noise catching nuts and scurrying around,

-They usually fall down your chimney flue, causing a lot of noise, or they may enter the fire place,

-They may sometime fall down a wall from the attic and get stuck,

-Sometimes they chew their way into apartment and commercial buildings, causing a lot of disruption,

-They can cause a fire hazard in your home by bringing in nesting material,

-They can chew on power lines and cause a fire hazard in your home or commercial property,

-They leave behind a lot of droppings as well as urine in the attic. The droppings produce an unpleasant odor and also pose a biohazard. In addition, the bad odor attracts more squirrels into your home,

-They will ruin new crops in your yard,

-They will also pop the buds of your flowers in order to get the seeds as well as the tender insides of the buds. They can also dig up your flowers corns or bulbs,

How to get rid of squirrels

There is no need to get overly worried about a squirrel infestation. This is because there are several methods of eliminating them completely from your home. Some of these methods will help remove them without necessarily killing them. The following are some of the tips on how to get rid of squirrels:

Getting rid of squirrels indoors

There are several types of squirrels and this means that you need different approaches in order to be successful in removing specific types.

Getting rid of indoor squirrels should be your top priority.

In order to prevent squirrels from coming to your property, you will have to take the following steps:

1. Start by cleaning your yard in order to prevent new squirrels from coming to your property or inside your house,

2. Seal all the cracks and holes in the walls or roof of your house. You can hire a professional in order to make sure the job is done to the highest standard possible.

3. Invest in a squirrel –proof bird feeder: There are several models and types of these feeders on the market. Some of them work by shocking the squirrels once they attempt to jump of the feeders. There also others that eject the squirrels into the air, while others have special openings.

These devices are not meant to harm the squirrels, but are meant to repel them from your area for a long time.

However, a high quality squirrel –proof bird feeder can be quite expensive but highly effective.

4. Using squirrel deterrents

Using squirrel deterrents can also help get rid of squirrels from your property. However, they are not 100 % effective in all cases, but they usually help keep squirrels out of your property. Presently, most people are using mothballs around their plants, trees, as well as their houses. Moth ball are effective since they contain 1.4 Dichlorobenzene. However, moth balls are poisonous to people and should not therefore be left near vegetable or berry beds.

5. Place a guard over your chimney

Consider placing an animal guard on your chimney if squirrel s frequently enters your house. Animal guards are usually made of steel mesh and this implies you won’t need to remove them when using the fireplace.

6. Invest in Radar Ultrasonic Unit

These are electronic squirrel repellent units that helps get rid of squirrels by producing ultrasonic frequencies. Their main disadvantage is that the unit cannot be used outside because it cannot stand water. However, most people use them in their garages and attics.

7. Ensuring that trees and shrubs are planted away from buildings

This is also another recommended way of helping ensure that squirrels cannot enter your property easily. Ensure that the trees and shrubs on your property are farther from the building than the squirrels can be able to leap. Ideally, the distance should be about five feet from the building. This deters the squirrels from jumping.

8. Call animal control

You may not want to deal with loose squirrels in your chimney and attic on your own. If this is your situation, you can call animal control and they will come to your aid.

Getting rid of flying squirrels

There are only a few options available when it comes to removing flying squirrels. They include the following:

1. Sealing the cavity of your roof

You need to ensure that there are no entry or exit points that can be used by the squirrels in order to get entry into your house or exit from it. Seal all the cracks and put a one-way exit. Experts suggest that if all the cracks are sealed, flying squirrels leave your house because they no longer the opportunity to return to their usual locations in inside your house.

2. Placing traps: This is also a popular way of eliminating flying squirrels from your property. This method has many advantages but the main one is likelihood of catching and relocating the entire colony at once. Usually, the colony splits up when leaving your property.

3. Using the predators’ scent

Certain solutions are available on the market that has specific scents of different predators. They include Squirrel Away or Squirrel B Gone, whose role is to prevent the squirrels from entering your house. These products have the scent of a real fox or bobcat urine, which plays the role of scaring the rodents away. In addition, some people use kitty litter in certain locations that are usually works by hand, including flowerbeds.

It is important to relocate all the squirrels that you have been able to capture to a distance not less than 10 to 15 miles from your home. Ensure that you release them away from domestic properties. It is important to be aware that some states have certain laws relating to the release of captured pests into the wild. However, the best way to deal with captures flying squirrels is to hand them over to a state facility.

How to remove squirrels from your yard

There are several methods that can be effectively used to remove squirrels from your garden. They include the following:

1. Flooding their barrows: This is the best method for removing ground squirrels. Filling their barrows with water helps keep the squirrels away because it destroys their home and therefore, they have no other option but to look for other alternatives. They will start looking for drier ground, thus staying away from your property.

2. Use of repellents: Certain repellents, such as predator urine or chili pepper can effectively help keep ground squirrels away from your garden for a short time. Squirrels get used to them after sometime. You can also try to drive them out using light and sound that interferes with their night rest. This will involve leaving a lamp in the place where they have set up their nest, or leave your radio at the particular location while tuned to a talk station.

3. Poison: You can also decide to use poison as a way of getting rid of ground squirrels. However, poisoning these pests is not the best way to get rid of them since it is inhuman. In addition, there is no registered poison for squirrels presently. Another big disadvantage of using poison is that if the squirrels die while still inside your house, you’ll be forced to bear with the foul smell for weeks or months. In short, using poison is not the best idea; it is the least effective method of getting rid of squirrels.

4. Remove squirrel food

If squirrels find a lot of things to eat in your yard, they will certainly overrun your property. In order to minimize this kind of attraction, you need to do the following:

4.1 Rake up all the nuts, corns, and berries from the trees in your yard and get rid of them. This is because they are used as food by the squirrels and removing them from your yard will discourage squirrels from coming to your yard.

4.2 Invest in seal-able outdoor trashcans: These types of trashcans are the most ideal because squirrels can’t get gain access to whatever is inside of them. Make sure your trashcans remain closed all the time.

4.3 Fence around your garden: Fencing around your garden helps keep these pests away. Squirrels like digging up bulbs and tearing off vegetables once they gain entry into the garden. Ideally, use a wire fence and ensure that it is buried underground at a depth of about one foot .This ensures that they do not dig under it.

4.4 Feed the squirrels: This is also another way that can help keep these pests away from your garden. You can either scatter squirrel food around your garden or buy a feeder and place it away from your garden.

4.5 Use motion-activated sprinklers: These help keep these pests away by spraying them with water. They are associated with the benefit of watering your lawn too.

Things to avoid while trying to get rid of squirrels from your yard

To increase your chances of succeeding in getting rid of squirrels from your property, the following things should be avoided completely:

-Avoid using noise machines, powder repellent, or flashing lights because they simply don’t work.

-Don’t use rat poison because it does not work with most squirrels. As a matter of fact, the old ones do not die and new ones keep coming.

– Don’t bother setting traps on the roof. They may help catch a few of them but it is not an effective method of getting rid of squirrels. It is a slow and useless method.

-Avoid setting traps inside the attic. As a matter of fact, traps don’t work here. You are only wasting your time and resources.

It is important to know that most species of squirrels are endangered. Killing them is illegal in most states. Breaking this law will result in criminal prosecution which will lead to a civil or criminal penalty. In addition, it is important to choose an elimination method that will not harm these animals in any way. For this reason, it is good to consult with a local department in order to determine whether the method of your choice is associated with any risk to the squirrels in your property. Additionally, you also need to know that in certain states, including California, transporting eastern fox squirrels and releasing them far away from home is considered illegal.