Squirrel Control in Homes and Yards

Squirrels cause a variety of problems, including entering attics, destroying garden crops, and taking nuts from pecan trees. Here are some tips for dealing with them.

If you have a squirrel in the attic, the only solution is to close all openings. But if you close the squirrel in without food or water, the confined animal will get hungry and thirsty and it will run amuck chewing on window frames and other items, including wiring in its efforts to escape. After it dies, usually in some inaccessible place, it will stink.

To prevent this, put out bread crusts, spread with peanut butter and slices of fruit in two or three places around the attic. Check the food dishes often to see if any is missing. If there is not sign after a week that the food is being consumed, your worries are over.

But if the food is taken or shows tell-tale tooth marks, at least you need to set a trap. Choose a cage trap for best results. Put a food dish inside and wait. If you catch a squirrel simply take him outside and let him go. Then reset the trap. Remember, there may be two, three or more animals using your attic.

How can you keep new squirrels from trying to get in? If your house is overhung with large trees, there may be no answer. Isolated trees can be encircled with bands of slippery metal about 18 inches wide nailed about four feet above the ground. If the tree is near other trees that are part of the squirrel branch travelways, this method won't work.

If the squirrels is walking in on wires, the plastic tube trick will work. Get 30 inch sections of thin walled plastic pipe 2 to 3 inches in diameter. Slit the tube lengthwise and have the utility company or someone qualified to work around electricity slip it over the wire. When the inbound squirrel tries to cross the tube, it will rotate and tip the intruder off the wire.

How about trapping the squirrels out of your backyard? This may not work. Squirrels are always overproducing, and the surplus animals are hunting for vacant backyards.

The problem of squirrels in nut trees can sometimes be solved with a band of metal.

For squirrels in gardens, aside from regular trapping-there is no solution practiced, although sometimes mothballs scattered around the garden, may give temporary protection.

For more information on squirrel control in homes and yards, contact your local county Extension office.