Yesterday, I had a chance to talk with Dovid Davis, the Director of A # 1 Pest Control of Baltimore, Maryland. Dovid is a knowledgeable entomologist and a friend of mine with years of experience in the field, so whenever we have an opportunity to talk, I ask him to fill me in on a topic in pest control. Yesterday, we talked about how to get rid of squirrels?
Dovid told me that, to be exact, we are talking about the grey ground squirrel. These squirrels are very populous in heavily wooded areas. They like to be around Ash Oak and Poplar trees. They are members of the rodent family. They like to scurry for nuts and seeds, but they are not carriers of a lot of diseases because they mostly stay outside. When they do come indoors, it is to seek protection from the weather, especially cold and damp weather.
When squirrels want to find away into your house, they will look for an area around your roof that has been somewhat water compromised. So they look for a damp water damaged spot, which they can chew through to gain access.
Once inside your property, squirrels will bring in their mates and start making a racket. Then they will bring in food from the outside. And begin to set up shop, as it were.
The best way to remove squirrels is by way of animal traps with special feed trap doors. The specialty traps have one way doors, which are placed over the squirrels exit hole. They are cone shaped funnels, which are screwed into the wall from the outside. This can be a pain in the neck for pest specialists, if the attic is 40 feet above ground. But it is a humanitarian way to get rid of the squirrels. They leave the attic, go through the funnel, and then can't get back in. As long as a trap is screwed over every entrance hole, the squirrels will soon be gone from the home. kind of a polite hint to them that they aren't wanted.
I asked Dovid the obvious question, how does a pest specialist find the squirrel holes to place the trap over. Dovid said this can be accomplished by going up to the attic, turning off the lights and seeing where the beams of light come through the wall. If the squirrels are persistent, and keep chewing new holes, than the pest specialist has to set up "Have a Heart Traps," These are baited traps, placed in the attic. The pest specialist sets them up and has to return every day to check on them, until the invading squirrels have all been caught. After capture, the grey squirrels are released in a nearby park.
Dovid added as a post script that squirrels can be very destructive. Squirrels chew through telephone wires, they can chew through gas lines under cars. However, they rarely attack anyone. I recall one time, I was on the telephone talking to someone and the phone suddenly went dead. When the technician came out we learned that at that very moment, a squirrel had bitten into the telephone wire, and broken the connection. Was the conversation that upsetting to the squirrel?
{ I was curious to know if private citizens can also set up squirrel traps. Dovid said that they can Non pest control specialists mostly use the "Have a Heart Traps." These live traps are placed in the attic. They must be baited and checked every day. | I also asked Dovid if private citizens can trap squirrels. Dovid said they can . They can buy "Have a Heart Traps." Go up to their attic, bait the trap and set it up.
Dovid told me that the quickest way to get rid of squirrels would be through poisoning them. However, many states don't allow poisoning of squirrels, and therefore the pest specialists turn to trapping.
