re: OT- Squirrels in the House (Update - Page 7 after Cheesegrits jibberjabber)

Well, that's all good news. Hope it stays that way. I had bats in my attic once and they are a protected species. Cost me a few $$$$ to get rid of them.

You and your city people problems!



First, I can tell you how to solve the problem of whatever critters are in your attic from personal experience as a child. Of course it is a radical solution and the critters may do it for you all on their own. As a child we moved to a city house that was inexpensive as it had seen better days. Did a lot of work those first few years but was plagued by a real squirrel infestation involving a whole city of squirrels in our ceiling and walls (no attic so to speak as the house was designed with A frame bedroom walls upstairs and no square finished ceilings at say 9 feet and open space above.

Not sure you have ever experienced this but squirrels don't seem to mate during the daytime, nor are they real quiet in the process. No, they wait till about 3am and you are sound asleep to start sexual congress that is probably squirrel rape from the sound of it. Needless to say, multiply this by the number of squirrels in our house at that time and sanity wears pretty thin. If I am ever a juror in a murder trial and insanity defense for squirrel infestation is offered lets just say I may vote to acquit.

Anyway, some squirrel that probably was not getting any decided to chew the electrical wires and electrocuted him so solved at least 1 problem. In addition his fur seems to have caught on fire which of course set the house on fire. I wish I was making this up but when the firemen arrived (firehouse was just a block or two away) they had difficulty getting to the fire as a swarm of squirrels were in their way trying to exit the now burning house. It became lore as firemen that day would retell the story and how they had never seen that many squirrels evacuating a burning home.

The upside was that the house was not a total loss but damaged enough we got to upgrade all the electrical and plumbing which helped greatly on the resale when we sold about 20 years later. The real upside tho was there was enough "smokey" smell (especially when it rained) in the walls and ceilings that not a single squirrel ever returned and the house was quiet for the first time since we moved in.

While I am not advocating burning down your house, if there is a way to have a controlled fire in your attic to smoke it up a bit, it may solve your problem and can be done with litter leaves and wood on your property (essentially free) and no need for critter control folks to hit you up for a grand or two. As for me, even if I had the trap you do, them sumbitches would be fresh meat before they would ever be released back in the wild to make some SWJ Missouri fan happy.

My cousin Willie over in the hills has even set up a fine dining establishment to make some some real money selling it to the rich tourist that travel through his part of the country.



He is trying to franchise to some elderly person at "The Landings" but seems to be meeting some resistance. Guess them Yankee's don't know good cookin and all.

Are you sure its squirrels? You mentioned before you thought it might be something else?

Ok - Enjoy your sleepless nights.

Haven't heard anything in a while, until recently. I got a camera up there tonight, IR cut filter 1080p recording on motion, but not on the network right now. I baited it with a banana nut bread muffin. I hear all hell breaking loose now. Tomorrow I intend to have video when I plug into it. Then I'll know exactly what I'm dealing with, and go from there.

No worries Rig, it's just this.

quote:

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I got those fricking little flying squirrels in my attic one year. Those little pricks are the devil's spawn.

They're nocturnal so they're active and kept us up every night until I finally got all the cracks and crevices patched and killed them all with mousetraps using peanut butter. Had to tie traps to rafters cause if it didn't get them across the neck they'd drag the trap all over the attic in middle of night.

Good luck it can be maddening.

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Dammit Dallas.

Have fun with that Rig! But the little thing is kind of cute.

Because I am being nice today, this is what I read that can help you catch the little guys
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If you decide that you would prefer to catch and remove the flying squirrel on your own, the best method may be to use a live trap. The most popular trap for catching a flying squirrel is a single trap that is 18” x 5” x 5” with a grid that is a half inch. These types of trap have a single automatic door to provide users with a trap that is almost escape proof. The trap should be set in a place where the flying squirrel conducts the most activity. Search your attic for spots where the squirrel may have chewed. Also, look around for squirrel droppings. This will usually be a good indication of where the flying squirrel spends most of its time.

Some trappers recommended pre-baiting the trap. To complete a pre-bait, you will need to wire the automatic trap door so that it remains open when the squirrel glides into it. Place bait inside of the trap for a few days to allow the flying squirrel to become more accustomed and confident of the trap. Most of the time, a pre-bait technique is not needed.

There are many things that you are able to use to bait your live trap. Some of the bait can include a piece of bread with peanut butter spread on it, apples, grains, sunflower seeds, or fruit. A popular technique for baiting a trap is by scattering the sunflower seeds around the area and creating a trail to the inside of the trap.