I was sitting in my recliner chair reading "Mistakes were Made" the other day and I hear a noise at the door. Sounded like the mailman. But I do not see a mailman in the window. I get up and look out... Damn squirrel! Apparently it was climbing on the door. So can I not leave my inner wood door open anymore? Can a squirrel climb through the mail slot opening? I like to open the inner door to let light in through the outer glass door..
I am really hating squirrels more and more.
Depends on the species of squirrel. My guess is that an adult (American) red squirrel could easily slip in, a grey squirrel maybe, fox squirrel less likely, without some immediate motivation (such as evading a predator outside, or a large, obvious pile of peanuts on the inside).
Red squirrels make storage middens, and they've been known to make them in houses and outbuildings. I've heard stories about people going to open up their cottages Up North and finding heaps of cones stashed by red squirrels inside. And I once noticed one going in a small hole at the top of the neighbor's foundation, which apparently was going up through the wall to stash food in the attic. These little guys are tough--I've seen them stand up to and even run off much larger fox squirrels.
I watched a 'love-sick' male fox squirrel follow the female of his desires around the other day, but she was having none of it and rightly so; despite all his frantic tail-waving and posturing, he was inferior in size to her.
Rented a house that had clothes dryer in the basement and vent at ground level. A rabbit got in and died. Talk about a mess with smell and maggots. Could not use the dryer afterwards.
It would depend on the dimensions of the mail slot and the squirrel in question. My local adult grey squirrels are well-fed and rather rotund so I'd imagine that it would take a rather large slot to accommodate one of those. On the other hand, one of the very young ones might make it through a 1-1/2" slot.
Just grey squirrels around here and they are fairly round. Though there are some young and up and comers around. I don't think it would come in the slot, it's about 2 inches but has a guard/tray on back that is usually closed. The squirrels around here don't seem very afraid of people. One keeps hanging out in my backyard. Caught it snoozing on the on the top of the deck railing the other day. Had to chase it off.
Maybe you could modify this Redneck mouse trap for squirrels:
Here it is in action:
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