Somethings chewing in the walls???

On occasion, when the house is quite, I've heard what sounds like chewing in the walls and ceiling. Lots of squirrels around the yard, Also lots of mice. Stupid cat plays with them!! Tried to tell her to kill the mice and take them outside but she wont listen. I set a have a hart trap in the attic but I think I have to adjust the latch to be more sensitive as the bait was taken (an apple with peanut butter on it) right out of the trap without setting it. I don't know how squirrels would get in? I see some of the screens in my soffit vents have been chewed up so I but duct tape over them to see if the squirrels would chew through the tape to get out. then I would know they were going through their. 3 soffets are still tapped shut. I just though, I have to look at the other soffets where the screens were intact. Maybe they didn't like the tape so the chewed through the screen in another soffet to get out/in.

I'm guessing its squirrels because a mouse couldn't remove the whole apple like they did. would you be able to hear the chewing of a mouse through the walls? Again I'm guessing not and it must be a squirrel doing the chewing... If I used poison to kill them would they rot and cause a smell problem??? Or better to keep working on trapping them and removing them.

Part of the problem is the difficulty of getting into the main attic. there is no access other than squeezing between rafters and I've gotten to old and fat for that.

thanks for any advice...

Sr

Reply to
Steve
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Prolly cuz ya both stink, Joe. ;-)

Reply to
G Henslee

I'd agree it's most likely to be squirrels. Pest control folks will generally throw a handful of bait into tour attic which will be eaten by the critters. The bait has the effect of driving the animals outside in a search for water, where they will expire. No carcasses, no smells.

You should then have someone properly fix the entry points. Consider also whether you should trim trees adjacent to your house, since that's from where the animals frequently gain access to your home.

When we had our issues with squirrels, we discovered some extensive damage to wiring in our attic after their demise. Pure evil. :-)

Reply to
cutie-p

It sounds like squirrels to me. I had them (they had started chewing through the wall) and I called out the pro. They knew what to do and what to look for based on the time of the year. They put a trap on the roof and got two of them. He said they were likely setting up a nest, but it was still early so no family yet.

No problems since then a few years ago. Still plenty of squirrels around, but non inside.

Mice in the area, but non inside. Chipmunks did get in the basement, but the neighborhood cats have greatly reduced the mice and chipmunks in the area. Now we have a nightly visit by a skunk. So far we have a mutual respect for each other.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

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