Is there any way to keep squirrels from getting through the heavy gauge wire I have installed at the gable vents? They just use their teeth to get in anyway. I even put rat bait in the attic but they won't eat it! I used a solid piece of wood to close up the gables in the past......but guess what?
Squirrels can't chew through wire, so they must be getting in under it. Take some sheet metal and screw it on top of the hole.
Finally, we used a Havahart trap. With this trap we easily caught all squirrel intruders (six of them total, one at a time) and dispatched them into the far woods. Using this trap is far easier than trying to keep them out. Fortunately, we have not had new ones infest the attic - but even if we did, it'll be easy to trap and lose them faraways.
For trap bait, we use those fried dough appetizers they serve at the Chinese restaurants.
Don't try to poison them because they might die in some pocket in your walls where you'll have a hell of time locating the awful decaying carcass that'll stink up your home.
Frankly the best bet is to trap them and remove them far away. Don't be surprised that if you don't get them out real soon you are going to have a batch of little tree rats soon. BTW make sure they are all out before you try to block their only exit.
Play some Aerosmith tunes at full blast:
In the attic lies Voices scream Nothing's seen Real's a dream
Leaving the things that are real behind Leaving the things that you love from mind All of the things you learned from fears Nothing is left for the years
Voices scream Nothing's seen Real's a dream
(chorus) Squirrels!Squirrels!Squirrels in the attic! Squirrels!Squirrels!Squirrels in the attic! Squirrels!Squirrels!Squirrels in the attic!
In the attic lies Voices scream Nothing's seen Real's a dream
Leaving the things that are real behind Leaving the things that you love from mind All of the things you learned from fears Nothing is left for the years
Voices scream Nothing's seen Real's a dream
(repeat chorus) (yayayayayayayow!)
Uhhh, don't know about eating them but definitely trap them vs having them die in your walls. Also, they (like mice) can get through the tiniest of spaces, I would bet a 1" gap is big enough.
In the past I have experienced the same frustrations. When I bought my home it was vacant for awhile. They are destructive little SOBs. They made quite a nice nest and a huge mess in the attic. There was at least two litters in there, maybe more. The traps I used were the have-a-heart type. I used the catch and release method. But, that got old after the tenth trapping. I tried all sorts of deterrents like screen, wire mesh, music, and my paint ball gun. The only thing that really worked was red fox urine. In nature, foxes are their natural predators. Application of the urine weekly at and around their entry point was sufficient. It would also help to find their point of entry on to your roof and eliminate their access. In my case, first it was a tree limb. Once that was gone they then used the power wire for access. These are very clever animals and extremely dexterous.
Hope this helps Ed B
I've seen large rats wiggle through 1" chicken wire. I've also known people who go squirrel hunting and eat them.
If you block them in with babies inside they will eat their way back in. Blocking a gable vent can lead to mold in the attic. Moth balls in a sock with string attatched-to retrive later on if needed, and a bucket of Amonia might help, if a after a few days you dont smell amonia add bleach, it makes a poison gas that will drive them out. I had squirrels, bats, flying squirrels , in the attic for awhile.
I did not have squirrels enter my attic, but they have in many other homes around me and have tried in mine. First it is important to seal off any entrances you might have after you drive the squirrels out. They tried to enter my gable vents by first chewing up the wooden slat louvers over them to prevent rain from entering. When I saw that, I entered the attic to check the wire covering the gable vents. Although the wire was intact, I decided that while I was replacing the damaged slats I would also replace the wire with 1/4 inch wire rather than the wire that was on there. The old wire was more like screen door wire except that the spaces were probably more like 1/8 inch.
Since I did not want to replace the slats again, I pondered what would prevent the squirrels from munching on the wood I replaced. What I did was to buy a box of straight pins used for sewing. They can be had for about $1.30 for a 1000. Next I used a Dremel tool and a fine drill bit that would allow the pins to slide in the hole they made, but not pass the head of the pin. I drilled holes about one inch apart on the front edge of the slats and pushed the straight pins into the holes so that the head of the pin was inside the wood slats, and the points were visible through the front edge of the slats.
After doing this to all the slats, I replaced the old wire with my new wire. Some weeks passed before any squirrels attempted to chew their way into the gables again, but when they did they rapidly decided the wood did not suit their taste. After a few attempts on different slats and different gables, they gave up.
Now how to drive out any existing squirrels: I have not used this method because I did not have any in my attic yet, but it sounds like it would work. Seal up all but one exit for the squirrels, and take a large flat pan like a baking pan with edges. Place as many of these as you can find in the attic and pour about 1/4 inch of ammonia into the pan so that it can evaporate and fill the attic with fumes. The ammonia will drive out the squirrels, and when it does, seal up the exit they used.
Squirrels are like any other animal in that they will go to where it is easiest to get food or shelter. If it is too difficult to enter your house, they will try someone else. You need to repair any potential openings and make it unpleasant to make new ones. I hope this helped.
Ken
"Bob" wrote
Taste like chicken!!!
On the contrary Bob, squirrels ate through the wiring that controls the fuel injection on my truck, twice. Through the insulation and then ate through 16 ga. wiring from the control module.
Frank (not the original poster) B.
Hang a couple of bags of moth balls from the gables. they will avoid the area.
I agree with the ammonia, got rid of racoons with it- the perfume will have extra staying power if you make a sort of Molotov cocktail with it- container with a rag wick in the opening.
If the squirrels are eating through the wire that you have over the gables, then it must not be heavy enough. I had squirrels coming in through a powered exhaust vent and easily stopped them with some heavy gauge wire mesh.
You should also realize that trapping them and relocating in winter will likely kill them, depending on the climate, as they won't have an alternate nest to protect them from the cold. Locking them out may be better in that regard, as sometimes there is a nearby old unused nest they can fall back on.
Besides Amonia and mothballs, I had a gable with a hole where aparantly the funes would not reach, so they woul climb in the hole. I shoot mothball inside the whole with a long piece of Pvc, like a blow gun. But those dm critters are smart, the picked up ever mothball and dumped them out the hole. So I took a paper towel wet it and covered it with habanero hot sauce and Cayene pepper, they never tried to get back in that hole, I guess they dont like Hot stuff
Most animals don't like smells. I spray a combination of castor oil and liquid soap down groundhog holes and they move out within a few days.
If you have a big tree you could put up a squirrel house. help them relocate:) this site explains a lot about the furry creatures
They're going to have babies, so you'll need several big trees, and sooner or later you'll run out of trees.
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