About Nuisance Squirrels
- Teeth – It might be a weird fact, but squirrels have 22 teeth. Their set of teeth have incisors that have a thick layer of enamel that makes their teeth sharp. With these incisors, they shred and cut down their food, which makes it easy for their molars to grind up the food.
- Eyes – Squirrels’ eyes are very interesting because they’re positioned in such a way that they can see the front, sides, and above them without having to move their head.
- Ears – The squirrel’s ears possess an acute sense of sound, but this doesn’t mean this is their main source of information gathering. In fact, it is one of the least used in this regard.
- Smell – In terms of their sense of smell, squirrel noses are highly developed, and they use their sense of smell to find food. They can even smell nearby nuts, and they consume them but don’t exactly hoard them. They also use their sense of smell to identify and mark their territory.
- Tails – Squirrels use their bushy tails for shade, as well as a means of protection from the elements. They also use their tails to communicate with other squirrels. Their tails also aid them in jumping by acting as parachutes.
Problems Caused by Squirrels
Unlike other animals, a squirrel’s teeth constantly grow, meaning they are always undergoing the process of teething. Like many animals, teething means they bite and munch on everything they can find. Since squirrels have incredibly strong teeth, you’ll find that they can tear through your household as they undergo their teething, and their teething lasts forever.
Building Winter Nests
A lot of damage squirrels can do to your home happens when they build their winter nests. When they do, they grab, smash, and munch on whatever they can in order to build their nests. Given their hard teeth and nimble limbs, it’s rather easy for them to break through paper products, fabrics, and even tougher structures. They also have a chance to breakthrough insulation, which could potentially lead to more pests entering your home. If left unchecked, the many scratches and bites all-around a building may potentially lead to the decline of the structural integrity of a house or building, making it susceptible to natural or man-made disasters.
Landscapes and Plants
The damage squirrels do isn’t only limited to man-made structures, however; squirrels are also known to damage landscapes and plants. They have a habit of digging around lawns for nuts and chewing on trees and bushes because of their insatiable hunger. If you’re growing food in your area, or just growing anything at all, it’s best to anticipate that the squirrels will consume anything in your yard.
Seal Up Holes
In order to prevent squirrels from infesting your home, you first have to conduct an inspection of your home.
- Begin by checking your roofs and vents of your home to see how the vermin are getting inside.
- Once you spot the holes, the best way to stop them from reentering is to have these holes sealed up by a professional.
Keep Things Tidy
Another way to prevent squirrels from entering your home is to remove the things that attract them. Having lots of food and debris out in the open is very inviting to squirrels, so keep a clean yard if you want to prevent any visits from them.
To properly clean up an area, make sure to:
- Rake up any fallen nuts, berries, fruits, and bird seeds
- Clean up leftover food and/or pet food
- Empty your trash bins often
- Replace birdseed with the type that squirrels don’t like, such as safflower seeds. Although they might be a bit more expensive than normal bird seed, it’s certain to keep away unwanted visitors.
Use Hot Sauce
If you’re already suffering from squirrels munching on your goods and infrastructures, one strange but working method is to spray hot sauce on the areas they like to chew on, this causes the squirrels to become irritated. Once the squirrels experience this irritation, it is likely that they will never come back. Spray these on plants that are inedible, so you don’t accidentally harvest spicy crops.
It is worth noting that buying poisons for squirrels does NOT work. There is the Ditrac Ground Squirrel Bait, but this is only made to control the population of the California Ground Squirrel. Other than that, there’s no poison for squirrels out there.
The best and most efficient way to remove squirrels is by trapping them. Here are the steps:
- Find one of the holes that the squirrels have made.
- Seal up all the holes save one. Leaving one hole open will cause the squirrel to only enter through that one specific hole, and that hole will contain your trap.
- The trap should have bait as well, and the bait could range from bits of apple to various nuts, and even peanut butter.
- Once the trapped squirrel is in your possession, it is recommended to take the squirrel 4-5 miles away from your area, so they don’t return.
You may opt to trap the squirrel yourself, or choose the more recommended option and hire a professional trapper. Hiring a professional has a higher chance of yielding results and also requires less effort on your part.
Important: The use of mothballs is not a recommended method of removing squirrels, the reason for this is that this is not only poisonous to squirrels, but also to other pets and humans.