Squirrels?

ridonkulous

Anybody ever have squirrels invade their roof? For weeks, my husband and I thought there was a crazed cat running around up there, but today I've become convinced the sound is actually coming from inside.

Scratching, running, and such, mostly at ~10pm and dawn.

What did you do? (We rent, so hopefully our landlord will just deal with it for us!)

brynyc111

We had them two years ago and they are VERY destructive. I know this will sound funny but they removed quite a bit of our insulation from our ceiling before we took them seriously! You need to find the hole they are coming in and patch it up NOW. Squirrels are very territorial...they will come back often!

pitu

Yup, I had that too.
You have to wait til they are out (make sure there's not a nest with babies or something) and seal the point of entry. Ours was just under the gutter - a hole smaller than a brick.
Totally a landlord thing.

ridonkulous

Thanks for confirming I'm not nuts! It all started with the warm weather and funnily enough they quieted down last night with the rain. Weird.

I txt messaged my landlord last night and he seemed really keen on figuring it out (and not all surprised)

Such loud little animals!

nomad

Slightly off topic, but there is a hilarious tale of a cop chasing down a squirrel on This American Life. It's 14 mins long but very very funny...

http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=115

arlette

I had squirrels also and they were in my bay window area as well as the roof. They are annoying and destructive. I stuffed moth balls in the areas they lodged in, they dont like them and then sealed the areas. No problems since.But make sure they are out before you seal them cause when they die, the smell is the worse ever.

ridonkulous

Yeah, they're turning into persistent little monsters. At first we thought they were coming in through the basement, but...

They're so loud I can practically hear them chewing on the walls!

I always liked squirrels but now I'm starting to rethink :shock:

sweet tea

nomad wrote: Slightly off topic, but there is a hilarious tale of a cop chasing down a squirrel on This American Life. It's 14 mins long but very very funny...

http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=115

squirrel cop is well worth your time. listen to it when you think you've screwed up and had a bad day. squirrel cop puts it all into perspective.

daver

sweet tea wrote: squirrel cop is well worth your time. listen to it when you think you've screwed up and had a bad day. squirrel cop puts it all into perspective.

Totally. It starts at 20 minutes in.

lilbangladesh

This actually happened to a co-worker of mine who is also a landlord. He tried calling an exterminator, but since squirrels are apparently protected animals, they won't touch them. The only thing you can do is seal off the hole where they are getting in and put chicken-wire around the roof to keep them off the house.

Another thing I would suggest is having nearby trees trimmed so the branches aren't so close to the house. You can't get rid of the squirrels, but you can actively discourage them from eating your house.

ridonkulous

Excellent idea about the chicken wire.

From what I understand, it's illegal to hurt the squirrels. You can, however, trap them humanely and set them free in a part far from your house.

No luck on trees. They're walking over from adjacent houses!

anonymous

Subject: Squirrels

Squirrels... brings back memories. I hate the little critters, even though they are one of God's creatures as well. We had squirrels in our victorian and my husband had the brilliant idea to seal the hole the squirrel was using close to the gutters - this happened on a Friday. Little did we know that it was a mama squirrel, who had left behind 8 baby squirrels still in our house... and mama was intent on getting to her babies. What happened next was one of those priceless moments you couldn't even dream about. On Saturday morning with 3 visitors to our house, my husband opened the back door and in shoots Mama Squirrel, who begins bouncing around the house because I'm screaming, my sister-in-law is screaming, our little one is screaming and our 3 guests are confused and running around. While the squirrel is bouncing around in our home seeking an entrance to her babies, we all run out of the house to wait for my hero, my husband. My husband dons protective clothing (welding mask, snow gloves, rain boots and a coverall that he uses when fiddling with the car) and finally a spatula. If you don't yet know it, please let me tell you that squirrels move at the speed of light. A few broken dishes, tumbled books and furniture later, Mama S decided to run out the door (all of which were left wide open). We then thought it may have been a parent squirrel. We bought a squirrel trap, baited it and caught Mama. We then reopened the hole and placed the trap directly by the hole baited with fresh corn on the cob, slathered with peanut butter. The hungry babies came piling in, all 9 of them. We live in Brooklyn but we drove all the way to a park in Queens and released them in a clump of trees there. After the hole was resealed (so we thought) there appeared another squirrel - possibly a cousin or something - who used the actual gutter to get to another hole into our home. After we thought the squirrel had left for the day, we placed chicken wire over the gutters around the house - unfortunately one was left behind that apparently starved to death and the smell in our house was unbearable for quite a few weeks.

brynyc111

Just letting you know that trapping and transporting squirrels is highly illegal and comes with a hefty fine. Along that line so is killing them... Just an FYI I am by no means preaching here...I hate squirrels...they have destroyed my garden every year no matter what we do!

ridonkulous

Since I'm bored at work right now, I'm trying to look into NY law on this subject. But there's a document at the Dept of Environmental Conservation that suggests otherwise:
http://home2.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/cd/cd-nuisance-wildlife.pdf

ridonkulous

Subject: It's legal

From a handy squirrel fact sheet published by Cornell U:
Laws and RegulationsGray and fox squirrels are considered small game species in New York State and can be taken during the established hunting season for these species. Red and flying squirrels are considered unprotected species and can be taken at any time witha valid hunting license. New York State Environmental Conservation Law (section 11-0523) specifies that whenever gray, fox, red, or flying squirrels are injuring property on occupied farms or lands or dwellings, they may be taken at any time in any manner by the owners or occupants thereof or by a person authorized in writing by such owner or occupant.

alex

if you can catch those squirrels i will buy them from you

ridonkulous

Now that might be illegal

brynyc111

I stand corrected on the killing of the beasts but I still believe you can't transport or relocate any wild life in the state of NY. Any body have facts on that topic?

ridonkulous

Supposedly if you call the Dept of Environmental Conservation, they keep a list of people with the professional know-how to remove/relocated squirrels. They'd be the authorities to ask about doing it yourself. Or you could just Google.

lilbangladesh

Subject: Re: Squirrels

Sandwin wrote: Squirrels... brings back memories. I hate the little critters, even though they are one of God's creatures as well. We had squirrels in our victorian and my husband had the brilliant idea to seal the hole the squirrel was using close to the gutters - this happened on a Friday. Little did we know that it was a mama squirrel, who had left behind 8 baby squirrels still in our house... and mama was intent on getting to her babies. What happened next was one of those priceless moments you couldn't even dream about. On Saturday morning with 3 visitors to our house, my husband opened the back door and in shoots Mama Squirrel, who begins bouncing around the house because I'm screaming, my sister-in-law is screaming, our little one is screaming and our 3 guests are confused and running around. While the squirrel is bouncing around in our home seeking an entrance to her babies, we all run out of the house to wait for my hero, my husband. My husband dons protective clothing (welding mask, snow gloves, rain boots and a coverall that he uses when fiddling with the car) and finally a spatula. If you don't yet know it, please let me tell you that squirrels move at the speed of light. A few broken dishes, tumbled books and furniture later, Mama S decided to run out the door (all of which were left wide open). We then thought it may have been a parent squirrel. We bought a squirrel trap, baited it and caught Mama. We then reopened the hole and placed the trap directly by the hole baited with fresh corn on the cob, slathered with peanut butter. The hungry babies came piling in, all 9 of them. We live in Brooklyn but we drove all the way to a park in Queens and released them in a clump of trees there. After the hole was resealed (so we thought) there appeared another squirrel - possibly a cousin or something - who used the actual gutter to get to another hole into our home. After we thought the squirrel had left for the day, we placed chicken wire over the gutters around the house - unfortunately one was left behind that apparently starved to death and the smell in our house was unbearable for quite a few weeks.

Oh, my lord. That reminded me of when I was living in a ground floor condo in Wyoming, though our wildlife issue was gophers. One gopher ate a hole through our screen door and then developed a lunchtime ritual of running into the house, running a wide circle around the living room three times and running right back out. Other than the screen, there was no other damage done. It became our lunchtime entertainment for me and my roomies.