No homeowner likes to hear the dreaded scurrying sound on the ceiling that indicates an animal is loose in the house. Squirrels can cause a lot of damage to your home. In addition to the nesting materials and feces they leave behind, their constant need to chew to keep their teeth in good shape can tear up a lot of wiring and other materials in a short amount of time. They are also capable of carrying pests such as ticks that can infest your home and have a negative effect on both pets and people. While trapping and relocating them may seem more humane than killing them, this practice is just as likely to lead to their death.
Relocation Is Not Humane
The animals around your home are in tune with their environments. You cannot just replace one habitat with another. Squirrels grow up to learn the specific area where they’re born. They know where to find food and water. They figure out which places are safe for sleeping and which areas are more dangerous and should be avoided. Moving them to a foreign location where they don’t know how to survive can severely stress them out and put them in mortal peril.
A new location is probably an unfriendly place for the disoriented pests. The squirrels already in the area are not likely to respond in a neighbourly fashion to the newcomers, befriending them and showing them where to find the best nuts, shelter and water. Animals are territorial, so established residents in the new habitat are more likely to react to the introduction of other squirrels with hostility rather than welcome. Relocation disrupts the social order not only for the new squirrels but also for the ones that already live there.
It is especially traumatic for squirrels to be relocated during the mating season. Babies are typically born at either the beginning or end of the summer, which means that moving adult squirrels during their most active times of the year often results in the breakup of the family and the inevitable death of the baby squirrels. Even if the family is moved together, the experience is sometimes so stressful for the mother that she ends up abandoning her babies in the new environment.
There Are Humane Alternatives
If squirrels have taken up residence in your attic, they do need to be removed from the structure. This is not something you should attempt to do yourself. Technicians who specialize in squirrel removal Whitby have the expertise needed to move them safely outside. They then find all the droppings and nesting materials the rodents left behind and clean them out of your home. If there is damage to your structure, wiring or insulation, the technicians can repair it, replace it or refer you to someone who can provide the necessary services.
Keeping squirrels out of your house in the first place is the best way to live in a pest-free home without disrupting the natural order of things outside. After the furry intruders have been evicted from your house, technicians must find and block the way they got inside. Otherwise, there’s nothing to stop them or other animals from invading your residence. If the hole needs to be filled, the professionals can do so. A heavy-gauge screen can block pests’ entrance while still allowing airflow through vents and other spots left intentionally open.
You can live in harmony with the squirrels in your neighbourhood, watching them as they leap from branch to branch in the trees in your yard. That doesn’t mean you have to share your home with them. Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control can answer any of your questions or address concerns that arise when your furriest neighbours get a little too familiar with your house.
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