Visitors to Montreal’s Lafontaine Park can attest that the city is full of fat, fluffy squirrels jumping from tree to tree and accepting handouts. Over the years, some residents have expressed concern that the squirrel population is too large, and one Montreal homeowner even made the news by killing a number of them on his property. In this blog, Skedaddle explains how to get rid of squirrels in a humane way and why prevention is our number one strategy.
How To Get Rid of Squirrels the Wrong Way
A simple internet search will turn up dozens of DIY approaches to getting rid of squirrels. Unfortunately, none of them work. After 30 years of experience dealing with wildlife, the owners of Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control know that the following home remedies are not effective ways to keep squirrels out of your yard:
- Motion-detector sprinklers and strobe lights
- Fake predators such as owls and snakes or strands of human hair
- Smells such as peppermint, moth balls, or fox urine
- Cayenne pepper or soap sprinkled on birdseed
- High-pitched sounds
Live traps are also ineffective for squirrel control in Montreal. Removing one or even several squirrels from your property only means that other individuals will soon move in to fill the vacant space.
Furthermore, despite its eco-friendly image, live trapping is not a humane method. Scientific studies have shown that trapped and relocated squirrels experience extreme levels of stress and that most do not survive in their new locations.
Why Killing Squirrels Doesn’t Work
Some homeowners become so desperate for squirrel removal in Montreal that they wage an all-out war on the rodents. For example, one man shocked his Notre-Dame-de-Grâce community by hiring an exterminator to set traps on his porch. His neighbours began expressing their outrage on social media when they saw dead squirrels hanging from the side of the house.
The SPCA Montreal objects to traps because of the pain and suffering they inflict on wild animals. However, you don’t need to be an animal lover to understand that traps and poisons don’t impact overall squirrel populations. Ultimately, the number of squirrels in any neighbourhood depends on the amount of food and shelter available to them.
Why Squirrels Are a Problem
Squirrels usually gnaw existing holes to widen them for entry, damaging vents, soffits, and fascia in the process. They then carry nesting materials inside or, worse yet, construct a nest out of home insulation.
Besides damaging your house, a family of squirrels also creates an unsanitary situation. Because they are mammals like us, squirrels carry diseases that humans can catch if exposed to their droppings. Baby squirrels stay in the nest for 3 months, creating a matted mess of feces and urine. By the time they are ready to leave, you may be in need of new insulation, wiring, and even new wooden support structures.
How Squirrels Get Into Homes
Despite their overfed appearance, grey squirrels need space only 3 cm wide to squeeze through. If your home has any small openings to the outside, squirrels will find them and start chewing. This includes the following places:
- Spaces between metal supports in attic fans
- Dryer and heater exhaust ducts
- Rotten wood around window frames
- Soffit returns
Squirrels do not destroy human property out of spite. When a pregnant female squirrel enters a person’s house, she is simply trying to provide a cozy den for its growing family. To her, an opening in the side of the house is just another resource in the environment to use, similar to a hole in a hollow tree.
Skedaddle Knows How To Get Rid of Squirrels the Right Way
Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control’s methods are completely humane. Instead of killing or trapping squirrels, we safely remove and exclude them from a home. If there are babies involved, then we place them gently into a warmed container and wait for their mother to carry each one to an alternate den site. Once all the animals are out of the house, we seal up their entry points so they can’t return.
We then use a vacuum to remove nesting materials, debris, and acorns. We also sanitize and deodorize the area so it is safe for your family again. If the squirrels made a nest out of your insulation, we will install new fibres. We will also assess any damage to the structure of your attic or wiring and make recommendations for repair.
Unlike other wildlife services that simply trap and remove animals, Skedaddle gets to the root cause of your infestation. We are so confident that we know how to get rid of squirrels for good that we offer a lifetime warranty on our squirrel removal services. Don’t be fooled into using DIY methods that don’t work. Contact us today by phone!
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