FLYING SQUIRRELS
“Are There Flying Squirrels In My Attic?”
Need help now? Call 508-946-0060 immediately. Remember, Gary’s Wildlife has an exceptional success rate removing flying squirrels. Flying squirrels cause serious problems that you shouldn’t take chances with.
You’ll probably hear the noises first.
Flying squirrels are nocturnal (which means they are awake at night), so you are likely to hear various sounds when you’re trying to sleep. In your attic or between your walls are the likely hot spots.
Things get particularly noisy when they…
- Come and go to feed
- Decide to move their storage of acorns
- Move around to use the bathroom (yes, in your attic)
- Gnaw on the woodwork of your attic
- Scamper around and play with each other
- Invite their friends over from down the street (seriously!)
These noises are magnified because flying squirrels are highly social creatures. They tend to live together in large colonies. In the winter months, as many as 15-30 flying squirrels will inhabit a single attic space.
What Can I Do To Get Them Out? I’m Trying To Sleep!
Most people try setting mouse traps because the sounds are similar to the sounds mice would make. However, with flying squirrels, mouse traps won’t do you any good.
They’ll either outsmart the trap, grab the bait, or they’ll trigger it and simply wriggle free no worse for the wear.
Cage traps won’t give you much more success either. Sure, you’ll catch a few one at a time. Maybe you’ll even get as many as 10 or 20. However, once you’ve gotten those few out (and if you haven’t already lost your mind with frustration by this time), more flying squirrels are very likely to show up and settle in.
Oh, And There’s A Bigger Problem Than Just The Noises At Night…
During the time that you’re trying to catch and trap the flying squirrels, they are all but destroying your attic. Urine stains, droppings, damaged insulation, chewed wires… with that many critters, it can get to be quite a mess very quickly.
They make latrines up there and use them relentlessly. These tea colored stains coming from the soffit boxes, or even on the sheetrock, is often mistaken for water damage, but let me tell you, that ain’t water.
There’s no doubt about it, if you’ve got flying squirrels in your attic, then you’ve got to get them out. This is not something that should be put off or ignored.
There Is Good News
The good news is that you CAN get them out. For good.
This is done with what is known as a complete exclusion. It is a process similar to what we would do if you had a bat infestation in your home. In fact, it is quite common for people to have both bats AND flying squirrels in their attic.
Since flying squirrels only need an opening about the size of a quarter to get in, we’ll scour the entire building from end to end looking for any and all openings that might give them access. Openings can be anywhere. Sometimes they’re visible, and sometimes they’re not. Gutters are a common hiding place for small openings such as these.
Then we’ll seal the openings (using professional-grade materials) to ensure that no more squirrels can get in.
Once that process is complete, we’ll begin the process of removing the critters who might still be inside. This is done with a few well-placed one-way doors or tubes. They can leave, but they can’t get back in. Mwahahaha.
In just a few short days (depending on the weather), things will start to get very quiet at bedtime. No more noises from the attic or walls.
With an exclusion process like the one just described, it doesn’t matter if you have 1 or 30 flying squirrels in your attic. You can consider them gone.
So the good news is that I can confidently promise you quieter nights, squirrel-free. Our 100% success rate and reputation is riding on it.
What About The Mess The Flying Squirrels Left Behind?
If the squirrels have been there a while, they may have left some significant damage behind. So once the squirrels are out for good, it’s time to send in the attic cleanup crew.
They will safely remove the damaged insulation and flying squirrel fecal matter. They will install new insulation, making sure everything is up to code. And they’ll restore your attic to a point where it’s like you never had any flying squirrels in your attic at all.
Take Back Your Home…
It goes without saying that if you have a flying squirrel trying to live in or around your home, something has to be done before the situation gets any worse.
Gary’s Wildlife has multiple resources to make sure that the flying squirrels are gone and that they won’t come back.
Give us a call at 508-946-0060 and we will discuss your personal situation in detail.
Serving Eastern Massachusetts
“Thanks so much for the help with the skunk problem, your exclusion worked perfectly and the odor is gone. You guys are great.”
from Duxbury