Squirrels in the Attic in Rochdale, Oldham and Bury.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The squirrel population in North West England has boomed over the last 20 years to the degee that they have now become a major household pest dealt with by Squirrels in Attic Pest Control

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The grey squirrels which we see in our parks and gardens (Sciurus carolinensis) are not native to Britain, having been brought here here less than 200 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like the other members of the Sciuridae family, the Grey Squirrel is a scatter-hoarder; it hides food in lots of small caches for later recovery. Some hoards are temporary, particularly those made near the site of a sudden surfeit of food.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other hoards are more permanent and are not eaten until weeks later. It has been estimated that each squirrel makes several thousand caches each season. The squirrels have very good spatial memory for the positions of these caches, and use far and near landmarks to find them. Smell is used once the squirrel is within close range of the hoard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The nest of the squirrel is called a dray (or drey) and it is standard for the female to have two litters per year, with two to four babies each.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They can be minor problems, uprooting bulbs and eating food intended for birds but can be major pests when they enter our homes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is increasingly common for Trafford Pest Control to call out to homes where a dray has been built in a loft or attic space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squirrels are true rodents and as such have continually growing teeth; the very word rodent coming from the Latin word rodere which means to gnaw or eat away and this they do extremely well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is rare to visit an attic space where a dray has been made and find that they have not chewed cables, indeed it is estimated that forty percent of fires without an obviously attributable cause may have been started by rodents chewing wiring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately they can also chew through water-pipes, especially with the recent movement towards plastic piping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As if that was not enough, many household insurance policies specifically exclude damage by vermin so if a squirrel floods your house by chewing through a pipe in the loft you may find yourself without insurance cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Removing Squirrels in Loft needs professional help, not least in as much as the law regarding squirrels is complicated and ever changing. You cannot simply get a packet of poison from your local hardware and deal with them that way as you would be committing a criminal offence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Furthermore you cannot catch them and relocate them some distance from your home, not only would removing a squirrel from the area of its food hoards probably condemn it to death by starvation, it is also a criminal offence under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 which makes it illegal to release a grey squirrel in Britain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That pertains also to rescuing and/or releasing injured squirrels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the majority of cases trapping is the option of choice and this must be done in a specific manner with routine, timed inspections of the traps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trapped squirrels should be then humanely dispatched.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you have a squirrel infestation in Lancashire, Cheshire or Manchester contact us on 0161 930 8814

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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