Squirrels will easily enter your home because they don't need big cracks or holes to crawl through. Squirrels, just like all rodents, love human homes, especially attics, because these locations are warm, dry and safe. This is especially true when the squirrel in question is pregnant – an attic is just the right spot to make a nest and care for babies. If a squirrel enters your attic and makes a nest, she will not leave in any circumstances or under any threat until her babies are capable to care for themselves.



The best method to deal with a squirrel threat is to act in prevention. You need to consider what the easiest ways are for a squirrel to enter your home, and when you understand this, you will be able to keep them away because you will create obstacles on the possible entryways.

Squirrels are skillful climbers and they just love to enter your home through the roof. This is the reason why you should cut off all tree branches that come close to the roof, walls or attic window. Don't leave an attic window open for longer periods of time. All openings are attractive for squirrels, so it is mandatory to search for all possible cracks and openings they could use as an entrance point.

Once you have cut off this opportunity for squirrels to enter your attic, you also should block all entrances near the roof. Since squirrels can chew their way through wood, all weak spots should be sealed with pieces of metal plates – as this is something they can't chew through. Of course, there is no point to plate the entire house with metal, so wherever there is an exposed wood surface which a squirrel might use as an entrance point because it might chew through it, you should spray it with some natural repellent that squirrels don't like. Don't use ammonia or mothballs, but you can use garlic paste or garlic juice and spray it occasionally over the roof vents, dryer vents, gable vents, etc. This will not stick for long, but it might discourage squirrels from insisting on entering in your home.

Of course, if you are not sure just how successfully you can do it yourself, there is always another safe solution: you can contact a professional wildlife rehabilitator to search for advice and professional assistance when dealing with this pest infestation.

Go back to the Squirrels in the Attic home page.