Squirrel Trapper and Removal Services in Montgomery County and Greater Washington D.C.
District Wildlife Solutions provides squirrel trapping and removal. We know everything about the squirrels of Maryland and specialize in the safe, humane, and effective removal and prevention of squirrels from home and property. Squirrels require special trapping considerations, and we have the correct traps, tools, and experience to properly address the unique characteristics of squirrels. Call us now at 202-997-3410 for Washington DC area squirrel removal.
How to Get Squirrels Out of Your Attic
You may think that squirrels are adorable or you may think that they are nothing more than rats with fluffy tails. No matter the case, one thing is certain – when in your attic, squirrels are a pest. These intelligent rodents love the safety and comfort of your attic. If they get the chance, they will nest and raise their young there year after year. Having squirrels in the attic is unsafe for you and your house mainly because of sanitary issues, but they also increase the risk of fire hazards. Squirrels create tiny tunnels in your attic, stamp down insulation, and chew on electrical wires and wood beams. Visit squirrelattic.com to learn more about squirrels in the attic. On top of that, if not removed, they eventually fill your attic with nesting material and excrements. So, what is a humane way to get rid of these unwanted rent-free tenants? First of all – and I can’t stress this enough – squirrel repellents aren’t the way. They simply do not work. And no, neither do different devices that are marketed for this purpose. Poison almost never works. There’s two reasons or that. One, registered squirrel rodenticides don’t exist. Two, squirrels don’t eat in the attic. The most effective way to deal with the squirrels in your attic is by removing them through one-way exclusion doors or through trapping.
By following the steps below, you can ensure humane and permanent squirrel removal from your attic:
• Inspection – First of all, you need to locate the point of entry. Squirrels may have more than one way to get into your attic, so don’t just check your roof vents. Yes, inspect the roof and the vents, but be sure to check the entire house exterior so that you don’t miss any access point and risk working for nothing. It’s also important to check the interior of the attic for possible damages.
• Removal – The best way to go about removing the squirrels from your attic is by mounting a repeater trap or a one-way exclusion door on the primary squirrel hole. If the squirrel has babies, which is more than likely, remove the babies from the nest by hand or wait until they’re old enough to get themselves trapped in the exclusion door or repeater trap. Baby squirrels are born in late winter or late summer, and it doesn’t take them more than six weeks to reach adult size.
• Repair – It is extremely important to repair the squirrel entry holes, and to do it professionally. Otherwise, you’ll have to repeat the first two steps in a couple of months. All points of access need to be completely shut.
• Clean – It’s always recommended that you decontaminate the attic once the squirrels are removed. You also want to repair any possible damages, and clean the animal feces and nesting debris.
As you can see, getting squirrels out of your attic is no walk in the park. It can be done humanely and efficiently, but patience and thoroughness are paramount. There’s no quick fix when it comes to squirrel removal. If you feel up to the challenge, follow the steps above and you’ll be fine, but if you’re not totally committed it’s best to hire an experienced professional.
Visit our Washington DC wildlife removal home page to learn more about us.
How To Remove Squirrels From Inside a Wall?
Squirrels are a big problem and no homeowner can ignore these pesky pests. They are very capable of causing tremendous amounts of damage to your property. If squirrels find their way into the walls of your home, they can be even more annoying with the scratching and gnawing sounds they make. They will noisily scurry around with their tiny feet, these are not quiet animals, plus they leave a lot of droppings too. If you have squirrels inside your walls, here’s how to get them out.
How to get rid of squirrels from inside a wall
Step 1 – Find the entry points
Squirrels are very good at chewing, and they can chew their way through the wood. If squirrels are inside your wall, you have to find out how they got in to be able to get them out. They may have chewed through your walls to get inside. Look for small holes in the walls, these rodents are small and can squeeze through holes. If you can find the entry and exit points, then you are on your way to getting the problem solved.
Step 2 – Seal the entry holes
If there is more than one hole, then you have to proceed by sealing off all the holes except one. It is important that you at least leave one hole open to enable the squirrel to crawl out of the walls. To seal the holes, you can either use a wire mesh, wood or steel and find some durable material from your local hardware store.
Step 3 – Trap and exclude the squirrel
You can install a one-way door on the single hole you left unsealed, this will enable the squirrel to leave safely and not get back inside the wall. Alternatively, you can choose to trap the squirrel and relocate the animals.
This may be a better option, because simply excluding the animal may not be ideal for the long term, especially if it’s a mother squirrel with a nest of babies inside the wall. If you exclude a squirrel with a one-way door, it will continue to try to re-enter your house, but relocating it will prevent this problem. Trapping and relocating a squirrel can be complex, call District Wildlife Solutions for assistance with squirrels in your walls.
Step 4 – Listen for more squirrels
To make sure that all the squirrels are gone and no one is left behind inside the wall, temporarily seal the holes and listen for a few days for squirrel noises in the wall. Listen for scratching, gnawing, scurrying sounds coming from inside the wall. If you hear nothing after a few days, then you have successfully evicted all the squirrels, and can proceed to the next step.
Step 5 – Clean droppings and remove debris
The next step is to clean squirrel droppings and remove debris from the affected area. You may not be able to clean inside the walls, but you can clean any droppings around the entrance points or outside the walls. Remember that squirrels can carry diseases, and you need to protect yourself from potential infection. Wearing protective clothing while doing the cleaning, and disinfecting the affected area afterward.
Step 6 – Seal the last entry holes
Now, you can permanently seal off the last entry holes, and completely secure your walls from squirrels and other animals that can get inside.
Squirrels in your walls? Call Us!
Our wildlife removal experts have over 20 years of experience in dealing with squirrels, we have at our disposal all the tools and techniques for removing and keeping squirrels away from your home. Our high-quality animal removal services are always thorough and affordable, call us today, let’s discuss the solutions to your animal problems.
How to Prevent Squirrels From Entering Your Garden
The squirrel is one of those animals that often leave us in two minds about a potential infestation. On the one hand, squirrels are adorable and so difficult to vilify as you would, say, a snake. On the other hand, squirrels, as much as any other wild intruder, can be destructive, and expose you and yours to a host of bacteria (not to mention threaten your garden and your bird feeders!).
So it might be best to take preventive measures, in order to keep squirrels away from your garden.
- Relocate their food.
As we all well know, squirrels like to feast on nuts and acorns, fallen from the trees in your garden. So it stands to reason that one of the first preventive measures you would take would be to remove those attractive nuts and acorns from your yard.
Don’t worry, we’re not recommending that you leave the poor squirrels to starve, simply that you relocate these nuts to a safe area. Bring them to a place that’s close enough to attract the squirrels that would’ve normally come to your yard, but far enough from your yard to not pose a problem.
- Use a natural repellent.
Squirrels tend to be very sensitive about the smell, so a good idea might be layering your yard with unpleasant scents (at least for them). A popular DIY squirrel repellent is scattering coffee grounds around your yard since the strong scent is believed to repel the rodents. This is a popular method, particularly since you can use used coffee grounds that you wouldn’t have done anything with, anyway.
Alternatively, squirrels are also really sensitive about the smell of deer. You can search local specialty stores for deer urine, to scatter around your property, and repel those avid nut-seekers.
- Try a natural predator.
Since squirrels are tiny and relatively helpless, it’s not difficult to find an animal that’s larger, and more threatening than they are. Some homeowners have had success in keeping squirrels away by installing a perch for owls or raptors to sit on. Since these large birds are natural squirrel predators, their presence on your property will naturally repel squirrels.
However, keep in mind that they may also repel other small mammals on your property, or deter small birds from visiting your bird feeder.
- Get a dog.
Speaking of a natural predator, what better option is there than getting your canine to chase after them? In truth, he won’t even have to do that much chasing, because once a squirrel gets a whiff of a dog on your property, it’s likely to abandon it and look for a safer hunting ground.
While dogs can be really useful for keeping squirrels off your property, keep in mind that they are not effective repellents for other, larger nuisance wildlife (like raccoons, snakes, and so on).
- Cover up your ground.
Squirrels are sensitive creatures and don’t really like the feel of gravel or mulch under their delicate feet. So if you’re worried about squirrels digging up or disturbing your garden or yard, you can try covering the ground with something that squirrels dislike. If they don’t want to step on it, they’re unlikely to bother you.
- Put up repellent plants.
This once again appeals (or rather, doesn’t) to the squirrel’s delicate olfactory senses. Since squirrels dislike the smell of marigolds, mint, mustard, or other strongly scented plants, you can try putting a few of these in your garden, to keep squirrels away.
Remember, if you want extra certainty, we recommend calling a wildlife removal professional to inspect your property and advise you on the best squirrel prevention!