Tree-rats, eh? When we moved in to our present address, we found they'd built a drey in the loft, nice and snug against a chimney stack corner. We came to the same humane decision as you - live and let live - until one early summer night, just getting ready for bed during a thunderstorm, we noticed water leaking through the bathroom ceiling. Our first thought was that the roof was leaking, but no - squirrels, like any rodent, will chew on anything and the little buggers had severed a pipe from the cold water cistern. After that inconvenience we decided on a zero-tolerance policy. having made a hulabaloo to evict them all, I proofed the inside of the eaves with fine mesh chicken wire stapled to the joists and beams, and bought a couple of motion-activated sonic alarm repellents in case they chewed through the wire (which they did). We didn't want to wire off the outside eaves as well because a clan of sparrows habitually nest up there (and squirrels, incidentally, love birds' eggs and will even eat nestlings). The sonic repellants don't always work too well as I found out later, so I also installed a couple of live cage traps, baited with peanuts. These are checked regularly and any squirrel found therein is taken outside and shot. Whenever I see one in the garden, it's shoot on sight, too. We haven't had a squirrel problem for two years, now. I always know when the local population expands into our garden because the first thing they do is attack the nuts in the bird feeders.It's deja-vu all over again! A while back I had problems with coons in our attic. Now it's a squirrel in the a/c exhaust for my smoking room. I'm trying to get him to move out by blowing the a/c exhaust at full force and making noise, but all he does it look at me through the window a moment and then go back in the vent. The problem is, it's that time of year, and I wonder if there are babies in a nest. I want him or her gone but I don't want to hurt the little ones. Any ideas?![]()
So... my advice is to ensure they don't expand their living space in your home beyond the a/c. Baby squirrels don't emerge from the nest until 10-12 weeks old and then are fully independent and look just like the adults - maybe slightly smaller and perhaps not so savvy in their behaviour. Buy or borrow an air rife or pistol, and shoot them because they are fast breeders and pests, no matter how cute they look. If you trap and release, they'll just come back again - no idea what the law says where you are but here in UK the American variety is officially classified as vermin so any that are trapped must legally be destroyed. If you're worried about collateral damage (neighbours' children, cats etc) then bait a cage trap and execute them in the cage. Seems brutal I know, but they don't understand compromise. Hope that helps.