Squirrels in the Attic in Walkden, Worsley and Eccles.
The grey squirrel population in Manchester, Lancashire & Cheshire has grown over the last twenty years to the degee that they have grown to be a major household pest dealt with by Squirrels in Attic Pest Control
The grey squirrels which we see in our gardens and parks (Sciurus carolinensis) are not native to Britain, having been brought here here less than two-hundred years ago.
Like many members of the Sciuridae family, the Grey Squirrel is a scatter-hoarder; it staches food away in numerous small caches for subsequent recovery. Some hoards are temporary, especially those made near the site of a sudden surfeit of food.
Other hoards are more permanent and are not used until many weeks later. It has been estimated that each squirrel makes several thousand of these caches each year. They 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 pests in the garden, uprooting bulbs and taking food intended for birds but become major pests when they enter our houses.
It is increasingly common for Trafford Pest Control to attend properties where a nest has been built in a loft or attic space.
Squirrels are true rodents and as such have teeth which never stop growing; the very word rodent comes from the Latin word rodere meaning to gnaw or eat away and this they do very successfully.
It is rare to enter a roof space where a dray has been constructed and find that they have not chewed wires or water pipes, indeed it is estimated that up to 40 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 modern movement towards plastic push-fit piping.
As if that is not enough, most household insurance policies specifically exclude damage caused by rodents so if a squirrel floods your house by chewing through a water pipe in the attic you may find yourself without cover.
Removing Squirrels in Loft needs a professional, not least in as much as the law regarding squirrels is complicated and ever changing. You cannot simply get a packet of rat poison from your hardware store and deal with them that way as you would be breaking the law.
Furthermore you cannot trap them and move them some distance away, not only would removing a squirrel from the area of its food stores probably condemn it to death by starvation, it is also commintting an 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 most cases trapping is the the only option and this must be done in a specific manner with routine, regular inspections of the traps.
Trapped squirrels should be then despatched humanely.
If you have a problem with squirrels in Lancashire, Cheshire or Manchester call us on 0161 930 8814
This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 31st, 2011 at 6:16 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.