The grey squirrel population in North West England has rocketed over the last twenty years to the degee that they have grown to be a major pest dealt with by Squirrels in Attic Pest Control
The grey squirrels which we see in our gardens (Sciurus carolinensis) are not native to Britain, having been brought here here less than two-hundred years ago from America
Like other members of the Sciuridae family, the Grey Squirrel is a scatter-hoarder; it hides food in numerous small caches for later recovery. Some caches are temporary, particularly those made near the source of a sudden glut of food.
Other hoards are more permanent and are not eaten until many weeks later. It has been observed that each squirrel makes several thousand caches each year. Squirrels have very good spatial memory for the locations of these caches, and use far and near landmarks to locate them. Smell is used once the squirrel is within a few centimetres of the cache.
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, rooting bulbs and taking food intended for birds but become major pests when they enter our properties.
It is increasingly common for Trafford Pest Control to be called out to properties where a dray has been placed in a loft or attic space.
Squirrels are true rodents and as such have teeth which never stop growing; the word rodent comes from the Latin word rodere meaning to gnaw or eat away and this they do extremely well.
It is rare to enter a roof void where a dray has been found and find that they have not chewed cables or water pipes, indeed it is estimated that forty percent of fires without an obvious cause may have been started by rodents chewing wiring.
Unfortunately they can also chew through water-pipes, especially with the modern trend towards plastic piping.
As if that is not enough, most household insurance policies exclude damage done by vermin so if a squirrel floods your house by gnawing through a water pipe in the loft you may find yourself without any cover.
Eradicating Squirrels in Loft requires professional help, often because the law regarding squirrels needs to be obeyed. You cannot simply buy a packet of rodent poison from your hardware store and deal with them that way as you would be breaking the law.
Furthermore you cannot catch them and release them some distance away, not only would removing a squirrel from the area of its food stores probably starve it to death, it is also commintting an offence under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 under which it is illegal to release a grey squirrel in Britain.
That pertains also to rescuing and/or releasing injured squirrels.
In most cases trapping is the most realistic option and this must be done in a specified 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 phone us on 0161 930 8814