The grey squirrel population in North West England has boomed over the last 20 years to the degee that they are now a major pest dealt with by Squirrels in Attic Pest Control
The grey squirrels which we see in our parks and gardens (Sciurus carolinensis) are not native to Britain, having been imported here less than 200 years ago.
Like many members of the family Sciuridae, the Grey Squirrel is a scatter-hoarder; it staches food away in lots of small caches for subsequent recovery. Some hoards are temporary, especially those made near the site of a sudden glut of food.
Other stores are more permanent and are not collected until weeks later. It has been estimated that each squirrel makes several thousand of these caches each season. They have very good spatial memory for the locations of these caches, and use far and near landmarks to find them. Smell is used when the squirrel is within close range of the cache.
The nest of the grey squirrel is called a dray (or drey) and it is normal for the female to have two litters per year, with two to four babies each.
They can be minor problems, digging bulbs and taking food intended for birds but can become major pests when they come into our properties.
It is increasingly common for Trafford Pest Control to be called out to homes where a dray has been made in a loft or attic space.
Squirrels are true rodents and as such have teeth which never stop growing; the word rodent derives from the Latin word rodere which means to gnaw or eat away and this they do very successfully.
It is rare to enter a loft space where a dray has been found and find that they have not chewed electrical wiring, indeed it is estimated that forty percent of fires without an obvious cause may be started by rodents damaging wiring.
Unfortunately they can also chew through water-pipes, especially with the recent movement towards plastic push-fit piping.
As if that is not enough, most household insurance policies specifically exclude damage by vermin so if a squirrel floods your home by going through a pipe in the attic you may find yourself without any cover.
Removing Squirrels in Loft needs a professional, not least in as much as the law regarding squirrels needs to be obeyed. You cannot simply obtain a packet of rat poison from your hardware store and deal with them that way as you would be committing an offence.
Furthermore you cannot catch them and relocate them some distance away, quite apart from the fact that removing a squirrel from the area of its food stores probably starve it to death, it is also breaking the law 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 the vast majority of cases trapping is the option of choice and this must be done in a specified manner with routine, regular inspections of the traps.
Trapped squirrels are then despatched humanely.
If you have a problem with squirrels in Lancashire, Cheshire or Manchester telephone us on 01257 230637