Squirrels in the Attic in Rochdale, Oldham and Bury.
The grey squirrel population in the North West U.K. has boomed over the last 20 years to the degee that they have grown to be a major pest species 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 200 years ago.
Like many members of the Sciuridae family, the Grey Squirrel is a hoarder; it hoards food in numerous small caches for later recovery. Some hoards are temporary, particularly those made near the source of a sudden surplus of food.
Other stores are more permanent and are not retrieved until many months later. It has been seen that each squirrel makes several thousand hoards each year. They have very good spatial memory for the locations of these hoards, and use distant and nearby landmarks to relocate them. Smell is used when the squirrel is within a few centimetres of the hoard.
The nest of the grey 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 are often minor problems, rooting bulbs and taking food intended for birds but can become major pests when they come into our houses.
It is increasingly common for Trafford Pest Control to be called out to properties where a nest has been built in a loft or attic space.
Squirrels are 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 very successfully.
It is rare to enter an attic space where a dray has been made and find that they have not chewed electric cables, indeed it is estimated that forty percent of fires without an obviously attributable cause may have been started by rodents damaging wiring.
Unfortunately they can also chew through water-pipes, especially with the modern trend towards plastic push-fit piping.
As if that is not enough, most household insurance policies exclude damage done by vermin so if a squirrel floods your house by going through a water pipe in the attic you may find yourself without any cover.
Removing Squirrels in Loft requires professional help, often because the law regarding squirrels restricts your options. You cannot simply buy a packet of rat poison from your local hardware and deal with them that way as you would be committing an offence.
Furthermore you cannot trap them and release them some distance away, not only would removing a squirrel from the area of its food hoards probably starve it to death, it is also a criminal offence under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 which makes it illegal to release a grey squirrel in in the British Isles.
That applies also to rescuing and/or rehabilitating and releasing injured squirrels.
In the vast majority of cases trapping is the most realistic option 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 squirrel problem in Lancashire, Cheshire or Manchester call us on 0800 019 8382