It goes without saying that they need to be removed. There are 3 steps for getting rid of squirrels in the attic.

Step one – find where the squirrels are getting into your attic.

Go outside and walk around your house while looking along the roof line. Look for any holes that may have been chewed into the siding or eave of the roof. Pay close attention to gable vents. Look for bent or broken slats.

If you find an opening, make a mental note of its location and then keep looking. Don’t assume they have only one entrance, although they may, it’s better to make a thorough search of the entire roof line.

Step two – Get the squirrels out of your attic

This is the hard part. First, if you are able, go up into your attic and try to find out exactly how many squirrels are there. Look for trails of packed down insulation. Look for droppings.

Squirrels often get into attics to build a nest and give birth. If you find a mother with babies, be careful. Just like any wild animal she will attack if you try to mess with her babies. Squirrels have big teeth.

If you locate a nest of babies while the mother is outside foraging, you’ll have an opportunity to remove them without a fight. Wearing gloves, pick them up and put them in something such as a shoe box and remove the squirrels from your attic. Understand, however, that doing so will cause the babies to die, but that’s better than having your house burn down.

Take the babies to your local animal control center or take them into a wooded area and leave them there. Something will come along and eat them like a snake, owl, hawk, coyote, bobcat, etc… (I know, it’s sad. But as mentioned above, it’s better than having them chewing on wires in your attic and starting an electrical fire in your home.)

If the squirrels in your attic are adults, set up a live trap. Place it along the paths they travel through the attic. Not blocking the path, but joining the path. Check it at least once a day. Once trapped relocate the squirrels.

Step three – seal the holes

Repair the damaged area that allowed them entrance to your attic. You can also use hardware cloth or chicken wire to block the entrance. Staple the hardware cloth to the interior plywood if possible. Spray the exterior of the opening with some animal repellant or taste repellant.

No matter what, make sure you don’t seal squirrels inside your attic. Once they die, the smell of decomposing, rotting flesh will make your home nearly uninhabitable and can last for weeks.

Once the squirrels are removed and the holes are repaired and blocked from future use, you will have no more worries about squirrels in the attic.

(photo credit: flickr creative commons, Attic Framing by ArmchairBuilder.com)

One of the most commonly used tricks to keep squirrels out of potted plants is to put something in the pots that the squirrels won’t like.

Crushed red pepper; sprinkle a little on the soil of your potted plants and the squirrels will be more likely to avoid them. Squirrels, like humans, can taste the spicy hot flavor of peppers, and once they’ve tasted it, they’ll try to avoid it. The spiciness of the pepper will not harm your plants. However, there is a catch. Depending on the source of your crushed red pepper and how it was prepared, it’s not unthinkable to suggest that some brands may contain viable pepper seeds. Imagine sprinkling this on to the soil of your potted flowers and inadvertently growing red peppers instead. Do some experiments first before you commit to using this across all your potted plants.

Ground Cayenne pepper will do exactly the same thing as the one mentioned above but because it’s ground, it doesn’t contain whole pepper seeds.

Blood meal is a plant fertilizer rich in nitrogen. It’s made from blood, (most commonly from cows and pigs), and is very unattractive to squirrels. But it is a plant fertilizer so caution needs to be taken when using this as a squirrel deterrent in your potted plants. You don’t want to over fertilize your plants which can do more harm than good.

Some gardeners have reported having success using bamboo skewers. Place several of them in your pots with the pointy ends sticking up from the soil.

River rocks on top of the soil can also deter squirrels from digging in potted plants, however, if you plan to reuse the potting soil at any time in the future, it can prove to be a pain, trying to separate the rocks from the soil

If you find that squirrels are eating your potted plants, you can try providing them with an alternate food source. Purchase a squirrel feeder and feed them nuts and grains. However this can backfire if the squirrels start burying extra nuts in your potted plants. Squirrels will bury any abundant food source they find in an effort to keep it all for themselves and so that they can store it up for winter months. You can easily deter them from burying excess food in your potted plants by using this method in combination with one of the methods mentioned above.

Squirrels eat mainly nuts, grains, and fruits. They eat all kinds of nuts from almonds to acorns and every nut in between. Peanuts, which are actually in the bean family, are also a favorite for squirrels. Grains like corn, oats and wheat are also a favorite, which explains why squirrels will so eagerly eat a piece of bread that someone tosses to them.

If you’re interested in feeding squirrels and want to know which nuts to feed them, probably the easiest and least expensive nut to use are acorns. Acorns are the seeds of oak trees. There are many varieties of oaks and each has a different type of acorn. Determining which type of oak trees you have in your area will help you to know what time of year they drop their acorns. In the southern United States for example, the Live Oak drops acorns every October. Oak trees produce acorns in cycles and will produce a fair amount of acorns each season for a few years and then suddenly one year will produce hundreds of thousands of acorns in one season, so many that the branches will bow under the weight of all the acorns.

With such productive trees, it’s very easy to collect enough for squirrel food to last a long time. Collecting acorns is made even easier when part of the tree hangs over a sidewalk, driveway or street. The acorns that fall there can be swept up with a broom making collection very easy.

If you’re collecting acorns, keep in mind that you’ll be competing with the acorn weevil, a small beetle that drills a tiny hole into acorns to lay its eggs. Once hatched the grub will eat the inside of the acorn. When the acorn falls to the ground the grub crawls out. People collecting and storing acorns will undoubtedly discover some of these grubs lying at the bottom of their container. No need to worry, however, they are harmless.

After collecting acorns, keep them refrigerated so that they will remain fresh. Then refill your squirrel feeder after it becomes empty. Keep in mind that squirrels have a habit of burying any extra food they find. So if you are filling up the squirrel feeder with acorns, the squirrels will likely empty it quickly by removing each acorn and burying it in your yard. Allowing the squirrel feeder to remain empty for a few days before refilling it will encourage the squirrels to eat what they’ve buried.

Storing acorns in the fridge can, of course, be an inconvenience. It’s often easier to give squirrels peanuts. You can purchase them at most feed stores, grocery stores or online at places like Amazon. Make sure you get the ones that are still in their shells and have not been salted or boiled or had anything else done to them.

You’ve just found holes chewed into your ripening tomatoes and now they’re ruined. How do you prevent this from happening again? The first step is to find out what’s been chewing on your tomatoes.

The most likely culprit is squirrels, but that’s not always the case. There are many animals that enjoy vine ripened tomatoes just as much as squirrels do.

Some species of birds will peck holes in tomatoes to eat the insides. However, if the leaves of your tomato plants are being eaten as well it may be the large but well camouflaged Tomato Hornworm.

Groundhogs love to eat tomatoes as well, so if you live in a part of the country that has groundhogs, take this into consideration.

Determining when your tomatoes are being eaten can help immensely in figuring out who the culprit is. Squirrels are diurnal, meaning they are active during the day and sleep at night. If your tomatoes are being eaten during the night, it’s not a squirrel. Night time attacks on your tomato plants are more likely to be caused by raccoons or possums. This is especially true if you find that nearly the entire tomato has been eaten.

Squirrels, however, usually nibble a hole in the side of the tomato, eat just a little of it and then move on to do the same to the next tomato.

If you’re certain that it is squirrels eating your tomatoes there are a few things you can do to help prevent this from happening again.

Although it’s difficult, many people have had success preventing squirrels from eating tomatoes by wrapping the tomato plants in a hardware cloth. Here is an example of a complete enclosure made from hardware cloth.

Some tomato growers have thought that perhaps squirrels eat tomatoes because they’re thirsty and otherwise can’t find a source of freshwater. While this theory may have some merit, there have also been those who have witnessed squirrels eating tomatoes even after a rain when fresh water was plentiful. This doesn’t necessarily disprove the notion either, so do your own experiments by placing a bird bath in your yard. Keep it filled with clean fresh water from the hose and see if it doesn’t eliminate your problem.

Another method is to install a Squirrel feeder elsewhere on your property and provide the squirrels with nuts or grains which squirrels are likely to prefer over tomatoes. peanuts, sunflower seeds and cracked corn all make a good alternative squirrel food.

Hot Pepper Wax Animal Repellent sprayed onto the tomatoes can be a good deterrent; The squirrels bite into one and then never bite into another. The pepper wax washes off under warm water so that you don’t get the same surprise you gave the squirrel.

Placing pinwheel toys, wind spinners and wind chimes in the garden can help temporarily, but the squirrels will eventually become accustomed to their presence and will begin to ignore them. However, occasionally alternating these items with different noise and movement makers can keep the squirrels guessing.

In summary the first thing to do is to make sure you know what it is that’s eating your tomatoes. If you find out that it is in fact squirrels, the best thing to do is to experiment with some of these deterrent methods mentioned above to find out which ones work best for you. A combination of squirrel deterrent methods is always better than implementing just one.

For additional articles and information about keeping squirrels out of the garden, check out the category: Protecting your garden from squirrels.

Many kinds of animals hibernate. Bears are probably the animal we think of first when we mention the word “hibernate”. But squirrels, however, do not hibernate and are active all winter long. The reason they are seldom seen is because they build nests in which they take shelter from extreme cold spells, hard winds, and blizzards. When they do venture out, they are often not seen because they are tunneling under the snow searching for the food they buried during the fall.

Throughout the spring, summer and fall squirrels bury all sorts of food, especially seeds. Acorns, sunflower seeds, pine cone seeds, etc.. They do this for two reasons, the first of which is to ensure that they get the maximum benefit from any abundance of food they find. Why leave a bunch of sunflower seeds lying around where the birds will eat them when a squirrel could bury them to have all for himself?

The second reason squirrels bury food, especially in the fall, is to save up and prepare for winter. A squirrel can spend hours each day burying acorns and other seeds. They will bury each nut in a different location. When winter time comes and there are no plants producing seeds, the squirrels are somehow able to locate each of these little buried treasures, enough so to keep them well feed throughout the entire winter.

If you’d like to see squirrels this winter, purchase a squirrel feeder from Amazon, and place it outside where you can view it from a window. Fill it with peanuts, cracked corn or sunflower Seeds. Then sit back and wait, it won’t take long for the squirrels to find it.

Ever since Saint Serf owned his pet Robin in the year 575, it’s been mankind’s endeavor to come up with better ways of keeping squirrels out of bird feeders.

Today the internet is ablaze with people searching for ways to keep squirrels out of their gardens, attics and bird feeders.

While squirrels may never cease to outwit even the best of us from time to time, it’s my hope that this website will help you to keep those varmints away from your garden, off of your bird feeder, and out of your attic.

How to stop squirrels

Heritage Farms Vista is a squirrel proof bird feeder that is a weight activated squirrel deterrent. When the squirrel steps on the spring loaded perch, it lowers closing off the seed supply.

The tension of these springs can be adjusted to allow for heavier birds such as woodpeckers to use the feeder without shutting of access to the seed. It has two perches, one on each side to allow for several birds to feed simultaneously at the feeder.

The roof is designed to act as a baffle causing any squirrel attempting to reach the perches by descending from the roof top to have nothing to grip onto and to then fall from the feeder.

Comes completely assembled and is able to hold 6 pounds of bird seed.

Its clear plastic seed holder makes the seed easily visible to birds, attracting many different species.

The pros and cons:

Pros:

Lots of birds. This feeder will attract a large variety of birds.

Spring loaded perches are easily adjustable; no tools required.

Cons:

Gets wet somewhat easily causing the seed to become clogged. It may help to add a dome shaped baffle above this feeder which might keep the seed dry by acting like an umbrella.

The feeder is not entirely squirrel proof. If it’s hung in such a way that squirrels can grab hold of the roof while hanging from an object above the feeder, (such as a tree branch), they are able to lift the roof and then descend into the interior of the bird feeder, (watch the video below). To ensure this doesn’t happen, hang the feeder from a pole or chain so that squirrels are not able to easily discover this weakness.

Summary

I know that squirrels are able to steal at least a seed or two from nearly any squirrel proof bird feed, but seeing squirrels climbing inside the feeder to eat to their hearts content was where I had to draw the line. For that reason I’ve decided not to recommend this feeder.

For more reviews on squirrel proof bird feeders check out the product review category.

If you’ve had trouble caused by squirrels getting into your “squirrel proof” bird feeder, this is the bird feeder for you.
The Yankee Flipper is one of the best squirrel proof bird feeders I’ve found.

Made by Droll Yankees, this squirrel proof bird feeder has a perch that spins the moment a hungry squirrel steps onto it. When birds land on it, however, nothing happens. The spinning actions requires the heavier weight of a squirrel before it will activate and spin causing the squirrel to fall from the bird feeder.

It operates by means of a rechargeable battery built into the base of the feeder.

The seed tube is large and able to hold a lot of bird seed. It’s also made of a clear plastic that won’t fade or discolor after being in the sun for a long time. The tube itself is tall to ensure that squirrels can’t reach the seed ports by hanging upside down from the top of the feeder.

Comes with a lifetime guarantee against squirrel damage and a one year guarantee against any failure of its electronic components.

The pros and cons:

Pros:

Lots of birds. This feeder attracts many different species of birds including Cardinals, Chickadees, Finches, Flickers, Goldfinches, Grackles, Grosbeaks, Jays, Juncos, Nuthatches, Redpolls, Siskins, Sparrows, Starlings, Titmice, Towhees, Woodpeckers and Wrens.

Quality entertainment.  You may just get more fun from watching the squirrels get spun like a merry-go-round on this feeder than from seeing the birds that feed from it.

Long lasting battery charge.  The battery needs to be charged only about two or three times a year, more if you have lots of squirrels frequently activating the spinning perch.

Cons:

When the squirrels jump onto the perch of the Yankee Flipper, get spun and tossed off, bird seed spills onto the ground where the squirrels are able to eat it. Watch the video again and take note of the bird seed that spills when the squirrel jumps onto the feeder.
The manufacturer addresses this issue by stating that the overall concept is “that it is preferable to prevent the squirrels from monopolizing the feeder, rather than only attempting to block their access to the seed.” And, as I recommend on this site, if you set up a squirrel feeder elsewhere in your yard, the squirrels will learn that it’s much easier to eat from the squirrel feeder than to be spun and tossed from the Yankee Flipper.

Over a period of a few years the battery tends to not hold a charge as long as it did when it was new, however you can purchase replacement batteries.

Summary

I highly recommend this bird feeder. It’s one of the best squirrel proof feeders on the market.

These squirrels spend their days foraging along the ground and in trees for food. They will also spend time burying extra food they find or digging up again the food they previously buried.

Squirrels are territorial and will chase away any squirrels they see as competitors.

Grey squirrels use trees for protection from predators and other possible threats and will always run to the nearest tree when they sense danger.

Most of the problems caused by squirrels are related to their hunt for food, but they also cause tremendous problems when nesting and giving birth inside people’s homes, particularly in attics or inside walls.

In their search for food, squirrels can cause problems and frustrations for people, for example, squirrels taking bird seed from bird feeders intended for various song birds is a big frustration among backyard bird watchers. Squirrels will chase away song birds from a bird feeder in an effort to protect what they perceive as being “their” bird seed.

Squirrels are also notorious for eating flowers, vegetables, fruits, and other plants from people’s gardens.

Squirrels can cause damage to lawns when they dig holes to burry and later retrieve pieces of food.

The front teeth of squirrels are always growing, squirrels grind down the length of their front teeth by chewing on hard objects such as walnuts, acorns, pecans, chestnuts, etc.. When hard coated nuts and seeds are not readily available squirrels will begin chewing on parts of houses, trees, or anything else they can use to file down the length of their teeth.

If you’re having problems with squirrels, check out some of these helpful articles:
How to Catch a Squirrel
Squirrel Holes in My Lawn
Squirrel Damage To Trees
Squirrel Are Eating My Plants
Squirrel Damage to Homes
Squirrel Proof Bird Feeders

Squirrels get into people’s attics most often to give birth. The attic provides protection from weather as well as from predators. No one, however, wants to hear the scratching and running about of squirrels in the attic, nor does anyone want squirrels peeing and pooping in their attic either. Furthermore squirrels have been the culprit of house fires after chewing on electrical wiring insulation causing the wires to become shorted and to catch fire.

There are two methods for getting a squirrel out of your attic. The first is to find where it enters, wait for it to leave and then seal off the opening with some durable metal screening or chicken wire purchased from your local hardware store or feed store. The second method is to trap the squirrel and then release it far from your home.

There are, however, some difficulties associated with both of these methods. For example, if you seal off its entry point while the squirrel is away, you might, inadvertently, seal in baby squirrels. Once those baby squirrels die, the smell of their decomposing bodies will cause your home to become almost uninhabitable.

To prevent this, you must know, prior to sealing off any entry points, whether or not the squirrel has had babies in your attic. Typically this will require that you climb into your attic with a flashlight and look around. It’s best to do this when the adult squirrel is away because just like any wild animal, she may try to bite you if she feels her babies are in danger.

If you find baby squirrels in your attic, you can remove them, (doing so will cause them to eventually die), or you can leave them alone until they are old enough to follow their mother out of the attic, at which time you could seal off the entry point.

If you choose to use a live trap to get the squirrel out of your attic, you’ll still need to locate and seal off the entry point so that other squirrels won’t take up residence in your attic as well.

Trapping squirrels is fairly straight forward, requiring only that you purchase a live trap and place it in a location where the squirrel will easily find it such as placing it so that it intersects a portion of the trail or path the squirrel uses inside your attic to go to and from the entry and exit point. You can also place the trap outside its entry / exit point. This way you can capture the squirrel while it’s outside.

(If entering your attic beware of any fiberglass insulation. Touching this type of insulation will often cause microscopic bits of glass to become stuck in your skin which will produce pain and itching for long periods of time until your skin eventually sheds the piece of glass.)

Getting squirrels out of your attic is not difficult and not very expensive. Live traps can be purchased at nearly any feed or farm supply store. Setting these traps is very easy, and you can readily test it with a pen or pencil to make sure you are setting the trap correctly.

The four most important things to remember about getting a squirrel out of your attic are:
• Don’t let a squirrel die in your attic, it will stink up your home
• Once you have removed the squirrels, seal off any entry points to prevent further problems
• If you trap a squirrel, you need to release it very, very far from your home, other wise it will just come back.
• Squirrels bite. Use caution when handling or transporting a cage containing a trapped squirrel.