Squirrel Removal

Squirrel Problems

Squirrels are experts at getting to hard-to-reach places – which makes them difficult to handle. The most common issue with squirrels is an infestation in your attic or chimney. Attics provide a safe place for squirrels to nest and closely mimic their natural habitat in the wild. 

Once inside your home, a squirrel will cause a lot of damage. Squirrels, like most rodents, love to chew – and that often results in damage to your home. They will chew on woodwork, insulation, and even electrical wire; the latter can pose a significant fire hazard if left unchecked.  

Squirrels can chew through wood, electrical wires, and utility lines in your home causing countless headaches. First Choice Wildlife Services will humanely removes squirrels from your home, disinfect contaminated areas, and repair any damage done.

Squirrels can also cause potential health risks. They leave disease-causing urine and feces in your attic and can transmit diseases such as leptospirosis, lyme, rabies, salmonellosis, and tularemia.

Not to scare you too much but squirrels carry diseases, parasites, and bacteria including: 

• Tularemia 
• Typhus 
• Plague
• Ringworm

Removing Squirrels

Squirrels are rodents and include various members of the family Sciuridae. Even across the United States, there is a huge variety of squirrels – including tree squirrels, ground squirrels, marmots, and chipmunks. In Colorado alone, there are at least 10 different species of squirrel (excluding prairie dogs and chipmunks) that have been observed in the wild.  

While ground squirrels can be a nuisance (especially to ranchers), the most common problems in Fort Collins are from tree squirrels moving into attics and wreaking havoc on homes and businesses. Given their natural dexterity and large population, dealing with a squirrel infestation can be difficult – but certainly not impossible. 

If squirrels have already found your Fort Collins house and made a home there, then it is time to look into your option for getting them removed professionally. Removing squirrels might seem easy because of their small size and relative cuteness, but they are surprising tenacious and removal often requires specialized equipment.  

A professional wildlife service will start by identifying entry points into your attic, then they will work to trap the squirrels with one-way doors, repeater traps, and exclusion funnels. Once the existing squirrels have been removed, access points will be sealed and any existing damage will be evaluated – included damaged electrical wires.  

Squirrel Prevention

Keeping squirrels off your home and property is an impossible task. Their famous climbing ability lets them reach places that few other animals are able to and there are no effective squirrel repellents available on the market. However, there are ways to reduce the likelihood of a squirrel invasion of your Fort Collins home: 

Squirrels primarily eat nuts and seeds. This means that bird feeders are a huge attraction to squirrels – either remove bird feeders or invest in squirrel-proof products. Also, keep fallen fruit, seeds, and nuts cleaned from your property. 

If squirrels are getting into your attic, you can stop their access with hardware cloth or another barrier that will prevent chewing. Just make sure you aren’t trapping any squirrels inside your home. They can die and cause additional problems if not handled properly.  

Squirrels are great climbers and by removing any trees or branches that are within 8-10 feet you can make it more difficult for the squirrels to reach your roof. Although they will still be able to climb downspouts, fences, and other features of your house.

Call First Choice Wildlife Services

Because of the challenging and time-consuming nature of squirrel removal, we recommend calling a professional to sort the problem out for you. If you need help dealing with a squirrel or other wildlife, call us!

We here at First Choice Wildlife Services have over eleven years of experience solving squirrel problems and can guarantee excellent service. We service the areas of Boulder, Denver, Fort Collins, Greeley, Loveland, and many other areas in Colorado.

Give us a call at 970-460-4044 to schedule our services!

What Attracts Squirrels to My Property?

One of the most common nuisance animals, squirrels are everywhere. Urban, rural, it doesn’t matter. There are likely squirrels near you, and for many families, they’ll make their way near to or even within your property. To learn more about how to keep them away visit howtokeepsquirrelsaway.com. For most people, squirrels just mess around within your property, stealing plants, nuts, or a bit more, although, for some, they make their way indoors and can be damaging. It can be a bit confusing to see squirrels returning time and time again, so let’s look at a few things that may be attracting squirrels to your property.

Food

As with any animals, if squirrels find easy food sources, they’ll make their way to them. The major reason why you’ll find a squirrel on your property and not a bear (for most people), is because their diets are incredibly wide. Squirrels eat nuts, bird seeds, insects, fungus, fruit, vegetables, plants, and much more. While a garden may come to mind first, the plants in a garden are just one type of food that squirrels may be attracted to.

Even the random plants spread across your yard can attract squirrels. That’s completely ignoring the potential from poorly sealed trash cans or food scraps. Squirrels don’t have a terrible sense of smell, so they’ll quickly find and move towards food sources, nearly the moment they find them. Alongside that, squirrels can potentially move indoors if they realize you have food as well. Then, they’d return for not only this reason but also for:

Shelter

Squirrels aren’t particularly picky. They’ll gladly live outside if they’re close to a food source, although that also applies to being indoors. If squirrels find out that you or your property have food readily available, they’ll move in closer to make it easier to eat. While that oftentimes means they’ll move onto your property, there’s also the chance that they’ll move their way indoors. After all, they’ll be closer to a greater source of food, and also shelter.

The winter is harsh to squirrels, thanks in part to the fact that they don’t have much resistance to the cold. Moving indoors or onto your property means they’ll be closer to food, safe from the elements, and can potentially hide from predators. Yet again, squirrels are pretty vulnerable, meaning that both the cold and predators can push them closer to people. As they’re social animals, they won’t be too opposed to the idea.

Small Areas

According to some experts, squirrels can fit into spaces nearly an inch in diameter. While many people want to move away from small spaces, squirrels find them perfect. These critters will actually seek out small spaces, both in hopes of finding smaller meals that they’ll be able to eat, but also because they’re generally well suited against the elements. This doesn’t just apply to indoors though. Large rocks and holes in your backyard or around your property can attract squirrels, which will gladly move into the small spaces.

Keeping Squirrels Away

While it’s pretty easy to find a squirrel lurking on your property, it’s much harder to get rid of them. These social animals stick together in groups, meaning that they won’t be easily intimidated. That’s on top of these animals’ ability to spread diseases, injure people, and be general nuisances. 

If you don’t want to deal with squirrels, then call First Choice Wildlife Services. We’re licensed to take care of nuisance wildlife in and by the state of Colorado, and we’ll gladly take care of your squirrel issue. Our team has the knowledge and the tools to not only remove any nuisance wildlife, but to also prevent them from coming back. We’ll work to get rid of any attractors across your property and install methods to keep squirrels away. FC is only a call away, so don’t be afraid to contact our team of experts for any help!