Cleaning & Organizing Pest Control Rodent Control

How to Get Rid of Squirrels In Your Attic

Scurrying, scratching, and sounds of small objects (usually acorns) rolling around your attic may mean squirrels have moved in. Other telltale signs of squirrel "squatters" are small, foul-smelling pellets with rounded ends littering your property (rat poop has pointed ends).

If you suspect squirrels are nesting under your roof, it's time to act. Learn ways you can humanely remove squirrels—and prevent their return.

How to Get Squirrels Out of Your Attic

The Spruce / Alex Dos Diaz

How Do Squirrels Get Into Attics?

Squirrels love attics because they are uninhabited, warm, dry, high up, and protected from predators. But the most important reason squirrels hide in attics is to have babies.

Once they reside in your attic, they will use their urine to mark the space as their territory. In spacious lofts, they will use one end as a nesting area and the other as a latrine. There's also plenty of room to stash their food supply of nuts.

These innocent-looking pests are agile jumpers and destructive chewers that can quickly get into attics. When squirrels want to get into an attic, they can do the following:

  • Push in bricks on chimneys
  • Climb brick or stucco buildings in seconds
  • Pull apart terra-cotta and slate roofs
  • Chew through shingles, wood, aluminum, and high, hard-to-reach parts of the roof
  • Squeeze themselves through holes or missing fascia boards along the roofline

Fun Fact

You do not see squirrels actively chewing on your home because they warn each other of impending danger using ultrasonic chatter far above a human's hearing range.

How to Prevent Squirrels From Nesting in Attics

There are preventable measures for keeping squirrels out of your attic. You will want to make your attic unattractive and uncomfortable for nesting squirrels. To do this, immediately follow these steps:

How to Get Squirrels Out of the Attic

If squirrels have taken up residence in the attic, shoo them away by creating a whirlwind of activity in and around your attic. Squirrels dislike it when their space is inhabited or too loud. Try these steps before using any commercial squirrel repellants (which are typically formulated with predator urine):

  • Make noise: Bang on the ceiling and rafters with a broom handle; talk or yell loudly into the attic; bang pots and pans at the attic entrance; turn on radio, TV, or loud music and leave it playing.
  • Use bright lights: Turn on a bright spotlight or strobe light in the attic and leave it on night and day.
  • Stink them out: Soak rags in cider vinegar and place them in the attic (they hate the smell) or use mothballs around it (they are repelled by that smell, too).

Warning

Never use mothballs around young children or pets; the fumes can harm humans and pets if inhaled. Children have mistaken them for candy, which can have harmful consequences if ingested.

Other Squirrel Removal Methods

Exclusion Devices or One-Way Doors

Exclusion devices are a one-way door. They are set up at a known entry point, allowing squirrels to leave the house and reenter the wild, but they can no longer reenter the house. To be effective, these devices need to be set up at all entry points and secured tightly (screwed and screened) to the house entry without allowing the squirrel to wriggle through.

This is the preferred method from November to February, outside the breeding season window. Sometimes, you risk letting out a nursing mother who can't return to her litter. That would mean certain death for the babies, and the squirrel mother may cause damage to the outside of your house as it tries to regain entry, gnawing to make a potential new hole.

Live-Capture Traps

If you prefer to remove the squirrels, use trapping cages in the attic. Release the squirrels from the cages in the wilderness at least three miles away from your home so they can't easily find their way back. However, this method is not considered the most humane option for relocated squirrels in winter that can no longer access their stored cache of food.

A few upsides to this method are you can see how many squirrels you have, ensuring they are out. If you notice a female nursing mother in the mix, you can consider letting her back in to tend to her litter, and eventually, she will bring them out, or they will come out on their own in about four months.

Squirrel Repellents

Squirrel repellents use odors, tastes, lights, and sounds that squirrels dislike to drive them away. Repellents come in pungent sprays or granules and devices that emit ultrasonic, high-frequency sounds or bright flashing lights. Use several methods at once to make your attic seem inhospitable.

These lights emit bright flashes of light and sound to scare away squirrels. Some devices are solar-powered, sparing energy costs, with options like strobe lights or twin LED lights that appear as predator's eyes.

Squirrel Deterrents

A squirrel deterrent will block or delay an animal from coming back. For example, cats and dogs are natural predators, and if you have these pets in and around your attic, they will make squirrels think twice about setting up a home in your attic. You can also try to use a fake owl, fox, or hawk decoy to scare away squirrels.

Other physical barriers include lining the soffit under the eaves with chicken wire or wire mesh or placing inhospitable spikes to deter squirrels from making entry. If you have an attic vent system, ensure the vents are covered with mesh. Also, if a nearby tree or pole is how the squirrel gets to your roof, wrap the tree trunk with wire or plastic mesh that would deter the squirrel from climbing up the tree.

You can also deter wildlife critters by making your home's garden inhospitable. Squirrels will move on to another garden with easier access to favored foods.

When to Call a Professional

If your removal efforts don't work, it may be because they do not want to leave their babies behind. Call a professional to relocate the family safely and humanely in this case. While at your home, ask the squirrel removal company to inspect and plug up the squirrels' entry points to prevent recurrence.

FAQ
  • Do any plants or herbs repels squirrels?

    Squirrels dislike the strong smells of daffodils, geraniums, hyacinths, and galanthus flowers. Herbs and home spices that keep them away include peppermint, rosemary, cinnamon, black pepper, and garlic.

  • How much damage can squirrels cause in the attic?

    Squirrels can ruin your stored items by taking pieces of cloth, fabric, or paper to make nests. Squirrels are also voracious chewers, needing to chew to sharpen their teeth constantly. Exposed wires are one of their favorite chewing items, which can pose a fire hazard.

  • Will squirrels leave your attic on their own?

    Squirrels need to be compelled to leave. A nesting mother will hunker down with a new litter, but most other squirrels will leave at the first sign of compromised safety. Once the babies are old enough, a nesting mother will likely leave if the place remains unhospitable. Once they go, plug up all entry points immediately.

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  1. Squirrels in the Attic. The Humane Society of the United States

  2. Hare, James F. et al. Animal Communication: Ground Squirrel Uses Ultrasonic Alarms. PubMed, ResearchGate, 2004. doi: 10.1038/430523a

  3. Gray Squirrel Management.” Alabama Cooperative Extension System,