The squirrel population in Manchester, Lancashire & Cheshire has boomed over the last twenty years to the degee that they have grown to be a major pest dealt with by Squirrels in Attic Pest Control
The grey squirrels which we see in our own gardens (Sciurus carolinensis) are not native to the U.K., having been introduced here less than two-hundred years America and Canada
Like the other members of the family Sciuridae, the Grey Squirrel is a scatter-hoarder; it staches food away in many small caches for subsequent recovery. Some caches are temporary, especially those made near the source of a sudden glut of food.
Other hoards are more permanent and are not collected until months later. It has been seen that each squirrel makes several thousand of these caches each season. Squirrels have very accurate 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 close range of the target.
The nest of the grey squirrel is called a dray (or drey) and it is usual for the female to have two litters per year, with two to four babies each.
They can be minor problems, uprooting bulbs and eating food intended for birds but can be 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 true rodents and as such have continually growing teeth; the very word rodent comes from the Latin word rodere which means to gnaw and this they do very well indeed.
It is rare to enter a roof void where a dray has been found and find that they have not chewed wires, indeed it is estimated that up to 40 percent of fires without an obviously attributable cause may have been started by rodents chewing wiring.
Unfortunately they can also chew through water-pipes, especially with the modern movement towards plastic piping.
As if that was not enough, many household insurance policies specifically exclude damage done by rodents so if a squirrel floods your house by eating through a water pipe in the roof void you may find yourself without insurance cover.
Dealing with Squirrels in Loft needs a professional, not least in as much as the law regarding squirrels restricts your options. You cannot simply get a packet of rodent poison from your local hardware and deal with them that way as you would be breaking the law.
Furthermore you cannot catch them and relocate them some distance from your home, quite apart from the fact that removing a squirrel from the area of its food hoards probably condemn it to death by starvation, it is also commintting an offence under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 which makes it illegal to release a grey squirrel in in the British Isles.
That pertains also to rescuing and/or rehabilitating and releasing injured squirrels.
In the majority of cases trapping is the option of choice and this must be done in a specific manner with routine, regular inspections of the traps.
Trapped squirrels are then despatched humanely.
If you have a squirrel infestation in Lancashire, Cheshire or Manchester call us on 0800 019 8382