Squirrels Can Do Damage; The Best Solution Is A Trap

DEAR MS. H.E.: My husband and I live in a split-level home, with very limited crawl space either above or below our rooms. We seem to have a squirrel infestation which started in the chimney between the exterior wall and drywall surrounding the mantel.

Last year, we sealed off the outside opening they were using, but they got mad and made an opening through the roof. We tried throwing moth balls in there to chase them out, but it didn't work. Now they have spread to the attic, and, most disturbingly, to the 5-inch wall space between our downstairs rooms on two sides.

They may also be running amok between the floors. We can't get in to chase them out, and they seem to be chomping and nesting all over the place; we fear they will chew and pull on electrical wiring. We can't see them, but we can hear them scurrying around.

How can we get rid of them without fumigation? We don't want to kill them and don't want them dying in our walls. Please help!

DEAR READER: Yuck! I called experts at the State Department of Fish and Wildlife and at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal Damage Control Agency for you, and this is what I found out:

The squirrel that is giving you trouble is probably an eastern gray squirrel, introduced to Western Washington around the turn of the century. Because they have no predators here, these squirrels flourished, soon driving out our native western gray, Douglas and flying squirrels. Any city squirrel you see these days is likely to be an eastern gray.

The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife gets hundreds of calls a year from homeowners and gardeners frustrated by squirrels nesting in their attics and destroying their gardens. Animal damage-control specialists recommend trapping the squirrels in live traps, which you can rent from rental companies such as AA Rentals. Then, like Hansel and Gretel's father, drive them deep into the woods and release them.

Unfortunately, your case sounds a lot more serious than this. Jack Hageman, animal damage-control specialist at the USDA, suggests you call a trapping company and have the work done for you. (Jack had just talked to a household that had spent $5,000 repairing damage caused by a serious squirrel infestation.) How does one find a trapper?, I asked, picturing someone in a coonskin cap. Look in the Yellow Pages under Pest Control.

I looked in the Yellow Pages under Pest Control, and couldn't find any company that included squirrels in the list of animals they tackled. But Redi National Pest Eliminators, a national chain, did say they live-trapped, so I called them. The receptionist put me through to Dave Cheaney, who sounded more than equal to the job of ridding any household of squirrels. Here's how Redi National tackles squirrel infestations:

First, find the hole squirrels are using to get into the house. Then take a look around the outside and scope out the squirrels. The squirrels in your house are active during the daytime - they will leave your house to collect food outside every day. Trappers always set traps outside, in the part of the garden where squirrels are frequently seen. Squirrels cannot be trapped indoors, Dave says, because they don't collect food indoors.

The trappers will usually trap two or three squirrels - a breeding pair and a youngster. These they will release 5-10 miles away, in a heavily wooded area.

Before sealing up the hole in your house, the trappers will try to locate a nest. If there is a nest, and the nestlings are old enough, the trappers will chase them outside, and try to trap them. If the babies are very young, the trappers will take them to PAWS, where unbelievably devoted foster parents will hand-rear them until they are old enough to make it on their own.

One unfortunate possibility is that the nest might not be in the attic, within reach, but actually lie in the walls of your house. In that case, the trappers will have to cut into the drywall to remove the nest.

I asked Dave how much your average squirrel-trapping operation would run. His estimate, for a straightforward job, is somewhere around $150. It sounds like money well spent. Good luck!

Susan McGrath's column runs every two weeks in the Home/Real Estate section. Send questions and comments to: The Household Environmentalist, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA, 98111.