Squirrels in the Attic in Walkden, Worsley and Eccles.
The grey squirrel population in Manchester, Lancashire & Cheshire has grown over the last twenty years to the degee that they are now a major pest species dealt with by Squirrels in Attic Pest Control
The grey squirrels which we see in our parks and gardens (Sciurus carolinensis) are not native to Britain, having been brought here here less than 200 years America and Canada
Like other members of the Sciuridae family, the Grey Squirrel is a hoarder; it hides food in many small caches for later recovery. Some hoards are temporary, particularly those made near the site of a sudden surplus of food.
Others are more permanent and are not eaten until many months later. It has been observed that each squirrel makes several thousand hoards each season. The squirrels have very accurate spatial memory for the positions of these caches, and use distant and nearby landmarks to retrieve them. Smell is used when the squirrel is within a short distance of the hoard.
The nest of the squirrel is called a dray (or drey) and it is normal for the female to have two litters per year, each of two to four young..
They are minor problems, digging bulbs and taking food intended for birds but become major pests when they enter our homes.
It is increasingly common for Trafford Pest Control to be called out to properties where a dray has been constructed in a loft or attic space.
Squirrels are rodents and as such have continually growing teeth; the word rodent derives from the Latin word rodere which means to gnaw or eat away and this they do very successfully.
It is rare to visit an attic space where a dray has been built and find that they have not damaged electric cables, indeed it is estimated that up to 40 percent of fires without an obviously attributable cause may have been started by rodents damaging wiring.
Unfortunately they can also chew through water-pipes, especially with the modern movement towards plastic push-fit piping.
As if that was not enough, most household insurance policies exclude damage caused by vermin so if a squirrel floods your property by going through a pipe in the roof void you may find yourself without any cover.
Removing Squirrels in Loft requires professional help, often because the law regarding squirrels is ever changing. You cannot simply obtain a packet of rat poison from your local store and deal with them that way as you would be committing a criminal offence.
Furthermore you cannot catch them and move them some distance away, not only would removing a squirrel from the area of its food stores probably cause it do die of 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 releasing injured squirrels.
In the vast majority of cases trapping is the most realistic option and this must be done in a specified manner with routine, regular inspections of the traps.
Trapped squirrels are then humanely dispatched.
If you have a squirrel infestation in Lancashire, Cheshire or Manchester telephone us on 0161 930 8814