Squirrels in the Attic in Blackpool, Southport and The Fylde.
The squirrel population in Manchester, Lancashire & Cheshire has rocketed over the last twenty years to the extent that they have now become 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 Britain, having been introduced here less than 200 years ago from America
Like the other members of the Sciuridae family, the Grey Squirrel is a scatter-hoarder; it staches food away in lots of small caches for subsequent recovery. Some caches are temporary, especially those made near the site of a sudden surplus of food.
Others are more permanent and are not used until weeks later. It has been seen that each squirrel makes several thousand caches each year. They have very accurate spatial memory for the positions of these hoards, and use distant and nearby landmarks to retrieve them. Smell is used once the squirrel is within close range of the target.
The nest of the grey squirrel is called a dray (or drey) and it is standard for the female to have two litters per year, each of two to four young..
They can be minor problems, rooting bulbs and eating food intended for birds but can become major pests when they come into our properties.
It is increasingly common for Trafford Pest Control to call 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 comes from the Latin word rodere meaning to gnaw or eat away and this they do very well indeed.
It is rare to visit a loft space where a dray has been made and find that they have not damaged electrical wires, indeed it is estimated that forty percent of fires without an obviously attributable cause may be started by rodents chewing wiring.
Unfortunately they can also chew through water-pipes, especially with the recent movement towards plastic push-fit piping.
As if that was not enough, many household insurance policies specifically exclude damage by vermin so if a squirrel floods your home by chewing through a water pipe in the roof void you may find yourself without insurance.
Removing Squirrels in Loft requires professional help, often because the law regarding squirrels needs to be obeyed. You cannot simply obtain a packet of rat poison from your local store and deal with them that way as you would be breaking the law.
Furthermore you cannot catch them and move them some distance from your home, quite apart from the fact that removing a squirrel from the area of its food stores probably starve it to death, it is also breaking the law under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 under which it is illegal to release a grey squirrel in Britain.
That pertains also to rescuing and/or rehabilitating and releasing injured squirrels.
In most cases trapping is the the only option and this must be done in a specific 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 0800 019 8382