Squirrels in the Attic in Stockport, Cheadle and Gatley.
The squirrel population in North West England has grown over the last twenty years to the degee that they have grown to be a major household pest dealt with by Squirrels in Attic Pest Control
The grey squirrels which we see in our gardens and parks (Sciurus carolinensis) are not native to the U.K., having been brought here less than two-hundred years ago from America
Like the other members of the Sciuridae family, the Grey Squirrel is a scatter-hoarder; it staches food away in numerous small caches for subsequent recovery. Some caches are temporary, especially those made near the source of a sudden surplus of food.
Others are more permanent and are not used until many months later. It has been seen that each squirrel makes several thousand hoards each year. They have very good spatial memory for the locations of these hoards, and use distant and nearby landmarks to retrieve them. Smell is used once the squirrel is within a few centimetres of the cache.
The nest of the squirrel is called a dray (or drey) and it is usual for the female to have two litters per year, each of two to four young..
They are often minor pests in the garden, digging bulbs and eating food intended for birds but can become major pests when they enter our homes.
It is increasingly common for Trafford Pest Control to attend homes where a nest has been built in a loft or attic space.
Squirrels are true rodents and as such have teeth which never stop growing; the very word rodent comes from the Latin word rodere meaning to gnaw and this they do very successfully.
It is rare to enter a roof space where a dray has been constructed and find that they have not chewed electrical wires, indeed it is estimated that forty percent of fires without an obviously attributable cause may be started by rodents chewing on the 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 do not cover damage caused by rodents so if a squirrel floods your property by chewing through a pipe in the loft you may find yourself without cover.
Removing Squirrels in Loft requires a professional, not least in as much as the law regarding squirrels restricts your options. You cannot simply buy a packet of 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 release them some distance away, quite apart from the fact that removing a squirrel from the area of its food caches probably condemn it to death by starvation, it is also a criminal offence under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 which makes it illegal to release a grey squirrel in in the British Isles.
That applies also to rescuing and/or rehabilitating and releasing injured squirrels.
In most cases trapping is the option of choice and this must be done in a specified 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 telephone us on 01257 230637
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