The grey squirrel population in Manchester, Lancashire & Cheshire has boomed over the last twenty years to the degee that they are now 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 imported here less than 200 years America and Canada
Like the other members of the family Sciuridae, the Grey Squirrel is a hoarder; it hoards food in many small caches for later recovery. Some hoards are temporary, particularly those made near the source of a sudden glut of food.
Other stores are more permanent and are not used until months later. It has been observed that each squirrel makes several thousand caches each year. They have very good spatial memory for the positions of these hoards, and use far and near 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 standard for the female to have two litters per year, with two to four babies each.
They are often minor problems, uprooting bulbs and stealing food intended for birds but can be major pests when they come into our houses.
It is increasingly common for Trafford Pest Control to attend houses where a dray has been made in a loft or attic space.
Squirrels are rodents and as such have teeth which never stop growing; the very word rodent derives from the Latin word rodere meaning to gnaw or eat away and this they do very well indeed.
It is rare to enter a roof space where a dray has been found and find that they have not damaged cables or water pipes, indeed it is estimated that up to 40 percent of fires without an obviously attributable cause may be started by rodents damaging wiring.
Unfortunately they can also chew through water-pipes, especially with the modern trend towards plastic push-fit piping.
As if that is not enough, many household insurance policies do not cover damage by rodents so if a squirrel floods your home by gnawing through a water pipe in the loft you may find yourself without any cover.
Dealing with Squirrels in Loft requires a professional, not least in as much as the law regarding squirrels is ever changing. You cannot simply get a packet of rat poison from your hardware store and deal with them that way as you would be committing an offence.
Furthermore you cannot trap them and relocate them some distance from your home, not only would removing a squirrel from the area of its food hoards probably condemn it to death by starvation, it is also breaking the law under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 under which it is illegal to release a grey squirrel in in the British Isles.
That applies also to rescuing and/or 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, timed inspections of the traps.
Trapped squirrels are then humanely dispatched.
If you have a squirrel infestation in Lancashire, Cheshire or Manchester contact us on 01925 670375
