Cute and seemingly cuddly (minus the fact that they are wild creatures that you actually do not want to cuddle). We are talking about squirrels. Ever have a squirrel try to burrow in or chew your gutters? Maybe you’ve even named him the infamous Mr. Squirrel (don’t feel bad, many do).
Squirrels will use trees to bridge the gap between them and your roof. They love making use of your home to build nests in and will build in your gutters, chimney, fascia, and will even chew through to your attic. They make costly damages to your home and annoying scratching noises all day long.
For some reason, squirrels particularly love gutters and are sometimes able to chew through aluminum! Aluminum gutters are great in general; they are the most commonly used material, since they never rust, resist corrosion, are less expensive than other alternatives, and can be painted a variety of colours. Nevertheless, they are not as resilient as other, pricier gutters.
So if you have aluminum gutters, how do you stop those pesky squirrels? Show Mr. Squirrel whose boss by following these simple tips:
1) Act quickly. The most important tip is to act as fast as possible in order to minimize the damage. The faster you act, the less costly Mr. Squirrel will be.
2) Take a tip from your kids. We all like peace and quiet, and when we want to sleep we also like the dark. Annoy that squirrel with sound and light and he’ll hopefully go running for the trees!
3) Repellent. Use rodent repellent on the damaged area to stop him from coming back. If you’re brave enough, you could even try predator urine.
4) Shrub and tree modifications. Try to move or place trees and shrubs farther away from your home so that it is harder for your squirrel to jump to your roof. You can even squirrel-proof your trees by either caging them off or fastening sheet metal to their tree trunks six feet from the ground.
5) Learn about its habits. Pay attention to when your squirrel goes out for food. Once you have a good idea, you can start sealing up all entry points on your home. When it comes to your gutters, you might want to consider a gutter protection system such as the T-Rex continuous hanger.
6) Last resort – traps. If all other options do not work, you might have to set a live trap and remove Mr. Squirrels from your property.
Hopefully now you will be able to say goodbye to that pesky squirrel and hello to a quieter, damage-free house! We just hope you haven’t gotten too comfortable with your squirrel, or else you might start to miss him.
Good luck!
