Well, it seems that when one vacates their house and goes to Mexico for the Winter, word gets out around the neighborhood that free room and board are available here! I discovered an unwelcome houseguest the second night I returned when I heard scratching and running around in the closed off roof space behind my bedroom closets. That night, I just got up, yelled loudly, banged on the closet wall, and that seemed to have scared the livin’ bejeezus out of our guest who promptly ran off into the night.
All seemed to be quiet until last week when a cold front came through and my guest returned for another night of free lodging. I went out the next day to see if I could figure out where the critter was entering and exiting and found the problem spot:
Yesterday, when I heard the critter running outside on top of the roof, I ran out to look at this spot and finally got to meet my houseguest face-to-face—a squirrel!
So today, I decided to finally get my supplies together and get up there to “close the door” once and for all. I donned my hiking boots, gloves, and kneepads and got my tall ladder out of the garage. I made my way up until my feet were level with the first floor rain gutters, but with the roof so steeply pitched, I could not figure out any safe way to climb the roof further unless I had special spiked roofers gear. No thanks! I decided to back down the ladder and leave this job to the professionals!
In the meantime, my guest is still happily coming and going no longer seeming to be scared of me in the slightest…she likely had a real good chuckle today watching me try to evict her!… arghhhh!
I am going to so miss these joys of home ownership!
A few years ago a directv installer broke the window that he took to get into the crawl space of my house while he was running new cable. A few weeks later I hear cats screaming under my house. I finally cut a piece of plywood, painted it the same color as the house and fit it into the window opening AFTER checking in the stand up crawl space for any cats or other animals. Years later, that cheap fix has worked, preventing any animal from getting under the house.
ReplyDeleteDon't wait too long to evict squirrels. They can do lots of damage in no time chewing thru wood and worse yet electrical wires causing fires.
ReplyDeleteAND, you don't want them to die in the walls. Ask me how I know that! A smell to choke the life out of you.......ewww.
ReplyDeleteIt was nasty! Usually, your town has a wildlife catcher involved with the pound or something. Call and ask. I got a cage one time to catch something - it was so long ago I don't even remember what it was. It wasn't a squirrel........anyway, check with your town! Good luck
Leave it to the professionals...smart woman!
ReplyDeleteWe had to hire a critter removal professional to deal with a colony of bees who had made a huge hive between the floor joists under a bump out for a tub in our bath. When he was here he inspected the whole house and found evidence of some critters in our attic; found a hole similar to yours and fixed it, with a lifetime guarantee that if any other critters got in , he'd come remove them for free. He had an album of pictures of how he had used traps to capture squirrels and other critters in houses--quite impressive and definitely worth it to let the pros handle this job! We don't want you falling and hurting yourself!
ReplyDeleteWow you certainly tried your best but I think you made a wise decision to involve a professional. At least in the RV you should be able to deal with the odd mouse.
ReplyDeleteWhether in a house or an RV, the critters love to come inside and get warm. And build nests. If your squirrel is nesting, you might end up with a bunch of the little critters up there, so I would call someone today.
ReplyDeleteI had roof rats once, we had ivy covered walls on the house, and they climbed up the ivy and got in though a hole in an air vent. I had to call a professional, too, and he got rid of the rats and closed up the hole. We also pulled down all the ivy, which was too bad. I love the way it looked.
Good luck! :)
Squirrels are a pest. Smart though.
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Timothy S. Brannan
The Other Side, April Blog Challenge: The A to Z of Witches
Squirrels can do major damage in attics. We had one that we luckily saw where he was getting in and out. It was a slit so small you could not believe it was possible for them to get in it. My husband put a metal plate over it so it would just not chew through the barrier. Good luck!
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