Pest Control Squirrels in Manchester Lancashire and Cheshire

Pest Control Squirrels in Manchester Lancashire and Cheshire

Squirrels in the loft?

A word of caution, damage caused by squirrels to electricity cables and water pipes with the resultant risk of fire and flooding is unlikely to be covered by your insurance policy as most insurance companies invalidate vermin damage.

Pest Control Squirrels in Manchester Lancashire and Cheshire – The grey squirrel population in  North West England has rocketed over the last twenty years to the extent that they are now a major pest species.
The grey squirrels which we see in our parks and gardens (Sciurus carolinensis) are not native to Britain, having been imported here less than 200 years ago from America.
Like many members of the family Sciuridae, the Grey Squirrel is a scatter-hoarder; it hoards food in numerous small caches for subsequent recovery. Some hoards, especially those made near the site of a sudden surplus of food.
Other caches are more permanent and are not retrieved until months later. It has been observed that each squirrel makes several thousand caches each season. The squirrels have very good spatial memory for the locations of these caches, 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 grey squirrel is called a dray (or drey) and it is usual for the female to have two litters per year, with two to four babies each.
They are minor pests in the garden, rooting up bulbs and stealing food intended for birds but can become major pests when they come into our houses.
It is increasingly common for pest controllers to attend homes where a nest has been constructed in a loft or attic space.
Squirrels are true rodents and as such have teeth which never stop growing; the word rodent coming from the Latin ‘rodere’ meaning ‘to gnaw’ and this they do very well indeed.
It is rare to enter an attic space where a dray has been constructed and find that they have not damaged electrical wiring, indeed it is estimated that up to 40% percent of fires without an obvious cause cause may be started by rodents damaging wiring.
Unfortunately they can also chew through water-pipes, especially with the recent trend towards plastic piping.
As if that wasn’t enough, many household insurance policies specifically exclude damage caused by rodents so if a squirrel floods your home by chewing through a pipe in the attic you may find yourself without cover.
Removing squirrels requires professional help, not least in as much as the law regarding squirrels restricts your options. You cannot simply buy a packet of rat poison from your local store and deal with them that way as you would be committing a criminal offence.
Furthermore you cannot trap them and release them some distance away, not only would removing a squirrel from the area of its food caches would 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 Britain.
That pertains also to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing injured squirrels.
In the majority 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 should be then despatched humanely.
If you have a squirrel infestation in Lancashire, Cheshire or Manchester telephone Harrier Pest Prevention on 0800 019 8382 or 0161 930 8814