How to Get Rid of Squirrels in Your Home

If you have a squirrel in your home, it’s time to call a trained pest control specialist who has experience eradicating these animals from yards, gardens, and homes, but if you insist on trying to get rid of this little guy yourself, we encourage you to follow our suggestions here. Squirrels, when feeling threatened, can be quite dangerous, and if they are rabid (which can happen), they are certainly dangerous to you and your family. For these reasons and others, you simply cannot approach a squirrel and shoo him from your home.

A squirrel’s actions in your home will be erratic and unpredictable because he’s in an unfamiliar environment and probably wants to find his way back to his own habitat. Don’t approach a squirrel in your home, and be sure to isolate your pets from the areas of home where you think there are squirrels so no fleas, ticks, or diseases are transmitted between the animals. Move all of your pets outside, into a holding pen or crate, or put them in a separate room as soon as you discover a squirrel has invaded your home.

Once you discover a squirrel in your home, you have to determine if there are squirrel babies in the home, also. To do this, search approximately 20 feet around the place where you initially found the squirrel. Do not invade the space around a possible squirrel nest, as the mother will attack because she sees you as a threat to her young. Make some noises and then be silent; wait to hear noises from the young squirrels in response. Main squirrel breeding times are February through May and August through October. During these times of the year, it’s very likely that babies will be present if you see an adult squirrel.

Provide an avenue of escape for the squirrel in your home. To do this, we suggest you close off all other routes out of the home and leave a single exit to your house open, like one big window completely open. If getting to a window in the same room the squirrel is in puts you too close to the squirrel, you should open the window in the room next to the one the squirrel is in, leave the door open to that room, and close off all other routes out of the home. This will force the squirrel into the room with the open window, and it will prevent him from getting into other parts of your home.

Drawers, cupboards, and other nooks and crannies provide comfort to a squirrel because they remind him of his little nook in a tree. By closing these off you can prevent your intruder from hiding out in a safe place and force him to find a way out of your house. Remove all food that could be accessed by the squirrels. Put food in the fridge and store food in containers with tight lids away from where the squirrel is; keep in mind, the food storage is only temporary (if your squirrel leaves your home, that is). If the squirrel stays a while, you will need to throw away any food that is not in the refrigerator just to be safe.

Give the squirrel some incentive to leave your home. Squirrels hate the smell of cider vinegar, so you might want to soak some rags in this type of vinegar and put the rags in the room where the squirrel is. The sound of a radio constantly playing will also usually drive a squirrel from a home, and a bright light left on during the day and night will annoy the squirrel. Loud noises will scare squirrels and may just scare them right out of your home.

If you are able to successfully get a squirrel out of your home, please be sure to contact a trained pest control specialist to inspect your home after the squirrel’s departure. You want to make sure nothing unsanitary was left behind, and you want to ensure there are no baby squirrels left in the home. The specialist can close off entry points and pest-proof your home while he/she is there, so you won’t have this problem again.