How Do You Get Rid of Squirrels in Harrow?

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Step 1: Record When You Hear It

Costs nothing and is the most useful diagnostic available. Over three or four days, note the times.

Squirrels are diurnal, rodents largely nocturnal. Heavy thumping in the middle of the afternoon is about as clear an indicator as you will get without seeing the animal.

Read nextNoises in the Roof in Harrow – Squirrel, Rat or Mouse? →

Step 2: Look at the Outside

• Scan the soffits and fascias for holes or rotten sections
• Look at the ridge and valleys for lifted or slipped tiles
• Check where an extension roof meets the main wall
• Look at the chimney for missing caps
• Watch for ten minutes at dawn — you may see the route used
• Note any branch within a couple of metres of the roofline

Step 3: Look in the Loft — Safely

Only if you can get up there safely and there is boarding to stand on.

• Go up during the day, when a squirrel is likely to be out
• Look at the cabling first. Gnawed cable is the priority finding and needs an electrician
• Check water pipes and pipe insulation
• Look for insulation torn up, compacted or gathered into a nest
• Look for droppings — larger than rat droppings and often more rounded
• Look for daylight showing through at the eaves
• Note any nest material — leaves, twigs, shredded insulation

Do not disturb a nest, and do not handle droppings or fouled insulation without gloves and a mask.

Step 4: Do Not Block the Hole

• If the animal is inside, it will do serious damage trying to escape
• If there are dependent young, sealing creates a welfare problem and shortly after a smell problem
• If you seal it and it gets back in anyway, you have paid for a repair that failed
• The right order is: deal with the animal, then close the route

What Not to Do

• Do not try to catch it yourself. A cornered squirrel bites, and is strong for its size
• Do not use poison. Rodenticides are not appropriate for squirrels, and misuse carries legal as well as practical consequences
• Do not release one elsewhere. Grey squirrels are non-native and releasing one into the wild in Britain is an offence
• Do not leave it. The cable-gnawing risk is real and does not improve with time
• Do not put food out to lure it — this simply keeps it there

When to Call

• Daytime activity over several days
• Gnawed cabling — call promptly, this is the fire risk
• Visible damage to insulation or timber
• You have seen a squirrel on the roof or entering
• Staining or smell on an upstairs ceiling
• You are not certain what it is

Tell Us These Things

• When you hear activity, and how heavy it sounds
• How long it has been going on
• Whether you have seen anything on the roof
• Where you think it is getting in
• Whether you have been in the loft and what you found
• Whether there is any cable damage
• Whether you suspect there are young
• Whether the loft is safely accessible

Afterwards: Close the Route

Once the animal is dealt with, the entry point must be closed or another squirrel follows. That is roofing work — soffits, fascias, tiles — and worth arranging promptly rather than leaving until next autumn.

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