Grey Squirrel (Sciurus Carolinensis)
Help and advice on protecting your home!
The Eastern Grey Squirrel is native to the United States and was first introduced to Britain in 1876 in Cheshire as a curiosity. Since then it has spread rapidly across the country displacing the smaller, native red squirrel.
They range from 23cm to 30cm long with a tail of up to 25cm. They can weigh as much as 600g and the colour of their fur ranges from light grey through to completely black.
They are equally at home nesting in a drey built in the branches of a tree as in amongst the insulation material in your loft. Unlike rats and mice that are predominantly nocturnal Squirrels are crepuscular, meaning that they are most active in the early morning and evening.
Grey squirrels have two litters a year on average of up to 8 kittens and can live for up to 20 years.
Like all rodents Grey Squirrels chew constantly in order to wear down their teeth, but due to their size the amount of damage they can do is significantly bigger.
We have been called to deal with squirrels that have gnawed through electrical wiring, through soffits and bargeboards, through supporting joists in roofs, and even on one memorable occasion though a plasterboard wall into the bedroom where a customer was sleeping.
Squirrels hoard caches of food which can lead to subsequent infestations of beetles and weevils, as well as carrying fleas that are happy to feed on anything or anyone they come into contact with.
Because it is illegal under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to release grey squirrels if caught they must be destroyed, because of this it is recommended that if you have squirrels in your house you do not attempt to deal with the problem yourself.
It is imperative to have them caught as quickly as possible before they do serious structural damage to the property and so if you think you may have squirrels nesting in your roof you should contact us straight away.
01428 714031
