From a distance, squirrels seem cute and innocent. When they’re in your home however, the opposite is true. Squirrels can be highly destructive. They can cause thousands of dollars in structural damage. Their chewing and gnawing behaviours can cause fires and floods. They can also be vicious if they feel threatened.
It’s important to pay attention to signs of squirrels in house so you can evict the nuisance animals. Otherwise, they will cause significant and costly damage to your home.
Here are some of the top signs of squirrels in house you shouldn’t ignore.
Strange Noises during the Day
If squirrels are in your home, you’ll likely hear them in your ceiling, behind your walls, or in your chimney. You might hear them jumping and scampering around. Or you might hear persistent scratching.
Because most squirrels are diurnal creatures, unlike many other animals that could make their way into your home, it’s easier to determine their presence. Squirrels will be active during the day and quiet at night. You’ll likely hear more activity at dusk or early in the morning. If you’re hearing the bulk of the noises at night, you probably have another type of animal on your hands—because squirrels will be sound asleep at this time.
The sounds will be a bit louder than the skittering of mice, but they won’t be heavy thumping sounds like those of a raccoon.
Squirrel Urine
Don’t confuse that squirrel urine on the walls and ceiling for water damage! If you’ve had squirrels living in your home for a long time, they’re going to leave behind a buildup of urine. This urine often looks like water stains, but don’t be fooled.
If you ignore this problem for a long time, you’re likely going to need to replace wood and insulation—which can be costly.
Footprints
You can identify an animal by its tracks. Do those tiny footprints you see look too small to be that of your pet’s? Of course, seeing an animal’s footprints in your home is a surefire sign you have a wildlife problem.
Squirrel tracks in particular look like bunny tracks. Because squirrels bound when they move, their back paws come up either alongside or ahead of their front paws. These back paws are also longer—and they’ll be evidence of five toes. The front paws will be smaller and have four toes.
Nests
Squirrels are messy nest builders. Their nests will be loosely built of various materials like insulation, wood, paper, moss, leaves, and bark.
Structural Damage
Squirrels are rodents, just like mice and rats. And they have the same persistent chewing behaviours. For this reason, you’ll be able to see significant structural damage to the materials your home is built with if you have squirrels in your home.
One of the most prominent signs of squirrels in house is damage to materials like wood, drywall, insulation, and even metal. You might also notice your wire and pipes are chewed up and your duct work is shredded.
Damage to Entry Points
Every wild animal will make its way into your home in a different way. As a result, all of their access points will have varying characteristics.
For example, a raccoon will tear and rip away materials to create large holes it can squeeze into. A mouse will sneak in through the tiniest dime-sized hole. The squirrel, on the other hand, will get into your home through a hole that you won’t notice until you conduct a careful and thorough inspection. Once you look closely, however, you’ll notice some damage to the entry points. The most common entry points for squirrels are the eaves troughs, shingles, fascia boards, and outer panels.
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