Squirrel Damage
Squirrels are rodents. Like mice and rats, they have strong incisors that can chew through wood, thin sheet metal, sheetrock, plaster, and more. Those teeth, along with their sharp claws, can make short work of getting through a porch, door, or window screen. And screens can be costly to replace. But the damage to be most concerned about are the holes squirrels can make in your roofline and in the seals around roof penetrations. Holes made by squirrels can allow rainwater to get into your home and cause mold problems or wood rot.
Once inside your home, squirrels can chew objects that are stored in your attic, and they can taint your attic spaces with feces and urine. Fortunately, their destruction is usually limited to attic spaces. They don’t explore every level of your home.
How Squirrels Can Make You Sick
If a squirrel gets into your attic spaces and leaves its waste, this can expose you to sickness. Contact with droppings or urine can make you sick with leptospirosis, salmonellosis, and a few other diseases that end in -osis. If you handle a sick or dead squirrel you could get tularemia. But, the way you’re most likely to get sick from squirrels is by exposure to ticks, fleas, and other parasites.
Squirrels bring ticks and fleas into your yard and expose you and your pets to them. Ticks can transmit a long list of scary diseases, such as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Fleas can make you sick from murine typhus, bartonellosis, tapeworm, and the bubonic plague. Yes, the bubonic plague is still a real thing. It isn’t likely to kill you, but it can be very unpleasant to contract.
One way squirrels won’t make you sick is that they aren’t likely to give you rabies. It is rare for rodents to carry the rabies virus. But, whether a squirrel has rabies or doesn’t, it is no fun when a squirrel decides to bite you—and squirrels are known to bite.
How You Might Attract Squirrels To Your Property
Squirrels prefer seeds, nuts and fruits. If you offer them a food source, they’ll come close to your home. Often, birdseed that falls on the ground, and birdseed in unprotected bird feeders, provides all the incentive a squirrel needs.
If your yard has trees that drop nuts, or fruits, you can have more issues with squirrels. We recommend keeping these trees far from your house if you’re thinking about planting some.
Some people put peanuts out for squirrels. We understand why it might be tempting to do this. We get it. Squirrels are fun. But there are other ways to have fun that won’t expose you to illness and the threat of property damage.
When Squirrels Become A Problem
If a squirrel gets into your home, it is best to contact Smith’s Pest Management to address the problem. We specialize in animal control. We use tamper-resistant traps to capture wildlife pests. We use habitat modifications to make your property less interesting to squirrels. We provide insulation removal and replacement and sanitation services to get control of contaminants. And we use exclusion installations to keep squirrels from getting in through vulnerable locations. Our squirrel control services are effective and comprehensive. Don’t trust anything less when it comes to squirrels.
Squirrel Control In San Jose
There are far too many ways squirrels can harm your health and damage your property. At the first sign of trouble, reach out to Smith’s Pest Management. Getting control of wildlife pests is what we do best.
