On occasion, when the house is quite, I've heard what sounds like chewing in
the walls and ceiling.
Lots of squirrels around the yard, Also lots of mice. Stupid cat plays with
them!! Tried to tell her to kill the mice and take them outside but she wont
listen. I set a have a hart trap in the attic but I think I have to adjust
the latch to be more sensitive as the bait was taken (an apple with peanut
butter on it) right out of the trap without setting it. I don't know how
squirrels would get in? I see some of the screens in my soffit vents have
been chewed up so I but duct tape over them to see if the squirrels would
chew through the tape to get out. then I would know they were going through
their. 3 soffets are still tapped shut. I just though, I have to look at the
other soffets where the screens were intact. Maybe they didn't like the tape
so the chewed through the screen in another soffet to get out/in.

I'm guessing its squirrels because a mouse couldn't remove the whole apple
like they did. would you be able to hear the chewing of a mouse through the
walls? Again I'm guessing not and it must be a squirrel doing the chewing...
If I used poison to kill them would they rot and cause a smell problem??? Or
better to keep working on trapping them and removing them.

Part of the problem is the difficulty of getting into the main attic. there
is no access other than squeezing between rafters and I've gotten to old and
fat for that.


thanks for any advice...

Sr

Steve wrote:
On occasion, when the house is quite, I've heard what sounds like
chewing in the walls and ceiling.
Lots of squirrels around the yard, Also lots of mice. Stupid cat
plays with them!! Tried to tell her to kill the mice and take them
outside but she wont listen. I set a have a hart trap in the attic
but I think I have to adjust the latch to be more sensitive as the
bait was taken (an apple with peanut butter on it) right out of the
trap without setting it. I don't know how squirrels would get in? I
see some of the screens in my soffit vents have been chewed up so I
but duct tape over them to see if the squirrels would chew through
the tape to get out. then I would know they were going through their.
3 soffets are still tapped shut. I just though, I have to look at the
other soffets where the screens were intact. Maybe they didn't like
the tape so the chewed through the screen in another soffet to get
out/in.

I'm guessing its squirrels because a mouse couldn't remove the whole
apple like they did. would you be able to hear the chewing of a
mouse through the walls? Again I'm guessing not and it must be a
squirrel doing the chewing... If I used poison to kill them would
they rot and cause a smell problem??? Or better to keep working on
trapping them and removing them.

Part of the problem is the difficulty of getting into the main attic.
there is no access other than squeezing between rafters and I've
gotten to old and fat for that.


thanks for any advice...

Sr

It sounds like squirrels to me. I had them (they had started chewing
through the wall) and I called out the pro. They knew what to do and what
to look for based on the time of the year. They put a trap on the roof and
got two of them. He said they were likely setting up a nest, but it was
still early so no family yet.

No problems since then a few years ago. Still plenty of squirrels
around, but non inside.

Mice in the area, but non inside. Chipmunks did get in the basement,
but the neighborhood cats have greatly reduced the mice and chipmunks in the
area. Now we have a nightly visit by a skunk. So far we have a mutual
respect for each other.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

Joseph Meehan wrote:


Now we have a nightly visit by a skunk. So far we have a mutual
respect for each other.


Prolly cuz ya both stink, Joe. ;-)

I'd agree it's most likely to be squirrels. Pest control folks will
generally throw a handful of bait into tour attic which will be eaten
by the critters. The bait has the effect of driving the animals outside
in a search for water, where they will expire. No carcasses, no smells.

You should then have someone properly fix the entry points. Consider
also whether you should trim trees adjacent to your house, since that's
from where the animals frequently gain access to your home.

When we had our issues with squirrels, we discovered some extensive
damage to wiring in our attic after their demise. Pure evil. :-)