I think about a week ago I noticed a noise above my kitchen table. Maybe it's been a couple of weeks, but I know not too long. I don't often sit in there, and it's been a couple times in the afternoon I've been in the den and thought I heard my wife in the kitchen, but she wasn't there.

So I just heard it and went to look, and sure enough there was Mr. Squirrel looking back at me. He/she seemed surprisingly unafraid, but I didn't stay long.

So do I make sure the pellet rifle is sighted in and take him out? I think I could get to the body for removal. I have no idea how much of the attic he's roaming, but where I saw him was at least 10 feet from the eave.

I'd rather catch him and release him somewhere far away, but I don't know how likely it is to be successful, and I don't want to miss my chance to nail him while he isn't too spooked. If he is a she, is there any chance she's got a nest with babies? I'm in south Louisiana and I'm guessing they wouldn't be reproducing in the middle of hunting season.

What do y'all suggest?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: honestlou,

Get a humane trap. If you release him over five miles away he will not be back. Once he is out find the opening. Peanut butter makes a good bait.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Get a humane trap. If you release him over five miles away he will not be back. Once he is out find the opening. Peanut butter makes a good bait.

And then find out how he got there and shut that down. We had a red squirrel and had access into our attached garage and then up to second floor attic area.

You also need to find his entry/exit point(s) so You can seal them off so ya don't get a repeat appearance from some other critter.

quote:

What do I do with a squirrel in my attic?

INGREDIENTS

▢ 3 squirrels, cut into serving pieces
▢ Salt
▢ Flour for dusting
▢ 1/3 cup olive oil
▢ 2 cups sliced onion
▢ 3 garlic cloves, minced
▢ 1 heaping tablespoon tomato paste
▢ 1 cup white wine
▢ 1/4 cup cider vinegar
▢ 1 heaping teaspoon dried savory or oregano
▢ 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
▢ 1 heaping tablespoon paprika
▢ 2 to 3 cups of whole peeled tomatoes, torn into large pieces
▢ 1 pound smoked sausage, such as kielbasa or linguica, sliced into bite-sized pieces
▢ 1 pound greens, kale, chard, collards, wild greens, etc
▢ black pepper to taste



INSTRUCTIONS

Salt the squirrel pieces well and then dust in flour. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy, lidded pot over medium-high heat. Brown the squirrels in batches, being sure to not overcrowd the pot. Move the browned pieces to a plate or cutting board while you cook the rest.

When the squirrels have been nicely browned, remove them all from the pot and add the onion.

Saute the onion until it just begins to brown on the edges, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the tomato paste, mix well and cook this for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often.

Pour in the white wine, vinegar and about 1 quart of water. Add the savory, red pepper flakes and paprika, then the torn-up tomatoes, then the squirrel. Mix well and bring to a simmer. Add salt to taste and cook gently until the squirrel wants to fall off the bone, about 90 minutes. Fish out all the squirrel pieces and pull them off the bone -- this makes the stew a lot easier to eat. Return them to the pot.

Add the smoked sausage and the greens and cook until the greens are done, about 10 minutes (If you are using collards, they need more than 10 minutes to cook so adjust accordingly). Add salt, black pepper, chile and vinegar to taste and serve with crusty bread.

Last time I was afflicted with squirrels in the attic, I opened the access hatch and tossed in 15 pounds of tom cat. There was a lot of noise for a few minutes and then the cat appeared back at the hatch, full of spiderwebs but looking victorious. I then located where the squirrels had damaged the attic vents and repaired it with hardware cloth.

Kind of expensive, but you can use this to see where the entrance and exit are before you kill/remove it.


https://shoprodentfree.com/pro...s/uv-tracking-powder

I had a squirrel in my furnace vent once. Opening the bottom of the flue and luring him out with a peanut place atop the adjacent water heater took only about five minutes to lure him out (I did have to leave he area). Once out, his exit options were limited and Mr. Broom convinced him to exit the house by way of the door.

Now I have the top of the chimney/flue stack screened and none of his buddies has shown up to find the magic source of peanuts.

My point being, work with the critter's natural instincts rather than fight them. The advice about finding the point of ingress and sealing it is sound, but if this is a rare event, expect the rarity to continue.

Rat shot out of a .22. Highly effective inside of 10-15 feet. I've tested it on a piece of 3/8 drywall and it didn't penetrate. But everything I've shot with it has died. In contrast to the video above, I've killed them with rat traps too.

Shoot it

Skin it

Add some teriyaki marinade

Dry thoroughly

You have squirrel jerky

I've used this Havahart model 1025 to catch and relocate 50 chipmunks, 2 gray squirrels, 1 red squirrel and several birds (the birds unintentionally).

Sunflower seeds is all I've ever used for bait.

I caught a squirrel in my attic with a Victor rat trap and almond butter. Do not be cheap. Buy three or four traps and nail those down.

Terminate with Extreme Prejudice! Kill. Kill! KILL!

We had a flying squirrel get into our basement. First the son-of-a-bitch got into a a bag of bird food my wife was storing downstairs. So I removed the remnants of the bag.

The next night the mother fucker comes upstairs, strolls past three cats, and proceeds eat into a loaf of bread.

After that I put a whole bunch of nuts downstairs to keep him the basement until I could figure out what to do.

A couple days later I found some humane traps. I used peanut butter as bait. Got the fucker the first night.

I drove him down to a local park and released him. He made a bee line for the woods as soon as I opened the trap.

quote:

Originally posted by honestlou:
<<snip>>
So I just heard it and went to look, and sure enough there was Mr. Squirrel looking back at me. He/she seemed surprisingly unafraid, but I didn't stay long.

So do I make sure the pellet rifle is sighted in and take him out? I think I could get to the body for removal. I have no idea how much of the attic he's roaming, but where I saw him was at least 10 feet from the eave.
<<snip>>

Squirrels had invaded and destroyed the attic in this house when we first moved in 10 years ago. Cleanup and repair was a nightmare and had to be left to the professionals.

Next chance you get, CHOOT DAT THANG!!!

We had a family get in our attic, figured out they were using a tree branch to get on the roof and they chewed a hole right above rain gutter. I patrolled the hole as often as I could with my Gamo, caught a few on the roof, caught a couple with their head peeking out of the hole, head shots, flop to the ground. Sealed the hole and cut back the tree

I appreciate the replies. I’d rather trap him, although V-Tail’s stew recipe looks really good.

I guess I’ll take a shot with a live trap first. If that doesn’t work then it’s time for stew.

EDIT: Is peanut butter good for squirrels? Actual nuts?

Peanut butter won’t hurt them.
You could try to make a peanut butter sandwich, maybe some milk, hang out with him for a while, talk to the lil bugger. He might actually be pretty cool.

Bring up the topic of “Rent”.
“Hey lil guy, no one rides for free!”

Hopefully he’ll pay up his share.


If not, bash that fuckers knees with Mr Babe Ruth, make him crawl home. Break hit little thumbs before he turns the doorknob.

He’ll learn the lesson.