People see squirrels as friends, but miss out on the fact that squirrels can be pests even though they are not as notorious as, say, mosquitoes, roaches, and rats. We could not blame people for thinking about them as pets because they really look cute. Yes, they are lovable, but they are just as capable of destruction as rodents do. They chew on electric cables and gas pipes, making them a real fire hazard. They invade homes and make them their own home, which is still very problematic because of the damage they can do. They can destroy roofing and sidings.
It is dangerous to have squirrels around especially if you have pets. Squirrels carry fleas and ticks because they come from outdoors. It is easy to catch diseases for you and your family when you have squirrel infestation problems because they themselves might carry diseases; aside from the diseases carried by fleas and ticks, of course. Squirrels are as much a problem for residents of Chapel Hill as much as it is to the rest of the world. The good news is that there are Chapel Hill exterminators that can help them out: Go-Forth Home Services. We're a great company for pest control that leads them all.
What Are Squirrels?
Squirrels are relatives of small and medium-sized rodents. They have hind limbs that are longer than the forelimbs. They have 4 or five toes in each of their sturdy paws, though they have poorly developed thumbs. Their claws have powerful grasps, yet have soft pads on the underside. They normally have slender bodies, large eyes, and hairy tails. They have soft and silky fur, depending on the type of squirrel. They have large eyes which gives them a great vision.
They live in almost every habitat as they are great survivors. They cannot survive in dry deserts and in high polar regions.
Squirrels mate once or twice every year. When they give birth, their offspring are hairless, toothless, and sightless. Females look after their young, while the males don’t.
Types Of Squirrels
If you want to know how many types of squirrels there are, well, there are 200 types of squirrels all over the world. We do not need to talk about all of them, let us focus on the most common ones. We have listed below those that are here in the United States:
Gray Squirrels
The diet of gray squirrels include nuts, seeds, flowers of trees, baby birds, bird eggs, frogs, toads, and insects, and buds. They are omnivores, which means they feed on a wide variety of foods. They can also be cannibalistic, eating their own kind. Gray squirrels give headaches to gardeners because they eat up their plants, plus the fact that they hide more food than they can eat for the winter.
Aside from having good vision due to their big eyes, they have an amazing sense of smell. With their sense of smell, they are able to search for food and to get information about their fellow squirrels. They communicate with each other through body signals and making sounds. They always look out for each other as they alert their fellow squirrels by making sounds whenever a predator is spotted. Foxes and hawks are some of their enemies.
On their reproduction, an adult female squirrel can start producing offspring as early as their fifth month and continue doing this twice a year. They can live up to 5 years. Gray squirrels like to enter houses through gutters and nearby trees and bushes.
Pine Squirrels
They love pines, and being named pine squirrels is the best thing to do for them. They are also known as chickarees. They can be found in pine forests eating pine seeds most of the time. There are three types of pine squirrels: the Douglas, Mearns, and the American red. Douglas squirrels weigh around 150 to 300 grams. They change colors between summer and winter; they are reddish-brown during the summer with brown color on top and are gray during winter. They like to be isolated, though they build nests in trees using shredded barks, mosses, and twigs during the summer.
In the winter they are in underground burrows or in tree cavities. They like to eat conifer seeds, fruits, acorns, mushrooms, nuts, and sap. Next are the American red squirrels. They are red in color and are only 6 to 7 inches in length and about 6 inches tall. They too are sometimes called chickarees. The adult female American red squirrels mate only twice a year; one day in February and one day in August. They like to eat fruits, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, caps, cones, pine seeds, and bark.
Aside from that they also hunt for small birds and eggs, mice, small rabbits, and insects. Lastly, Mearns’s squirrels are the heaviest of the pine squirrels, weighing at 9.5 ounces. Mearns’s nest in tree cavities instead of the usual leaf nests and burrows that other squirrels use. They have stronger jaws as compared to the other pine squirrels. They can carry heavier loads than the Douglas and American red squirrels.
Fox Squirrels
Fox squirrels are the largest of the tree squirrels. Its body length is 10 inches to 15 inches. Their color patterns are depending on the area they are found in. Fox squirrels in the northeastern area have gray fur with yellowish undersides. Out in the western range, fox squirrels are black or brown and have a white stripe and white tip on the face and tail. They are solitary creatures, unlike their distant relatives, the rats, and mice.
Despite this, they do feed in one area with all the rest. They spend the whole day gathering food and eating, which actually makes them such pests when they get near human dwellings because they usually raid houses. Their diet consists of fruits, berries, corn, seeds, and nuts. They also hunt for insects, moths, and beetles. They do not pick time or season to mate. It is normal for males to fight for one female. The successful male will get to live with the female like a husband and wife. The female will give birth 6 to 7 weeks after mating to a litter of about 2 to 4 offspring. Fox squirrels are also known as the eastern fox squirrels
Flying Squirrels
They are called flying squirrels even though they do not really fly, but they look like they can because they glide from one place to another. Flying squirrels usually live inside tree cavities of hardwoods. They can grow up to 9 inches long. That includes the tail which is 3 to 4 inches long. The adults weigh about 3 ounces. They can enter tiny cracks and holes around your house, so be wary of them. They are brown in color with white bellies and dense furs.
What makes them look like they can fly is the thin skin that extends from the sides of their bodies which connects the front and back legs. They glide to as far as 200 feet, with their legs spread-eagled using their tails as guidance. They are nocturnal. They can become very noisy and can be heard landing into roofs.
Squirrels As Pests
If you have a garden, they eat your vegetables and fruits. Indoors, squirrels can nibble on your electric wires and gas pipes, making them fire hazards. They can destroy bird feeders. They can be a real nuisance to have around the house.
Getting Rid Of Squirrels
Watch for these signs of a squirrel infestation:
- Noises in the attic that probably came from squirrels.
- They may also be hiding in walls, vents, or chimneys.
- You might find your bird feeders damaged.
- Chewed wires could mean you have rats, mice, or squirrels.
- You might also see evidence of squirrels nesting in your attic.
- Damage in the attic insulation.
Here are some tips on how to get rid of squirrels:
- Inspect around your house for cracks and openings.
- Seal all of these openings, including those around the doors and windows.
- Vents and openings to chimneys can be covered using screens.
- Cover your trash cans and garbage bins. Dispose of your garbage properly.
- Keep your food inside sealed containers.
- Trim your tree branches to about 6 to 8 feet from your rooflines.
- You can buy a natural squirrel repellent. Choose one that is made of urine from natural squirrel predators.
- Lay aluminum foil over your vegetable pots. Squirrels do not like the shiny reflection coming from aluminum foils.
- Remove firewood placed at the side of your house so that they would not be hiding in them.
- Dogs and cats are actually good at chasing squirrels away.
Most Effective Way To Control Squirrels
If you already have squirrel infestation problems, let the best pest control management in Chapel Hill help you.
Go-Forth Home Services is the leading pest control company in North and South Carolina, having more than 60 years of experience exterminating pests. You can check them out on Facebook or Google to see what their clients say about them.