Gnawing Squirrels Can Damage Northern New Jersey Homes
We all laugh at those funny squirrel videos on YouTube. These wily backyard acrobats seem capable of performing the most incredible contortions to get to the birdseed in your feeder. Nothing keeps a determined squirrel from achieving his goal. An admirable characteristic until his goal is to make a toasty nest in your attic. When searching for a winter nest, squirrels have been known to gnaw holes through roof shingles and wood underlayment to reach the toasty confines of an attic.
Nuisance wildlife are a pesky problem all year round. Squirrels not only steal birdseed from feeders, they carry fleas and ticks into your yard that can infect outdoor pets. In the spring, squirrels will eat the heads off your tulips. In the fall, they’ll dig up and feed on the flower bulbs you spent an afternoon planting. Squirrels are at their most destructive in the fall. Like other rodents, squirrels have teeth that grow continuously. Squirrels must gnaw constantly to keep their teeth sharp and at the proper length.
This gnawing behavior can be extremely detrimental to landscape trees. Squirrels chew or strip the bark from trees to sharpen their teeth, then feed on the exposed soft cambium fiber. If squirrels find a way into your attic, not only will they introduce fleas, mites and other problems into your home, but they have been known to gnaw through electrical wires and cause fires.
If squirrels move into your home, call your northern New Jersey pest control professional for removal.