Squirrels are not hard to find in the Portland Metro area, skittering about in trees and on rooftops in just about every neighborhood. Despite the fact that squirrels are rodents, their bushy tail and deep black eyes somehow make them less threatening than their hated cousins, rats and mice. Many home owners even encourage their presence on their property by providing food for them. It is because of this that the squirrel population has begun to get out of control.
When squirrels are not able to find a free meal left out for them, their diet consists of pine seeds, conifer cones, buds on trees and seeds. Since they cannot digest cellulose, they must eat protein rich foods, carbohydrates and fats.
Squirrels breed once to twice a year and have a varying amount of young. They live about 6 years naturally, but many do not make it this far in life because of neighborhood cats or, even more threatening, getting run over by cars. With these constant threats, the average life span of a squirrel is only one year.
Excellent climbers, squirrels will easily climb trees and jump onto the roof of homes and try to find access to an attic space, which provides ideal shelter and insulation for nesting material. Access to the attic can either be found or created by chewing through an area on the roof (usually underneath gables). Once inside of a home, squirrels can create significant contamination through feces and urine, chew through electrical wires and make a lot of noise.
What You Can Do
The first thing that you can do is to stop feeding them. By feeding squirrels, you are encouraging their population growth, which is already much too high in the Portland area. Second, if you have tree branches overhanging your roof, consider cutting them down. Without easy access to your roof from a tree, squirrels are less likely to climb up and look for entry into your attic.
What We Can Do
With our extensive knowledge of construction, we are able to identify likely entry points and repair them. Generally, these entry points are underneath gables and eaves and require some expertise to get to them and repair them. We also specialize in the humane trapping and removal of squirrels.
Regardless of what situation you face when it comes to squirrels or any other nuisance wildlife, we can assist you. Our staff is standing by to take your call to offer a free inspection of your property or even just some advice. Please let us know if we can help.
Photo credit: Tolka Rover / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA