Squirrels in my attic - is a nest with babies likely this time of year? (house)

[jeffs555]

Squirrels have gnawed a hole in the facia board on my house and were running around in my attic. I am pretty sure all the adult squirrels are out of the attic and I have covered the hole with aluminum flashing. I have looked all over the attic and can't find a nest but I would hate to have a nest full of dead baby squirrels up there.

[lovebrentwood]

Are you sure the squirrels are gone?

I had squirrels, at another house, that gnawed through the attic and ran down the stairs into our living space. The kids and I ran screaming into the driveway. I thought the squirrel ran down into the basement.

When the squirrel removal guy came, he checked out the basement, and said there were no squirrels because he couldn't see or hear any. He said "they aren't that smart," and couldn't be that quiet. I told him no way could a squirrel get out where it came in because it'd have to go all the way back upstairs, and that was unlikely.

I insisted he leave a trap.

He did, and a very angry squirrel was in the trap the next morning.

Are you sure all the squirrels are gone?

(If not, I guess you'll find out one way or another.)

Your squirrels were most likely just trying to get out of the cold and probably hadn't started building a nest yet if you didn't find any nesting material up there.

[xraydude]

If I were you I would error on the side of caution and put a couple of have a heart traps in your attic and see if you come up with something. Can't hurt anything, and if any squirrels come back you will be ready for them.

[brooks2007]

That is a good story... Reminds me of the squirrel scene in Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation!

I thought that was a very good question, so looked it up! It looks like you "should" be safe though this link states (if it's on the internet it HAS to be true, right!?) that they breed Dec - Feb.

Takes about 2 months for the babies to arrive, however. Hopefully you just interrupted the honeymoon...

When are baby squirrels born, and why don't we see them up in the trees? | Answerbag

[HerewecomeNC]

This should scare you into getting checked out as soon as possible. We had this problem at our last house (in Ohio) and a couple of the baby squirrels and another larger squirrel died in the walls of our home and the horrible odor lasted for days and then we had maggots falling out of our vents. It was an absolute horror!!

[frankpc]

Definitely that time of year, I saw a squirrel building a nest today ...ACE sells traps that do a good job.

I saw an article in the N&O Saturday (?) that said you cannot relocate animals in NC due to disease concerns. So if you capture it you legally can only release it your backyard (guess what happens then) or kill it.

Frank