If you have heard the scurring sounds in your walls and ceilings, you probably have a few new squirrel neighbors. These are some tips and tricks of getting them out of your attic so you don’t have to hear or think about squirrels anymore.

A word of warning. One of the most common methods of dealing with squirrels is finding the hole they entered into then using poisons or other products to kill them. This is a BIG problem. The issue is that dead animals in the walls decaying will make the house smell. This isn’t the best options of delaing with squirrels in the attic.

The best option is getting them out and preventing them from coming back in. Now you can spend around $300 or so for a professional to do this for you or you can try some of these tips instead.

Firstly, try repellents. Most squirrel repellents are made from the same vegetables that make hot sauces. Squirrels hate the taste and smell of these. Since they are safe to breathe yourself, get some squirrel repellent (organic) and use it in your attic as well as any openings that you find.
Can’t find the opening? Go into the attic during the day, turn out the lights, and look for any lights shining through. This should show you the holes. If you can’t find any, they may be using a vent.

The repellents may or may not work. If they have already nested, having babies, and a large supply of food, the squirrels may just deal with the problem. If they haven’t done this yet, this will prevent them from doing so as they will leave for a better option to nest and store food.

Other options to repell are keeping the lights on and playing music in the attic. The idea is to make the space they want to occupy miserable so they won’t come back.

Another simple trick is to simply block the hole during the day and see if it fixes the problem. Squirrels go out during the day to find food. If you block their entrance while they are out, they might not have a way of getting back in. This is to trap them outside as opposed to inside where they will end up stinking when they die.

If you can’t seem to catch them on the outside at the right time and have found the hole they are going through, you can find one way trap doors. These doors allow the squirrel out but not back in. This is best for those who don’t want to play the game of finding the right time to trap out the squirrel.

As a last resort, go for trapping. Read more about trapping squirrels here.

If you want to avoid this damage, you have to learn how to get rid of squirrels.

The first step is to look at what is attracting the squirrels. Maybe it’s your garden and flowers. Maybe it’s the bird feeder in the yard. Maybe it’s food scraps left outside by your pets. For the time being with your squirrel problem you may want to try taking out your bird feeder and see if that helps. Try each squirrel attracter until you can find the source of the problem. Maybe there is a tree with branches out of control near your home. Try your best to identify the attractor because this helps much of the squirrel problem.

One of the most common problems is that there are seeds left around the garden or extra bird seed on the ground near the feeder. Clean up a little and the squirrels may go elsewhere in search for food.

Let’s say you have tried everything. How do you get rid of your squirrel problem?

There are two main conventional ways. The first is traps and the second is repellents.

Traps are more for the expert who understands what live trapping is about. If you aren’t sure what to do with live traps and don’t have much experience it’s probably best to go with repellents.

Do squirrel repellents really work?

Much like all pest repellents there are those that swear by them and those who believe they don’t work at all. Many squirrel repellents have hot scents and flavors which squirrels do not like which can help keep them away. Try this around your garden since it’s garden safe and around areas of the yard and house that you have a problem and see what results you get. These are even safe in the attic if organic since they won’t hurt you if you breathe them (just make sure on the packaging). For more in depth information on

If all else fails, get a professional to remove them, but it’s best to try all the steps first because if your yard and house are attracting them, once the squirrels are removed, it’s likely they will come back.