If you saw this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK/s/mUMvxOS1Du

I'm pleased it's not rats but now I'm conflicted because landlord wants to use poison and I'd rather not and also don't want them to die. Any humane ways of removing the squirrels?

by ItsBoughtnotBrought

30 comments

  1. I might be wrong but I think they’re classed as vermin and if you catch one you are expected to kill it (humanely), I might be wrong though.

    How you’d actually do that is another question though which I can’t answer!

  2. “Shit! Dave, we’ve been rumbled. Grab the nuts! QUICK – Throw them out!! I am not going down again for this Dave, do you hear me!”

  3. They are vermin and will cause a lot of damage. If you catch one, it’s illegal to release it back into the wild

  5. That second pics a belter haha….I imagine he’s saying “shit we’ve been busted” 😂

  6. You say “just” but they are a serious issue, they can chew through electricals and cause fires.

  7. I’d get a professional in…. the amount of damage squirrels can do to wiring and so on makes it worth it…

  8. ‘Just’ let’s revisit that once you’ve dealt with them 😂

  10. There is no such thing as just “squirrels”

    OP admit defeat while you can MOVE!

  13. Grey squirrels are classified as vermin (an invasive species). They are extremely destructive when taking up residence in a house – they chew plastic water pipes, wiring and eat through certain woods. You need to let the landlord remove them before they damage the property with you or your things in it.

  14. Guy I work with had to have his whole roof replaced because of squirrel damage. I had to repair a load of wiring because of ours and they could easily have caused a fire. I’d genuinely rather have rats.

    You’re not allowed to poison squirrels. So it’ll have to be traps, or someone shooting them. Releasing trapped squirrels is illegal as they’re vermin. 

    It’s your landlords problem.

  15. Do you want them to chew through any electrical cables that are sat on your loft ceiling? Those squirrels will get under the loft insulation, they love it, and chew through anything underneath it! Why are they still in there?!???!

    Your landlord doesn’t know how serious this is!

  17. so cute! i mean they also just want a nice home. looks they determined yours was just fine to share with you

  18. Get a professional in, get the squirrels out, and repair the hole. I’ve had to do the same.

  20. So we used to have squirrels in the loft years back, and rats more recently. As everyone else is saying, they are very destructive. Rats stink and chew things that smell tasty or are in their way: squirrels will chew anything just for the hell of it and they will happily chew any wiring they come across (plus anything you’ve got stored up there). Landlord needs to understand this is something they want fixing or it’s going to cause way more issues.

    We were lucky, spotted them early and had an obvious ingress point. Sealed the opening with chicken wire and they didn’t get back in (but note that it is in the realm of possibility a determined squirrel will still chew through chicken wire).

  21. I have them occasionally. We had a pregnant one that was completely massive. My fear is they can chew on electrical cables and if they get stuck they can go down through your ceiling.

  22. Presumably the landlord is too much of a cheapskate to get a pro pest controller in? Push him to do that if you can.

    There are lethal non-poison traps (there’s a gas powered one) he can get, and either way he will need to check daily for corpses.

    Additionally, everything needs to be checked for damage – wires, pipes, woodwork – and access (and potential access) points need to be repaired and sealed.

  23. I used my autonomous home products to get rid of them in a green way. Motion sensor which activated a light and 10 seconds alarm. After 3 days they stopped returning to the house so I took the equipment back down. They learn fast when a bright light and alarm goes off!

  24. Was in this very situation, didn’t want to harm them as I thought they are very cute. No matter what I tried (music, voices, disturbing them), the squirrel would never ever leave, they would just move to a different corner of the attic, impossible to catch. Was extremely worried about cables plus there started to be poop everywhere plus the noise was unnerving, and had to call a professional in. He caught the squirrel in one day, and took it away with him. I heard the law requires them to kill them as it’s invasive species. If you have the time you can try to contact some charities like urban squirrels and ask if they might be able to help with live traps. Also it’s a must have to fix the entry they used to get into your roof. Don’t underestimate them, squirrels can make unreal mess, cute as they are 

  25. Grey Squirrels are some of the worse vermin in the country. Eat everything, kill trees frequently.

    They should all be exterminated.

    (I understand this will not be a popular take – but something needs to be done to save the Red Squirrel from extinction)

  26. Get rid of them as quickly as possible. They caused about £2k of damage to our wiring in a short space of time. They’ll have young and they’ll be difficult to get them out. 

    Not joking, get rid of them ASAP.

  27. We have birds in ours. I don’t have the heart to get rid of them. They have built a nice home in there for their babies. They need somewhere warm to live too.

  28. Don’t use poison, they’ll crawl in somewhere hidden and rot away, causing many more issues. If you’ve got a ladder or know someone handy get up there and board it off, or put wire mesh over the existing hole.

  29. Spoke to a pest control guy: squirrels are the WORST. They will destroy a loft.

    Get rid of them fast.

  30. Every pest control guy I know says squirrels are worse than rats.

    Good luck!

Comments are closed.