An Ounce (Or Two) Of Prevention Can Keep The Squirrels Away

By Shannon Hicks

Certified Wildlife Control Professional Craig Lewis had four calls last week alone from homeowners who had squirrels in their homes. It’s a fairly common call this time of the year, he said, when animals are looking for shelter and any available food source.

“It’s a crazy busy time of the year for me,” said Mr Lewis, who responded to one of those calls in Newtown.

Jean Ann and Will Heise, who live on Brushy Hill Road, called on Mr Lewis for some help on January 4.

“I was in the kitchen last night and heard these tiny footsteps,” Mr Heise. “I turned around and looked right at him,” he said of a squirrel that had made its way into his home. “He looked right back at me, and then nonchalantly turned around and walked away.”

Mr Heise followed the squirrel into a guest bedroom, where he then trapped the critter in a fireplace, putting a piece of plywood in front of the fireplace’s opening and using duct tape to secure it into place for the overnight. Friday morning Mr Heise put a call in to Aardvark Wildlife Control, who sent Mr Lewis out to help the homeowner get the squirrel back outside where it belonged.

The Heises have had squirrels in their home before, but never when they were home. In the past a squirrel found its way into the house while the couple was out of town, and managed to find its way out — via a windowpane — on its own. This time the Heises were home and they did not want to try to catch the animal on their own. Nor did they want their cat, Sophie, who is “a great mouser,” to be involved, either.

When they contacted Mr Lewis, he promised it would be a catch and release job.

“That’s the best thing, if you can release them right back where they live,” he said. “That way they’re right back where they live and they don’t stress as much as other options.”

Mr Lewis is one of five certified wildlife control professionals in the state (there are more than 300 wildlife professionals, but only five are certified), and one of just three certified wildlife damage professionals. He is the only person in the state to hold both credentials.

The Newtown job was fairly easy for him. Mr Heise had been able to trap the squirrel Thursday night, and one of the biggest obstacles on Friday morning was finding some wasp spray. Once Mr Lewis pulled the plywood away from the fireplace and took his first look up into the chimney, a few wasps began to sluggishly make their presence known.

After a shot of wasp spray, however, that problem was solved. The next was to figure out how to reach the squirrel. Using a SeeSnake, a video tool with a small camera on the end of a flexible hose that is connected to a small screen, Mr Lewis was able to ascertain that the squirrel had made its way onto the chimney shelf. Situated at the base of the chimney but just above the throat, the shelf was just out of Mr Lewis’s arm reach.

Wearing gauntlet gloves, Mr Lewis picked up one of his extended grabbers and prepared to reach in to catch the squirrel.

He paused first, offering a few words to Mr Lewis and his daughter, Diana, who was videotaping the incident.

“It’s going to sound much worse than it is when I reach in there with these,” Mr Lewis said. “He’s going to chatter, squeal and make sounds like I’m killing him.

“I’m not,” he promised. “I’m not even hurting him, but to him I’m the predator and he thinks this is it for him.”

Mr Lewis is good at his job — he was able to get the squirrel out of the chimney, into a cage and then released it outside in less than 20 minutes for the Heises — but he is also open to sharing some advice to homeowners to help avoid these kinds of situations.

“Put a cap on your chimney. That’s your first line of defense against anything getting into your house,” he said.

The Heises had some masonry work done recently and forgot to get one of the employees to return to their house to put the new chimney cap on before winter set in.

 “We’ll definitely do that now,” Mr Heise said.

“This time of the year they’re just looking for shelter and any available food source,” said Mr Lewis. “[Putting a cap on] is one of the easiest things to do to make sure they don’t find either of those in your house.”

Another thing homeowners should do is to trim all tree branches at least ten feet away from their house.

“This will stop squirrels from using your roof as a highway,” said Mr Lewis. Trimming back the branches, he added, is also good for mold reduction, and lessens the threat of robbers and burglars being able to access the roof.

“Bird feeders are a big lure for squirrels, too,” he said. “Keep them away from the house, and pick up seed from the ground. Switching to thistle and white safflower can also help because squirrels will leave those seeds alone.”