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Preston Pest Control Squirrels
Please be aware that squirrels
are subject to complicated legislation and professional help should be
sought.
The squirrel population in Preston has rocketed over the last 20 years
to the degee that they are now a major pest species.
The grey squirrels which we see in our parks and gardens (Sciurus
carolinensis) are not native to the U.K., having been brought here less
than 200 years ago.
Like many members of the family Sciuridae, the Grey Squirrel is a
hoarder; it hoards food in many small caches for subsequent recovery.
Some hoards, especially those made near the site of a sudden surplus of
food.
Other stores are more permanent and are not retrieved until months
later. It has been observed that each squirrel makes several thousand
caches each season. The squirrels have very good spatial memory for the
locations of these caches, and use distant and nearby landmarks to find
them. Smell is used once the squirrel is within a few centimetres of
the cache.
The nest of the grey squirrel is called a dray (or drey) and it is
normal for the female to have two litters per year, with two to four
babies each.
They are minor problems, rooting up bulbs and taking food intended for
birds but can become major pests when they come into our houses.
It is increasingly common for pest controllers to attend homes where a
nest has been constructed in a loft or attic space.
Squirrels are true rodents and as such have continually growing teeth;
the word rodent comes from the Latin ‘rodere’
meaning ‘to gnaw o eat away’ and this they do
extremely well.
It is rare to enter a roof space where a dray has been constructed and
find that they have not damaged electrical wiring, indeed it is
estimated that forty percent of fires without an obviously attributable
cause may be started by rodents damaging wiring.
Unfortunately they can also chew through water-pipes, especially with
the recent trend towards plastic push-fit piping.
Preston Pest Control Squirrels Typical
costs
on request |
As if
that isn’t enough, many household insurance policies
specifically exclude damage by rodents so if a squirrel floods your
home by chewing through a pipe in the loft you may find yourself
without insurance cover.
Removing squirrels requires professional help, not least in as much as
the law regarding squirrels restricts your options. You cannot simply
buy a packet of rat poison from your local store and deal with them
that way as you would be committing a criminal offence.
Furthermore you cannot trap them and move them some distance from your
home, not only would removing a squirrel from the area of its food
caches would probably condemn it to death by starvation, it is also a
criminal offence under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981
under which it is illegal to release a grey squirrel in Britain.
That applies also to rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing injured
squirrels.
In the majority cases trapping is the the only option and this must be
done in a specified manner with routine, timed inspections of the traps.
Trapped squirrels should be then humanely dispatched.
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