Squirrels in the attic: the damage, and getting them out

Early in the morning at the cottage, you hear scratching and quick scurrying above the bedroom ceiling. Outside, a round, gnawed hole has appeared in the soffit at the corner of the roof. A squirrel has moved into the attic — here’s what to do, and above all what not to do.

What to do right now

1. Make sure it’s a squirrel

Red and grey squirrels are mostly active during the day: noise in the morning and late afternoon, running and scratching. Noise at night points more to mice, a raccoon or a flying squirrel, which is out at night. Outside, look for a chewed hole in the soffit, the fascia or along the roof edge, and signs of traffic. Photograph the opening from the ground.

2. Don’t seal the hole yet

That’s the instinct to resist. If the animal is inside — or worse, if there are young — sealing the hole traps them. The adult will chew a new way out, often into the house, and young left behind die in the attic, with the smell that follows. Québec.ca likewise says to make sure no animal is shut in before you close an opening.

3. Check any visible wiring

Squirrels chew wire jackets. If you can reach the attic safely, look from the hatch with a flashlight, without walking out onto the insulation. If you see a chewed wire, smell burning or a circuit keeps tripping: have a master electrician look at it right away. Bare wire buried in insulation is a fire risk.

4. Don’t go into the attic to clean up

Droppings and urine soil the insulation and can carry pathogens. Don’t handle the nest or soiled insulation with bare hands, and don’t stir up the dust: for rodent droppings, the Public Health Agency of Canada says never to sweep or dry-vacuum. Cleaning a contaminated attic is a job for a professional.

5. Call a wildlife control specialist

In Québec, capturing and moving wild animals is governed. Québec.ca is clear: relocating a wild animal far from where it was caught is strongly discouraged, and in some cases prohibited, and certain products may be used only by accredited nuisance-animal control firms. A wildlife control company knows those rules and the exclusion methods.

6. Plan the repairs

Once the animal is out, the opening needs a solid repair: soffit, fascia, roof edge. Québec.ca recommends blocking attic and chimney openings with sturdy metal mesh with 1 cm openings — the size that stops a squirrel. That’s work for an RBQ-licensed contractor, and it can be coordinated with the wildlife specialist.

Why it happens — especially at a Townships cottage

An attic is perfect shelter. It’s dry, insulated, quiet and up high. For a squirrel looking for a place to raise young or ride out the winter, it beats a hollow tree.

Cottages are surrounded by trees. In Sutton, Potton or Brome Lake, branches often touch the roof. They make a direct bridge to the soffit or the roof edge.

Squirrels chew their way in. Unlike a mouse, which slips through a crack, a squirrel enlarges a weak spot: a wood soffit softened by moisture, a seam between two roof sections, a plastic roof vent, a damaged corner of fascia. Cottages that were added onto over the years tend to have those joints.

An empty house doesn’t bother them. Nobody hears the noise, nobody sees the hole. The animal has time to settle in, nest in the insulation and have its young.

The damage, from most visible to most hidden

• The opening itself: chewed soffit, fascia or roof edge, which lets in water and other animals later.
• The insulation: flattened, shifted, soiled. Compressed or torn-up insulation works less well, which can encourage ice dams in winter.
• Electrical wiring: chewed jackets, bare wire, fire risk.
• Ducts: bathroom or ventilation ducts pierced or disconnected, pushing moist air into the attic.
• Smells and stains: urine that soaks through to the ceiling, a lingering odour.

Prevention: what you can do, and what belongs to a professional

What an owner can do:

• Walk around the roof from the ground each season, with binoculars, and photograph the soffits and edges.
• Have branches touching the roof cut back: Québec.ca suggests keeping more than three metres between trees and the building.
• Skip the bird feeder near the house: feeders draw squirrels.
• Listen for noises in the ceiling early in the morning every time you’re up.

What belongs to a professional:

• Excluding the animal by the rules, with a method suited to the season: a wildlife control specialist.
• Repairing soffits, fascia, vents and roof edges: an RBQ-licensed contractor.
• Repairing chewed wiring: a master electrician.
• Removing and replacing soiled insulation.
• Pruning trees near the roof, and coordinating any work near a power line with Hydro-Québec.

In an empty house, how long before anyone notices?

In a lived-in cottage, you hear the scratching within days. At an empty one, nobody does. The hole in the soffit is visible from outside, but only if someone looks. If the next visit is three weeks away, a squirrel has three weeks to build a nest, chew the insulation and, sometimes, the wiring.

Spotting the hole early means the animal can be excluded before a litter settles in and the damage spreads. If insurance comes into it, ask your broker: damage caused by animals is often treated separately.

What we look at on a visit

Every visit, we look from outside at the soffits, the fascia, the bottom of the siding and the foundation, and walk around the roof from the ground. Inside, we listen for noise in the ceiling, look at the top-floor ceilings, note any torn exposed insulation or chewed cords, and check for electrical smells. Every finding is photographed and time-stamped in the report.

If something’s off, we call you the same day, with photos. If needed, we meet the wildlife specialist, master electrician or RBQ-licensed contractor on site, check the work and document it.