If you have a squirrel or a family of squirrels causing problems on your property or in your attic please contact Custom Pest Solutions for more information on how we can provide safe, humane, reliable, and effective squirrel removal, trapping, control, and exclusion services. There is no squirrel problem that we cannot handle. Removing squirrels in the attic sooner rather than later is critical to preventing extensive damage. 

Squirrels are nimble, bushy-tailed rodents found everywhere in Florida, from coastal area to inland. They  live in a variety of habitats: forest, suburban, and city areas. Squirrels establish a home base and often live in human structures such attics and chimneys, becoming nuisance animals to homeowners and business owners. Squirrels will chew holes into different parts of your home or business, or they will take advantage of existing holes due to constructions gaps to gain access into your attic. Once inside, they will chew electrical wires, ducts, and pipes, create a toxic environment by defecating and urinating within the walls and cause extensive damage to your attic insulation. 

They can decrease your property’s value when they go unchecked and  can create a real potential fire hazard.  It is estimated that rodents are responsible for 20 to 25 percent of all fires of unknown causes because of their propensity for chewing electrical wiring and gas lines. Rodent incisors, the two front top and the two front bottom teeth, constantly grow throughout their lives. This ensures that their teeth never wear down from constantly gnawing on hard objects. 

With these teeth they will also chew through water pipes causing substantial damage that can occur either over time, or as one big "flood." When damage is slow, a small amount of water will continuously seep into spaces within the walls, causing wooden beams to rot and the buildup of toxic mold. Drop by drop, the damage can accumulate over weeks into a problem that can cost thousands of dollars to fix. In other cases, rats can chew through water pipes that are already weak and worn out. Because the pipes are already fragile, the rodent damage can cause the pipes to burst, with large amounts of water loss occurring quickly.

Squirrels will construct large nest in an attic where they will then have their babies. If a litter of squirrels is successfully raised in your home or business, they will return there to raise their young time after time.  Each time the squirrel will defecate and urinate multiple times in an attic creating a health hazard for the occupants. Many of the most dangerous diseases that are present in the squirrel population are transmitted through feces and urine. 

Squirrels can spread serious diseases like tularemia, typhus, plague, and ringworm to humans and other animals. These diseases can be transmitted through the air, their droppings and by scratches and/or bites. But even if you never come into direct contact with a squirrel, you are still at risk from the diseases these pests can carry through bites from fleas, ticks or mites that have previously fed on infected rodents. Some of the diseases humans can get from the parasites include Lyme disease, Encephalitis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Keeping squirrels out of your property is the best way to ensure the health and safety of homeowners and their pets as well as business owners and their employees and customers. 

In Central Florida we have 3 main species: the Southern Flying Squirrel, the Fox Squirrel, and the Eastern Gray Squirrel. 
 

The southern flying squirrel is found in wooded areas throughout Florida, except in the Keys. They have large eyes,  buff-brown to gray fur with a white underside, and a wide, flat tail. Adults are usually from 8 to 10 inches in length, including a 3 to 4 inch tail, and usually weigh no more than 2 or 3 ounces.  A special flap of loose skin between the wrists and ankles stretches out to create a sort of parachute that enables this squirrel to glide from tree to tree. Their tail is used for guidance of “flights” that can be from 30 to 50 feet. 

The Southern Flying Squirrel is active during all seasons buy may remain in its nest in very cold weather and will hibernate in times of extreme cold or food scarcity. It is the most carnivorous of the tree squirrels and feeds on nuts, acorns, seeds, berries, fungi,  birds and their nestlings and eggs, some insects, and sometimes other vertebrates, including rotting flesh. Hard parts and wings of larger insects are often discarded. Great quantities of nuts, acorns, and seeds are stored in tree hollows, in their nests, in crotches or cracks in trees, and in the ground.  Southern Flying Squirrels may store up to 15,000 nuts in a season. 
  
The Southern Flying Squirrel breeds in January or February and again in August or September with  litters of 1 to 6 kits born each time.

The flying squirrels are the only nocturnal tree squirrels and present an entirely different problem for homeowners than other kinds of squirrels since they  run around the attic making noise and scratching sounds at night disrupting any chance of a good night’s sleep! Other telltale signs of flying squirrels include insulation formed into "peaks" and their feces will be molasses like in appearance.
 

The eastern gray squirrel is found in wooded, suburban, and urban areas everywhere in Florida. Basically, they live anywhere there are large trees. It is usually light to dark grayish brown with a white or buff underside but may also be all white or blonde with a white underside. It has small, rounded ears and a long flattened and bushy tail with a white or gray tip. Adults are 16 to 20 inches long including its 7 to 9 inch tail and usually weighs around 1 pound.  

It nests in tree hollows or leaf nests in treetops. It forages during the day, mainly early morning and late afternoon, both on the ground and in trees, living on a diet of acorns, nuts, fruits, berries, insects, and bird eggs. 

Eastern gray squirrels breed in late winter or early spring and again in late spring or summer. The litters contain 2 to 6 kits. When the summer litter is due, the female selects a new nest site, leaving the den to the juveniles.

They eastern gray squirrel tends to be more aggressive than some of the other species in the area.

Regardless of the species of squirrel,  you do not want any of them inside your property. If you think you have squirrels on your property, give us a call so we can help you with your squirrel problem.  

Our priority when we first arrive on your property is to perform a thorough inspection to determine where the entry points are that the squirrel used to gain entry inside your home or office.  While squirrels might be nesting in your attic when they sleep, they are almost certainly coming in and out of your home throughout the day foraging for food. Locating the entry point makes it much easier to not only get rid of the squirrels but also to keep them out. We will also determine how much damage the squirrels have caused. . Each situation is different therefore each situation must be carefully inspected so that we can develop a custom squirrel removal solution to fit your needs.

We then start the squirrel removal process by setting traps to remove the squirrels.  These traps are checked and monitored by our trained technicians until we are satisfied that all squirrels have been removed from your property. 

Our next step is to close the entry points and repair all holes created by the squirrels to keep them out in the future. We offer remediation services as well as full attic restorations to clean up the mess they make and remove any soiled insulation, squirrel droppings, and urine that may be in the attic. We also recommend fogging the attic with an antimicrobial disinfectant to kill any remaining bacteria so that the area is safe for people to enter again. We will also deodorizer the area to remove any pheromones left behind that will attract more squirrels into your attic in the future. 

Through years of experience, we have developed specialized tactics for dealing with squirrels. We use only the latest and most up to date equipment and techniques to take care of your squirrel problem.