How to Trap a Squirrel

The scurrying little animals with fluffy tails and adorable faces are liked by most of us. However, those who have had squirrels inside their homes, surely would find it difficult to share this sentiment. The main problem with these animals is that once they are inside a house, they treat it as their own! They may breed inside the house, invade the kitchen, dirty the house with their poop or with sticks that they get from outside. Once they are inside the house, they are difficult to get rid of. This is the reason that homeowners sharing their abode with these animals are always anxious to know how to trap a squirrel.

Trapping a Squirrel

The best way to trap a squirrel in your house is to begin the exercise with some detective work. You need to know the place that is frequented by the creature or the route that it takes to enter your house. This information can be obtained with a couple of days' careful watch on the squirrel. In case there is a bird feeder, this will surely be the favorite place of the squirrel. Now purchase a live animal trap. However, while buying a trap it is important to consider the size of the animal that you want to catch. Be sure that the trap comes with instructions that tell you how to catch a squirrel using it. There are the single door and the double door versions of traps that can be used. Though many people directly set the trap once they have decided, on the place that has the maximum success rate, it is better to leave the trap with the door open at the preferred location for a couple of days. This allows the squirrel to get familiar with the trap and accept it as a part of the setting.

Now on the final day, place your bait in the trap as per the instructions that came with it. Use a bait that would attract squirrels easily. Such a bait should give out a smell that the squirrels love. Peanut butter is the best choice for this purpose. Keep checking frequently to see if any squirrel has been caught. If you succeed with the trap, relocate the squirrel to a park or some place far away from your house. Now that you have trapped the squirrel in your house, the best option for relocating it is to release it at least 3 miles away from your house. Or better still, put a natural barrier like a stream or lake in between your house and the place you relocate the animal.

More than relying on methods for catching a squirrel, try to find out what attracted the creature to your home in the first place. Remove that source. It is usually food inside your house or that in the bird feeder. Use squirrel proof bird feeders that are easily available in the market. To remove any trace of the squirrel, wash the area where the squirrel was trapped or the route that it used to enter your house, with ammonia and water.

Before Setting the Trap

Before you go on to buy a trap or devise a homemade squirrel trap, check with your local authorities if you are allowed to trap a squirrel. In many places, one requires to acquire a permit or call professionals who are authorized to catch squirrels.

Another point to consider is the time when you plan the trap. Female squirrels give birth in early spring and also probably during the beginning of fall. You definitely do not want to trap and relocate a mother squirrel during this time, that would leave her children out on their own, do you?

This was all about how to trap squirrels. This task becomes necessary when one enters our homes. However, if you are fortunate enough for not having to bother about trapping a squirrel in the attic or anywhere else inside the house, then you are lucky. In many cases it's just their garden that people want to keep squirrels off from. In such a case using squirrel repellents or using wire mesh fences with electrified mesh enclosures can be used. However, if there are children or pets in the house, refrain from using electrical fences.

People whose homes have been invaded by these pesky little creatures, are often desperate to know how to trap a squirrel. You must have realized that catching a squirrel is not a very difficult task. The end of the whole exercise is to make our lives easier by having these creatures out of our homes. However, in our bid to make our lives more comfortable, we must take care that we do not cause serious harm to these little helpless animals.