I guess I need to qualify my statement about insurance policies. Mine says: Losses not insured: We do not insure for loss either consisting of, or caused directly or indirectly by:c. birds, insects, vermin, rodents, or domestic animals.

I talked to my agent and she said squirrel damage fell under the vermin category. Your insurance policy may be different.

It may be a wise idea to find out before a claim is required.

Rick in MN

Man you have to play with the trigger on the live trap to make sure it's right. Don't give up yet!

Hollaback Squirrel

I had a similar problem.   I don't visit my attic often, so by the time I discovered the squirrel infestation,  they were v-e-r-y at home.  Like some bad sgtar15 skit, these guys had moved into-- get this -- an old Barbie doll house my daughter was storing up there.

The little bastages also had nibbled all the insulation off a ten foot  run of romex -- why it didn't start a fire I don't know.   They also stink.  Attic still smells like squirrel piss a year later.

Here's the challenge.   Squirrels leave a scent trail whereever they go.   So if you chase 'em out and block the hole, they just follow their urine trail back to the now boarded-up entrance and just eat another hole right next to it.

Dropping them off in the country is really just a slow death.  Other squirrels already live there and they'll just drive them out.  Drop them too close to home, and they'll find their way back.

You got to kill them, their cousins, their in-laws, any neighbor squirrels that may have visited.   I used a live trap baited with peanut butter and the trip mechanism polished to a hair trigger.  When I'd catch one, I just upended the entire trap into a 35 gallon trash can full of water.   No feaking way was I going to reach into t hat trap and pull out a pissed-off squirrel by hand.  Also,  I was not interested in eating these city rats -- I watch them climbing out of the dumpsters regularly with god-only-knows in their mouths

I did not seal the hole in the soffit at this point.

1st week - caught 5
2nd week -caught 3
3rd week - caught 2
4th week - caught 1
5th week - caught 0
sealed the hole

and they've never been back

be glad its just squirels.

i had a family of raccons in my crawl space.  i set up a haveaheart trap, i caught  a raccoon everynight with scraps for 5nights in a row.  tried a few more nights and nothing.

a few months down the road we now have skunks in the crawl space.  i do the same with the trap, catch 4skunks.  same basic story.

again a few months down the road, a new hole into the crawl space this time oppossums.  3 young ones and 2 larger ones.  

i still have the haveaheart trap, but its seen better days, the handle is torn off, and the side opposite the trap door has been torn out twice.  its back in place with steel hoseclamps.  

I feel for you.
True story of the rats
My Darling loving so called wife, I married a rocket sienctist, thought it would be sute to purchase a pet Rat. We talked about it and I said ok, being that it would be a pet in a cage for the kids to play with. And I am the smart one out of the clan.
So I come home one day and find that she has puchased not one but two rats. I say OK, what is going on. Well she decided that both of the rats where just so cute and she had to have both the White one and the Multi Colored one.
So I do some checking on the net about the care of rats and found out that if they or both females or both males that it would be ok to keep them in the same cage. She swore that the pet storeowner said they was both females.
Well one day we look in the cage and not only do we have 2 6 month old rats but we also now have 9 little baby rats.
I guess the Store owner was wrong.
So we think ok cute. Wait till they get a little older and give them to the School Science teacher.
Well here is where the fun begins.
withen like 2 weeks they bread again. Now we have 8 more baby rats. for a total of 19 rats in our house.
So after a while we get rid of the rats and keep the Male Multi colored one and a white Male. Why I dont know. I keep thinking it is because what my wife has between her legs and on her chest that makes me let her do dumb things even though I know it is going to cause me truble.
So A couple weeks months go by, every thing is going great.
We noticed that the males rats are very active at nights and you have to get up and yell at them so we can get back to sleep.
One night my wife wakes up yelling at me. A rat bit her on her big toes. Not hard just enough to let her know the rat was present. When she flipped on her light she saw a white rat jumb off our bed and run under the Dresser.
So now it is my fault that a rat is loose in the house. But what the hell. Both rats are still in their cage.
So we have a convict rat on the run.
I grab the light and go serching the house. I fould all kinds of things chewed up by the rat.
Come to find out that one of the kids had one of the baby rats out the night I took them to the pet store and let it loose.
Great
I tried like hell to catch that rat but the Damm thing would not come to me.
So one night I get  a rat bite to the knuckle. Ok times up. No more fair play.
I barraked the bed room so it can not get out.
I have a Gamo pellet pistol/ with laser.
My mistake is letting the wife hold the flashlight on the white rat. When the crack of the pellet struck that rat in the head, She lost it. Started crying and screaming at me. You would have thought I put on of the Kids down with that shot.
No more Pet Rats of any type. Next time I will shoot her and keep the rat.

Hmmm, i think it's a nice start on protein storage for SHTF.

Edited to add a suggestion.  If they have a small hole that you know they are using to gain entry get a conibear 110 trap and put it in front of the hole.  No bait required. Kills quickly.  (If you have cats/kittens/small puppies don't use em,...unless you want them gone too)

Quoted: I feel for you. True story of the rats My Darling loving so called wife, I married a rocket sienctist, thought it would be sute to purchase a pet Rat. We talked about it and I said ok, being that it would be a pet in a cage for the kids to play with. And I am the smart one out of the clan. So I come home one day and find that she has puchased not one but two rats. I say OK, what is going on. Well she decided that both of the rats where just so cute and she had to have both the White one and the Multi Colored one. So I do some checking on the net about the care of rats and found out that if they or both females or both males that it would be ok to keep them in the same cage. She swore that the pet storeowner said they was both females. Well one day we look in the cage and not only do we have 2 6 month old rats but we also now have 9 little baby rats. I guess the Store owner was wrong. So we think ok cute. Wait till they get a little older and give them to the School Science teacher. Well here is where the fun begins. withen like 2 weeks they bread again. Now we have 8 more baby rats. for a total of 19 rats in our house. So after a while we get rid of the rats and keep the Male Multi colored one and a white Male. Why I dont know. I keep thinking it is because what my wife has between her legs and on her chest that makes me let her do dumb things even though I know it is going to cause me truble. So A couple weeks months go by, every thing is going great. We noticed that the males rats are very active at nights and you have to get up and yell at them so we can get back to sleep. One night my wife wakes up yelling at me. A rat bit her on her big toes. Not hard just enough to let her know the rat was present. When she flipped on her light she saw a white rat jumb off our bed and run under the Dresser. So now it is my fault that a rat is loose in the house. But what the hell. Both rats are still in their cage. So we have a convict rat on the run. I grab the light and go serching the house. I fould all kinds of things chewed up by the rat. Come to find out that one of the kids had one of the baby rats out the night I took them to the pet store and let it loose. Great I tried like hell to catch that rat but the Damm thing would not come to me. So one night I get  a rat bite to the knuckle. Ok times up. No more fair play. I barraked the bed room so it can not get out. I have a Gamo pellet pistol/ with laser. My mistake is letting the wife hold the flashlight on the white rat. When the crack of the pellet struck that rat in the head, She lost it. Started crying and screaming at me. You would have thought I put on of the Kids down with that shot. No more Pet Rats of any type. Next time I will shoot her and keep the rat.

how did you not know it was a male?  their balls are effing HUGE... so big they drag behind them.

www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=123&t=422691