Their bushy tails and tiny paws might be cute, but squirrels can be a nuisance for homeowners in Cincinnati. The Eastern Gray Squirrel is the most common squirrel species in Cincinnati, and while it’s mostly a harmless, outdoor critter, it can easily cause chaos in homes and gardens. They can especially cause trouble when they move into your home, requiring squirrel trapping services.

The most common issues that squirrels can cause include:

• Damage to your home, including siding, shingles, insulation, and wiring.
• Damage to your garden and plants.
• Health problems due to bacteria from droppings or allergies.
• Carrying diseases or parasites that are transmissible to humans.

While squirrels overall can be healthy to the Cincinnati ecosystem, these problems can quickly get out of control if squirrels are left unchecked. There are several signs you might have a squirrel problem that would require squirrel trapping services. Keep reading for our list of the top signs you need squirrel trapping services.

You See Squirrel Droppings

Seeing animal droppings in your basement or attic is always a cause for concern. But how do you know that the droppings you’ve found belong to a squirrel and not some other pest? Squirrel droppings can look like rat droppings, but there are a few key features that distinguish them from rat droppings:

• They’re smaller than rat droppings, around 3/8 of an inch long and 1/8 of an inch in diameter.
• They’re rounded on the edges and shaped like coffee beans.
• They can be shiny when fresh, but they dry and change color to a paler hue.
• They’re a different color than rat droppings; squirrel droppings are brown with tints of red, tan, or green, while rat droppings are dark brown or black.
• Squirrels don’t defecate while walking, so they will leave piles instead of scattered pellets.
• They tend to defecate in the same area over time.

If you notice droppings matching this description, it might be time to call for squirrel trapping services.

You Hear Strange Noises in Your Attic or Walls

Unless your home is very old, it’s likely pretty quiet. If you suddenly start to hear scurrying, scratching, or chewing noises in your ceiling or walls, there is a good chance squirrels have moved in. Stay quiet and listen when you hear new noises. If you suspect squirrels, get in touch with a wildlife trapping service like Trap Your Moles to do an inspection.

You Notice Damage to Your Home

Squirrels will chew and scratch at human structures to find an entry point inside. They can chew through your siding and shingles, chew on wires inside and out, and tear up insulation. You may also notice damage to bird feeders and patio furniture outside. They can rip open garbage bags looking for food and put teeth marks on drywall. Look closely at your home indoors and out to check for signs of damage. They could be attributed to other critters, like raccoons or mice, but squirrels are just as likely a culprit.

You Notice Damage to Your Garden or Other Plants

Squirrels are omnivores, so they’ll munch on just about anything they can get their paws on. Your garden is a great source of food for them. If you notice your petunias are getting chomped, you may need to invest in squirrel trapping services.

Look for damage to tree bark, flowers, shrubs, and grass. If you grow vegetables or fruit in your backyard, squirrels are huge fans of berries and leafy green vegetables. If your plants are being dug up or munched on and if you notice other signs of squirrels, it’s likely they’re the ones to blame.

You Notice a Foul Smell in Your Home

If squirrels have made a home in your attic, they tend to wander throughout the structure of your home. They can easily fall behind drywall and become trapped. If you’ve heard frantic scratching for a day or so, and then start to notice a foul odor, the stuck squirrel likely died inside your home and is starting to decay. The noxious odors, especially in the summer, can cause discomfort for the humans in your home, and potentially be a health hazard.

Another smelly sign of squirrels is urine damage to your ceiling, walls, or floor. A family of squirrels living in your attic will have to go some time, and what better place than inside your home? You may notice what looks like water damage on your ceiling, accompanied by an odor. Get in touch with a wildlife trapping service fast to remove the squirrel problem before you tackle cleaning up their mess.

You See More Squirrels Outdoors

The final and most obvious sign that you may have a squirrel issue in your home or yard is seeing more squirrels outside in the first place. If you’ve noticed any of the other signs above and are catching more glimpses of bushy tails in your grass or trees, the chances are good that you’re unwittingly playing host to a family of squirrels. Keep an eye on your roof or fences. If squirrels are suddenly hanging out in these places, they may have found a way inside. Check your home closely for damage or an entry point if you’ve seen an uptick in squirrels in your yard.

Call Trap Your Moles for Squirrel Trapping

Trap Your Moles offers many wildlife removal services in Cincinnati, not just mole trapping. If you have noticed any of the above signs of squirrel damage, get in touch with the Cincinnati, Dayton, and Northern Kentucky wildlife removal experts for squirrel trapping services. You don’t have to watch your home and yard be taken over by squirrels. We’ve got the experienced trappers and the permits needed to get rid of your squirrel problem for good.

Use our contact form or give Trap Your Moles a call today. We can often diagnose a wildlife problem over the phone and set up your first visit as soon as possible.

The Eastern Ground Mole is the most common mole that plagues Ohio yards. This tiny pest is a nuisance to homeowners everywhere, and it can cause serious damage. Lawns, gardens, and even sidewalks aren’t safe once a family of moles moves into your yard.

For most homeowners, the key to saving your yard from mole damage is to prevent them from appearing in the first place. There are many do-it-yourself methods and mole prevention tactics that homeowners can take to make their yards inhospitable to moles. Keep reading for our top list of mole prevention methods, as well as our suggestions for how to get rid of moles for good if you are dealing with an infestation.

Make Your Yard Unattractive to Moles

Most ground mole prevention methods involve making your yard unattractive to moles in the first place. If feeding, breeding, and digging are difficult in your yard, any moles that check out your property will be more likely to choose your neighbor’s yard instead. With those three things in mind, these are the top methods to making sure that ground moles don’t call your yard home.

Remove Their Food Sources

Moles feast on grubs, worms, and other small insects that live among the root systems of your plants and in your lawn. Eliminating insects from your yard is the first step to making sure that moles can’t call your property home. You can purchase earth-friendly beneficial nematodes and spread them throughout your yard to create an inhospitable ecosystem for grubs. Nematodes are microscopic predatory worms that hunt down pest insects, but they’re harmless to humans, plants, and pets.

You can also purchase a milky spore mix to spread through your garden. Milky spore disease is a naturally occurring pathogen that is harmless to plants but kills insect larvae. Milky spores do take several years to take effect, but they can be a worthwhile investment to prevent grubs and moles from taking refuge in your yard.

Apply a Mole Repellent

If you’re still working on eliminating mole food sources, you can also spread a homemade repellent throughout your lawn and garden to make sure moles stay away. Castor oil is an effective mole repellent, as it causes digestive upset in moles and makes them less likely to stay in your yard. Mix three parts castor oil with one part dish soap, and then mix four tablespoons of the mixture into a gallon of water. Soak mole tunnel entrances in the water and oil mixture and the moles will eventually move on.

There are also commercial repellents in liquid or granule form available for purchase. Be sure to follow all label instructions carefully when using a commercial repellent.

Create Barriers and Obstacles

You can use landscaping to your advantage to prevent moles from moving into your yard. Create barriers at the edges of your property that make it difficult for moles to dig into your yard. If your yard or garden isn’t easy to get to, the moles will move on to somewhere else, instead.

You can create barriers with several methods. Plants such as daffodils, marigolds, or other allium family plants have a strong smell that is repulsive to moles. Plant these along the edges of your garden or lawn for a beautiful and effective barrier.

Trenches are another type of barrier you can use, as well. Dig a trench around your garden approximately 6 inches wide and 2 feet deep, and then fill the trenches with pebbles or line them with mesh. These trenches will be difficult, if not impossible, for moles to traverse.

Make your Yard Unsafe for Moles

The final step to DIY mole prevention is to make your yard unsafe or difficult for them to live in. Keep your lawn trimmed short so the moles don’t have anywhere to hide. Avoid using mulch or overwatering your lawn, as moles prefer moist soil to dig in. If the soil is too dry, they will have a more difficult time establishing their home tunnels. Drier soil also means fewer earthworms, which are another mole food source.

Get Rid of Existing Moles

If you’ve taken all the preventative methods and you’re still dealing with moles, or you’re trying to fight an active infestation, you will need to find a way to remove the existing moles from your yard. We recommend calling in a professional mole removal service to deal with your infestation, however, there are some DIY methods available to homeowners.

Baiting/Poison

Commercial mole bait is typically shaped like a worm or other mole food source but is laced with a poison that will kill the mole after it has been consumed. Mole poison also comes in a gel form that can be deposited into their tunnels. When a mole comes in contact with the gel, it causes internal blood coagulation, and the mole will die quickly.

Poison gas is also available as an option for killing moles. It is available in a granule or tablet form that you can deposit into the mouth of a mole tunnel. It then reacts with the soil to create a poison gas that will kill the moles as they traverse their tunnels.

Trapping

Trapping the moles is the other removal method for existing mole infestations. You can purchase commercial, mechanical traps and place them in your yard where the moles have tunneled. These traps are spring-loaded and are usually designed to impale or squeeze the mole when set off. These traps require a lot of supervision and effort, but they are effective.

Call the Professionals

If your DIY methods haven’t yielded results and you’re tired of seeing mole damage in your yard, a professional service should be your next step. Trap Your Moles is experienced with trapping the Tri-State’s moles and saving your yard from their tunnels for good. If you’ve tried everything and are still experiencing a mole infestation, get in touch with us for a quote. Once the moles are gone, you can take the mole prevention steps outlined above, and hopefully, you can experience a beautiful, mole-free yard for years to come.