Our Frederick squirrel removal professionals had to make an emergency visit to a young family’s home off of Stone Road in Frederick on Christmas morning. The family called several pest control companies, but no one was open because it was a holiday. Luckily for the family, we have an around-the-clock emergency technician on call, so we were able to help.
Waking Up to a Racket
The lady of the house explained to the wildlife control technician that the family awoke to loud noises coming from the downstairs living room at 5:30 am on Christmas morning. No, it wasn’t Santa! Their first thought was that maybe someone broke into the home to steal the gifts, but the noises sounded like someone was wrecking the place. They yelled “Who is down there?” but no one answered. After that, the family slowly moved toward the top of the stairway hoping to see a glimpse of whoever was causing the racket. That’s when they saw two gray squirrels running across the back of their sofa.
The Help is Here
Once our squirrel control technician arrived, he quickly rounded up the two squirrels and found a third squirrel in the fireplace. The technician decided it was best to do a full inspection of the attic, chimney, and roof to find the entry point and to make sure that there were no more squirrels. Upon inspection, our Frederick squirrel removal technician discovered that there was a chimney cap installed at the top of the chimney, but it was not animal-proof and the squirrels were able to squeeze through a two-inch opening. The squirrel damage didn’t stop there! The technician also found that drip edge flashing was not installed when the roof was replaced, allowing the squirrels to access the attic through a long gap between the roof deck and fascia board (the board the gutter is attached to). Once inside the attic, the squirrels ripped apart rolled-in insulation to build their den. December starts the first of the two mating seasons of the year, so the smell of squirrel urine throughout the attic and around the roof was pungent. Below is the photo of the gap between the roof plywood and fascia board where the squirrels were able to squeeze right in.
Once the inspection was complete, the technician explained to the frightened family that the squirrels were living in the attic and in the chimney. One squirrel is a mother and the other two are her 12-week-old babies (this means the mother squirrel had a late litter sometime in early October or late September). He then installed a squirrel-proof chimney cap to prevent any other unexpected visitors from coming through the fireplace. After that, the technician installed a drip edge over the gap between the roof plywood and fascia board to help stop future nuisance wildlife problems in the attic. Once the squirrels were caught and repairs made, the family was able to safely enter the living room to assess the damages and open their gifts. The gentleman of the home said this will be a Christmas to remember for generations.