What Do Squirrels Hate in the Attic?
Squirrels don’t hate anything in an attic enough to leave a nest behind. Strong smells, bright lights, loud radios and ultrasonic devices might bother a squirrel for a while, but none of them will push out a squirrel that has settled in, and they won’t move a mother raising young. The one thing a squirrel can’t get past is metal over the opening it came in through.
Why Smells, Lights and Noise Don’t Work
The usual list of things squirrels supposedly hate includes peppermint oil, predator urine, ammonia, mothballs, strobe lights, a radio left on in the attic and plug-in ultrasonic units. The trouble is what the squirrel is weighing them against. An attic is dry, protected and out of the weather, which is exactly what a squirrel looks for in a den. Smells fade, lights and sounds become background, and the squirrel stays put.
Mothballs deserve a separate warning. The University of Kentucky’s extension guide on managing tree squirrel problems points out that mothballs are no longer labeled for use on anything other than moths and caterpillars because of how toxic they are to people and other animals. Spreading them across the space above your bedrooms creates a new problem without solving the old one.
A Mother With Young Isn’t Going Anywhere
Squirrels raise litters more than once a year, and a female with young in the attic has every reason to tolerate a bad smell or a bright light. She’ll keep coming back to that nest until the young can leave on their own. Even when a repellent does make a squirrel stay out for a day, the entry hole is still open, and that squirrel or another one comes right back through it.
What Actually Keeps Squirrels Out
Squirrels gnaw through soffits, roofing material and push their way through vents, so the fix has to be something their teeth can’t beat. We close soft roof connections with 23 gauge aluminum fabricated on-site and secure vents with hardware cloth and custom metal fabrication. We don’t use spray foam or steel wool, since neither one holds up.
The Critter Team provides squirrel removal services that start with humanely trapping the squirrels out of the attic and finish with sealing the house so they can’t get back in. The order matters, because a squirrel that gets sealed in will chew its own way out, and it often comes through the ceiling into your home.
So What Do Squirrels Hate in the Attic?
Nothing that comes in a spray bottle, a box of mothballs or a plug-in device will make squirrels give up an attic they’ve moved into. Squirrels may dislike certain smells and sounds, but they’ll put up with them to keep a dry, safe den. What keeps squirrels out of an attic is removing them and then sealing every entry point with metal they can’t chew through.