What Time of Year Do Squirrels Nest?

Squirrels use nests all year, but they raise young twice a year, and those two stretches are when nesting in attics really picks up. In Texas, the first round runs from late winter into spring and the second runs through summer into early fall. A mother squirrel looking for a safe place to have a litter is exactly the squirrel that ends up in an attic.

Breeding Seasons for Texas Squirrels

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s guide to Texas squirrels shows when the two most common tree squirrels breed. Older fox squirrel females usually breed twice a year, in January and February and again in May and June, and the young are born six or seven weeks later. Gray squirrels breed throughout the year, with peaks from December through February and July through September, and their young are born 40 to 45 days later.

Put those together and young squirrels are being born in late winter and spring, and again from summer into fall.

Flying Squirrels Follow a Similar Pattern

Southern flying squirrels, which are found in wooded areas across eastern Texas, also have two breeding seasons. Texas Tech University’s Mammals of Texas account of the southern flying squirrel puts the main one in late February and March and the second in July, with young born about 40 days later.

Why Nesting Season Changes How Removal Works

When a litter is in the attic, removal has to account for the young. A mother will keep coming back to the nest, and young squirrels stay in it for weeks. If the house gets sealed with the mother or her young still inside, a trapped squirrel will gnaw its way out, and that exit is often through a ceiling. Getting every squirrel out before anything gets closed up matters most during these months.

Squirrels Use Attics Between Litters Too

Outside of breeding season, squirrels still need a den for shelter, and a dry attic works just as well in November as it does in March. That’s why squirrels don’t disappear once the young are grown. Once they’ve found a way in, they keep using it.

How We Handle It

The Critter Team provides squirrel removal services year-round, including removal of baby squirrels from attics and walls. We trap the squirrels out humanely, clean up the nest, replace damaged attic insulation and seal every entry point so the next nesting season doesn’t start in your attic.

So What Time of Year Do Squirrels Nest?

Squirrels nest all year, but they raise young twice a year. In Texas, that means litters from late winter into spring and again from summer into early fall. Those are the months when squirrels are most likely to move into an attic, and the months when removal has to account for young in the nest.