How Do I Stop Squirrels Invading My Garage? | US Culture Shock

It might help if you replaced the rubber gasket on the bottom of the garage door. Over time they get brittle and crack and I noticed a lot of daylight under your garage door when it's closed. There is also a piece of rubber that you can glue down to the floor under the garage door (when the temp are hotter) so the door sits on it when it's closed. That can help close up that gap as well. Like most rodents, squirrels do not need a large hole to gain access. They can squeeze through a hole as small as 3/4 of an inch in diameter. It's also a good idea to prune any tree branches so they are not hanging over the roof of the house or the garage so that you're not providing them an exit ramp to your roof from their tree highways. Once on the roof they can access any holes that you may have in your soffits or roof vents. That's how the little buggers got access to my attic a few years ago. There are also chemicals you can spray to deter squirrels, but you have to apply them often, so the best course of action is to plug up anywhere that daylight is coming in where there's not supposed to be any daylight.

When we were teenagers, my siblings and I told our father that we had squirrels in the attic, and he went up one time, checked the attic and told us nope, no squirrels and basically ignored us telling him until one morning when a squirrel accidently broke through the ceiling of my parents bedroom.

In Michigan, in high school, we hosted an Australian exchange student. Our house was surrounded by massive oak trees. One day I saw her at the window, fascinated "look !" She said, "a squirrel !". She came from a land of kangaroos koalas and who knows what. I laughed and never forgot her wonder.

My grandmother made friends with a squirrel that lived in one of her trees. She would leave nuts out on the kitchen windowsill and the squirrel would come up and take them. Gradually, she got to the point where the squirrel would take nuts directly out of her hand. Gradually, over time, one mother squirrel after another would teach her children about the nice lady who gave them food. Most of the squirrels would go off on their own, but there was always at least one who would stay to pass the tradition on to the next generation.

Here in California, we have Western Gray squirrels. One thing you might consider is taking the puppy into the garage, maybe play with a ball or other toy for a spell every day or suchlike. If the garage smells like a predator, they'll be more inclined to stay clear

My son had come out of the bathroom and said "Mom, I think we have mice or squirrels in the walls! I kept hearing funny noises!" When I went over to the bathroom, I noticed the door to the hall closet was opened a bit, with noises coming from inside. I opened it up to be greeted by my Pomeranian, seated in the middle of the recycling bin with a tuna can in his mouth! Mystery solved!💕

You may even consider storing some used cat litter in the garage starting in the fall. That's how we warded off a skunk that liked to shelter in a drain pipe outside my girlfriend's old apartment, which was of course directly below the bedroom window. Waited for him to leave, tossed a few scoops of used litter in the end of the pipe, and sure enough he stopped hanging out in there.

I had a squirrel in my study, behind the books for a couple of days, where he left quite a mess. 8:10 We caught him with a hav-a-heart trap & released him in a park. They’re cute outside, but nasty in the house. Sending them to Britain is payback for the starlings over here. (Love your videos!)

I think your squirrel issue is that the gap is too large below your garage door. Adjust the travel of the opener, or add a gasket to the bottom of the door, and I bet that solves it. Trapping them all will solve it until the next explorer finds his way in, and then once the scent is in the garage, you’ll be back at square one.

Grey squirrels are our payback for Starlings and English Sparrows. Shakespeare's birds my bottom. If you want to relocate the captured grey squirrels yourself, just know that you will have to drive them to the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, preferably north of Muskegon, or they will find their way back to your garage. One of the nice things about the Mississippi running through the Twin Cities is that we can all dump our captured squirrels on the other side of the river. It's a tradition.

“The Beaver People” - That one gets me lol - my parents had a squirrel problem in their log cabin for quite awhile - eventually they used some sort of sound emitting device that humans can’t hear but apparently squirrels can and they don’t like it. Your impression of the noise they make scratching is spot on 😂

I feel your pain...I moved into a brand new home in Texas back in June, and the third day in a cardinal was pecking at every single window every single day in my house - not flying into them, sitting on the ledge, jumping up and pecking them relentlessly. I tried everything - bird spikes, covering up the windows (I had thought he was seeing his reflecting and thinking it was a rival cardinal invading his territory), these fake eye things you can hang from trees - I even had three small trees cut down in my back yard since he was using those to launch at the windows without ledges, but nothing worked. That cardinal was just a big damn jerk. Two things finally drove him away - 1) I got a fake owl I put on the back roof, and 2) this being Texas, I started taking shots at him from the back porch with my BB gun (I live in a rural area, nothing but woods around my house). He's lucky I'm not a great shot, but I did send some bb's his way every time I saw him from my porch. My house is finally insane-bird free!

This reminded me of Mark Rober's video "Backyard Squirrel Maze 1.0" 😂 Squirrels are very smart and determined.

I had them in my attic. They are totally evil. There was a lady who owned a yoga studio a few blocks from my home. The lady had an infestation and she ended up cutting a hole in the wall. She dropped a few smoke bombs in. It didn't end well. Her yoga studio was on fire. She took it to next level.😅

Gray Squirrels are quite sensitive to chili peppers (in particular, capsaicin). If you want to keep them from chewing on something you may find it helpful to cover it with an extract

I've been earning the trust of the squirrels in my backyard for almost a year now. I found that keeping The little beasts appeased with peanuts and sunflower seeds prevents them from damaging my property. It also has the wonderful advantage of them not running away when I open the door. They're willing to eat with me standing less than 10 ft away with my coffee watching them and talking to them. It's been wonderful, and I hope you can form a better relationship with your squirrel friends in the spring. They can be little destructive jerks.

Sometimes I get overwhelmed with all the negativity in the world. Your observations put a smile on my face! Thank you for that! Best wishes to you and your wife on home ownership!

Btw, we went to Turkey while on an European trip where we ate Turkish delight (a fig confection). I like figs, so we planted a fig tree, whose fruits the raccoons soon discovered. Eventually we found that our roof gutters were filled with “Turkish Delight”.

I'm from New England and I've never called them "Eastern Grey Squirrels." Don't worry, Laurance, you're fine. :-)

LOL, when my husband and I bought our first house, I thought we had a squirrel in our attic. Called pest control and the night before they were supposed to come out, woke up to a bat circling my bedroom ceiling fan. We literally had a whole colony of bats in our attic, the guy actually used the term "hundreds". Not sure which is worse, although bat guano is toxic so that might tip the scale. Glad you got them taken care of.