Have a problem with squirrels invading your home?

Whether they are living in your walls, attic, or other space, you can try the following solutions to the problem:

1. Squirrel-Proof Your Home

Preventing squirrels entry into your home is the best, permanent way of keeping squirrels away from your house.

Remove -- or have professionals remove -- squirrels from your home before squirrel-proofing your home. And make sure you remove any baby squirrels, too. You don't wanted starved-to-death squirrels smelling up your walls or attics!

Then, seal up -- or have professionals seal up -- every existing and possible entry point. This includes at least gable ends, vents, soft wood, and loose boards. The best kind of seal is a metal mesh placed over the entry point.

The easy way to seal up an entry point is to staple coarse steel wire screening (hardware cloth) over the entry points. You can then cover this with cosmetic trim (details).

2. Electrical Squirrel Repellers

If sealing squirrel entry holes is not an option, many pest control companies recommend electrical squirrel repellers.

These can be more pricey but effective -- just make sure to get a quality, recommended product.

This Evictor Strobe Light Squirrel and Rat Repeller has high reviews on Amazon.com.

Note that one repeller may not be enough for your house. Repellers cover only small areas and don't work through walls or around corners.

You may need more repellers -- maybe even four of them -- to guarantee enough coverage to deter squirrels from all of your house.

3. Low-Tech Squirrel Repellents

If you can't seal up the entry holes, and electrical repellers are too expensive, try placing repellents around your attic space or in your walls. Some of the repellents on the market:

• Shake Away - makes squirrels sense a predator (it's fox urine)
• Ropel - once tasted, prevents chewing
• Squirrel Away
• Rid-a-Critter - long-lasting, for indoor spaces

You may also want to try a very strong hot pepper solution (chopped onion and jalapeno and a tablespoon of cayenne pepper) or moth ball flakes scattered around an attic, but these may not be as effective.

Methods Not Recommended

• Poison: the squirrel may die and stink somewhere you can't find it, or another, friendly critter may eat the poison.
• Hot Pepper: some squirrels actually like cayenne and chili pepper, as I found out with a bird feeder one day. Stronger concentrations may still work, though.
• Trapping Only: trapping and releasing squirrels, without one of the recommended methods, means you'll only have a brief respite before new squirrels (or the original squirrels returning from the release point) invade

More Information

• Squirrels at DoItYourself.com