Eastern Gray Squirrel

Identification

Eastern Gray Squirrel on tree		E. Gray Squirrel nest or "drey" in attic w/babies

Body Size:

• Ave. Length (Adult): 14"-21" long. Tail: 7"-10" long.
• Ave. Weight (Adult): ¾ - 1-½ lbs.
• Young at Birth: ½ oz. They're hairless with claws present, and their eyes and ears are closed.
• 3 Weeks: They have short hair, and their ears open.
• 4-5 Weeks: Their eyes open.
• 6-7 Weeks: They leave the nest for the first time.
• 8 Weeks: They are half-grown, fully furred, and weaned. The young usually stay with their mother until the next litter is born.

Fur Color:

Voice and Sounds:

Tracks:

Scat:

Reproduction

Other Information

Habitat:

Home:

Home Range:

Food:

Habits:

Average Life Span:

Trapping & Removal Techniques

Colony Trap w/ 2 single-door traps		Single-door trap anchored to roof
Set above hole behind gutter		Set next to hole on cedar shakes
Louver vent set anchored into brick		Louver vent set on roof

Damage and Damage Repairs

Gable vent damage		Attic fan damage
Behind gutter damage		Cedar wood damage
AC line with electrical wire damage
Oval vent screen before and after
Attic fan cover before and after
Attic fan cover before and after

Health Concerns

Frequently Asked Questions

• Yes. We are not funded by your local, state or federal government. We are a private business and must charge for our services.
• See our Services page or Contact Us for pricing.

• We guarantee that you will receive the most courteous, honest, and professional wildlife management service in southwest Virginia or it's FREE!
• See Our Customer page for more details.

• The service fee covers us coming out, inspecting the exterior to find all the holes, setting the traps, and keeping them baited as long as it takes to catch the squirrels.
• The service fee price is based on the height of the house, and the accessibility to the holes. We will give you this price over the phone.

• It is cost effective to the customer, knowing that we may not catch two or more squirrels every trip.
• The price per squirrel fee covers us coming out, removing the contaminated trap and squirrel from your property, resetting a clean trap with fresh bait, relocation of the squirrel, and cleaning and disinfecting the contaminated trap for the next customer.

• Yes. In order to protect you and our company, a contract must be signed.
• Our contracts spell out the services to be provided, as well as our guarantee and warranties.
• You should not do work with a company that is not willing to back up their work in writing.
• See our Contract page for more details.

• We set a minimum of two professional grade single-door humane live capture traps or one professional humane live capture colony trap.

• We have rigid metal covers fabricated to cover the top, sides, and bottom of the trap for several reasons:
  • The top and sides are to protect the squirrel from the weather.
  • The bottom is covered to help reduce any urine or feces from being left on your roof. It also reduces damage that the squirrel can create by trying to dig its way out of the trap.
  • This cover also prevents curious people that may pass by from seeing the squirrel in the trap.
  • It also reduces stress to the squirrel while it is in the trap, because it feels protected and unseen.
  • We do not use cloth material to cover our traps because the wind may blow it off, and the squirrel will usually pull the cloth into the trap leaving it uncovered.
• See our Animal Care section for more details.

• Yes. There is plenty of food for the squirrel.
• Yes. In the warmer months, we will attach water bottles to the traps, if necessary. We like to place the traps in shaded areas to reduce heat and dehydration.

• Yes, we will inspect your attic and/or crawl space to inspect for damages only after we have trapped the squirrels out of your house.
• We may also have to inspect your attic and/ or crawl space if we are having trouble finding the entrance hole, which is rare.

• Your contract will specify the time period that it is good for, which is usually a minimum of 30 days.
• If the squirrels have not been caught in 30 days, which is rare, we will leave the traps out as long as it takes to catch them at no additional service fee cost.

• Our standard service fee is usually a minimum of 30 days. If another squirrel is seen or heard within one week of pulling the traps, or after the squirrels have been captured, then we will reset the traps.

• Once the squirrels have been captured and we have not had anymore captures, or you have not seen or heard any activity in a week, then we will pull the traps and do the repairs. Leaving the traps set will only increase the chances of capturing squirrels looking for a new home.
• You also have the option of purchasing the optional service warranty.
• See our Warranty page for more details.

• Yes. We will inspect the entire structure to find the current problem area(s), as well as any potential problem areas that should be repaired. We will give you an itemized estimate of these repairs and prices in your contract. You have the option to do what repairs you feel comfortable with. We will only recommend repairs that we feel are important to prevent future problems.
• See our Repairs page for more details.

• All of our warranties have a one-year minimum with an option to renew that warranty at the end of that year.
• See our Warranty page for more details.

• Our optional service warranty for squirrels lasts for one year from the date of completion.
• You must approve all of the repairs on the contract in order to get a full service warranty with the option to renew at the end of the year.
• See our Warranty page for more details.

• Once the target animal(s) have been captured or we pull the traps, the optional service warranty period will start upon completion of the repairs.
• This warranty will cover coming out, setting traps and re-baiting them as long as it takes to catch the squirrels, and the per squirrel fee.
• See our Warranty page for more details.

• As long as you keep paying the renewal fee, we will keep it under warranty.
• See our Warranty page for more details.

• Once we receive your payment for the renewal, we will return to your home and inspect the repaired areas for penetration from the squirrels.
• If a squirrel penetrates the structure while it is under warranty, we will remove the squirrels and repair the original damaged area for free.
• See our Warranty page for more details.

• We will remove the squirrels for free, and there might be a minimal charge for the repair.
• If the penetration point is obviously something we overlooked, there will be no charge at all to remove the squirrels and repair the damaged area.

• If this were to happen, we probably would treat it as if it were the same animal.

• No it does not.
• See our Warranty page for more details.

• It is a technique where damaged areas or possible penetration points are made uninhabitable or penetrable to the squirrel.
• See our Repairs page for more details.

• We re-bait the traps every 1 to 5 days, depending on the time of year and weather.
• We like to keep the bait as fresh, or not dried up, as possible. If you feel like the trap needs bait or you do not see the bait in the trap, call us and we will send someone out to re-bait it as soon as possible.

• We will call you or leave a note on your door that we picked up an animal.

• We use specialty paste baits that are formulated for squirrels. Professionals in our industry design them for professionals.

• We set a minimum of two traps, more if available.
• See our Trapping page for more details.

• As close to the den hole area as possible.

• No. We use a professional grade trap with doors that lock once they close.

• We will inspect the entire structure to find the current problem area(s), as well as any potential problem areas that should be repaired. We will give you an itemized estimate of these repairs and prices in your contract. You have the option to do what repairs you feel comfortable with. We will only recommend repairs that we feel are important to prevent future problems.
• See our Repairs page for more details.

• We will not trap every squirrel in the yard or neighborhood. We anchor the traps on your home next to the hole(s).
• Squirrels are very territorial and we will only trap the squirrels that know where the hole(s) are.

• We average 2 to 5 squirrels per job. We very seldom catch more.
• We recommend that as long as we are catching squirrels and the customer is still hearing noise, that the squirrels should be removed. We will discount the service once we are done.

• I am hearing a gnawing and scratching noise early in the morning before daylight and in the evening just after dark in the same place. It is probably gray squirrels.
• I am hearing a lot of noise in my attic late at night, such as high-pitched chirps, gnawing, scratching and thumping noises. It is probably Flying Squirrels.
• It is always safe to Contact Us and make sure. Other animals that frequent attics and wall voids are Opossums, Raccoons, Rats, and Mice.

• We do not set the traps in the attic space for gray squirrels, because they generally do not eat in their nesting area.
• It is possible to trap gray squirrels in the attic, but it takes a long time.
• Entering the attic space where the squirrels are can be dangerous, and it also makes the squirrels a little weary to the traps.

• We will typically set the traps the day you call.
• We always have traps available.
• We carry the necessary traps needed in our trucks daily on a seasonal basis to better service the customer the day they call.
• We do not like to put anything off until tomorrow.

• State law requires that the traps be checked daily.
• We ask you, the customer, to check the traps and notify us when we have an animal in the trap.
• If the customer checks the traps, it will eliminate additional costs to the customer and it will also speed up the removal process.

• Our contract and business cards have our office number on them.
• Our secretary will notify the technician.
• See the Contact Us section for more details.

• We can provide a complete service to you.
• If this is a rental property, we can contact the tenants and ask them to check the traps, if necessary.

• We will make arrangements to have our technicians check the traps for you.
• An additional cost may be incurred.

• Yes, we work on the weekends.
• We typically shut the traps down for holidays, so that the customer does not have to be bothered with checking them.

• We will make every effort we can to pick up the squirrel and reset a trap as soon as possible.
• We often have two to three trucks out at a time, and the secretary will notify the closest technician to your property.

• We have several areas that we can relocate the squirrels.
• We take them a minimum of 10 miles away.

• Our permit allows us to transport the live squirrels to another location to be relocated.

• Gray Squirrels are in and out of their nest all day. You hear more noise in the morning and evening because they are all in there at once.
• You are taking a chance on sealing a squirrel in the house and it dieing in there. See Dead Animal Removal page for more details.
• Most importantly, once a squirrel(s) has established a nesting area in your home, it will do everything it can to stay. If the squirrel(s) are out and we seal up the hole(s), the squirrel(s) will only chew another hole somewhere else in the house.
• The more that you mess with the squirrels the smarter they get, and the harder it is to trap them!

• Once we go a couple of days without catching anything, we will cover the hole with tape or just seal the hole.
• Generally, once you go through a series of catches and they stop, you have removed the squirrels that know where that hole is.
• If we are in doubt, we will contact the customer to see if they are hearing any noise.

• There is a good chance that the squirrel is not trapped in the wall; it is most likely building a nest in that location.
• Once a squirrel gets in a house, it can go anywhere.
• If a squirrel is actually trapped in the wall void, then we can remove it by cutting a 4 1/2 inch hole in the wall to remove it.
• Please Contact Us so that we can set up an appointment.

• Not a problem; Contact Us to set up an appointment.
• We will give you an estimate for a chimney cap(s) when we arrive.
• See our Repairs page for more details.

• Not a problem; Contact Us to set up an appointment.
• Usually, we can remove the squirrel shortly after we arrive. Trapping is necessary when a lot of obstructions are present.
• We will tell you how and where the squirrel got in when we get there.

• Yes, we offer insulation cleanout and installation services.
• See our Rodent Droppings page for more details.

Referenced Materials