Many Houston homeowners breathe a sigh of relief right around May. They think if squirrels didn’t get into their attics during the month of April, they’ll be safe for the rest of the year.
Reality check: November and December brings a specific biological event: the maturation of a “Second Litter.”
Houston’s Eastern Gray and Fox Squirrels breed twice a year. Babies born in late August or early September are now hitting their little squirrelly “teenage” years.
And this can lead to a sudden spike in attic activity.
How does the behavior of a juvenile squirrel shift?
Squirrels that are 10 to 12 weeks old are a bit like human teenagers. They’re independent enough to explore but will keep right on living at home. And if they were born in your attic, that means your home.
Now you’ve got a small family of 3-5 squirrels that have become mobile and hyperactive. And they want to chew even more than adults do. Winter adults are sleepy and sluggish, but winter juveniles have too much energy for that.
What do juvenile squirrels sound like?
You’ll hear a lot of thumping. You’ll hear something that a lot of clients describe as a “bowling ball rolling sound.” They’re playing, chasing, wrestling, and they’re doing it all a bit clumsily.
The activity will typically start happening around dawn and dusk, as they leave the den or return to it.
How do Houston’s trees contribute to squirrel activity in November and December?
If you’ve got oak or pecan trees in your yard then they’re dropping prime squirrel food all over the place.
And squirrels aren’t just eagerly gobbling up those nuts. They’re also caching them. In your insulation. Where it can rot. Where it can attract other pests, like ants and weevils.
As the pest count goes up, so too does your power bill, because the R-value of your insulation gets chewed and clawed away the longer the squirrels stay up there.
The trees are also losing all their foliage, if they haven’t already, which means squirrels want to run along your gutters and inside your soffits where they’re safer from predators. Your attic turns into a covered highway as well as a den.
Time to Evict the Graduating Class
Once you have juvenile squirrels in your attic it’s crucial that you evict both them and all the other pests in your attic before they begin establishing their own territories in your walls, in other parts of your attic, and in any other part of your home they can reach.
Call us to schedule a free inspection. We’ll give you a customized exclusion plan, and help you achieve a squirrel-free attic that protects your home.