Squirrel control › Needham Market
The same roof gives different evidence in March and in October, and knowing which you are looking at saves a good deal of guessing.
This is the calendar version of the survey — what to look for, and when it means something.
Late winter and early spring
The first breeding season. What appears now is usually a female prospecting for somewhere to have young, and the signs are of establishment rather than passing traffic.
- New activity beginning suddenly in February or March
- Material being carried in — dragging noises, fibres at an opening
- More than one animal around the same elevation
- From around April, higher-pitched noise from young
Late spring and early summer
The quietest period for new problems, and the point at which a lot of historic evidence gets found — people go into lofts in summer. Old grey droppings under a layer of dust and flattened insulation with nothing fresh on it is a past episode, not a current one.
There is also a smaller dispersal of the spring litter through June and July, which produces a modest second wave of the autumn behaviour.
Late summer into autumn
The main event, and the period most of this section is written for.
- Activity rising from late August and peaking through October
- Caching signs — nut shells and acorn caps in gutters and joist bays, rolling noises overhead
- Fresh gnawing at roof-edge details, pale against weathered material
- Repeated in-and-out traffic within an hour
- Rub marks developing at an opening over a few weeks
Winter
Reduced movement rather than none. What matters here is that a quiet fortnight in January proves nothing — activity drops in hard weather and resumes when it eases. Fresh droppings on clean insulation, and cached food being retrieved, are the winter tells.
Read what you find against the month. Fresh gnawing in October is an active problem. The same marks found in June, weathered and grey, with no noise, are a record of last autumn — and the roof still needs closing either way.
The one constant
In every season, daylight noise is the signal. The pattern shifts — earlier in summer, later and more compressed in winter — but grey squirrels remain active by day and quiet at night all year round. Anything running at three in the morning in any month is something else.
Questions
Is there a best time of year to deal with it?
Autumn, because it gets the roof closed before winter and before the late-winter breeding season.
I found evidence in summer with no noise. Is it live?
Probably historic if the droppings are grey and dusty and the insulation is undisturbed on top. The opening still wants closing.
Does the noise stop in cold weather?
It reduces. They do not hibernate, so it resumes when the weather eases.
Squirrel Control Needham Market
Squirrel control in Needham Market is £280 fixed cost. Proofing work, where it is needed afterwards, is £180. Call 01502 630 122 and tell us what you have heard or seen.
For squirrel control in Needham Market, call 01502 630 122, or read the Needham Market squirrel control page.