Autumn is when most Thetford calls come in, and it is the best time to deal with this. It is not the only time anybody should.
Each of the other three seasons has its own version of the problem, and each is worth acting on rather than waiting for September.
Winter
Activity reduces in hard weather and does not stop, because grey squirrels do not hibernate. What is usually happening is an animal that arrived in the autumn and settled in, with cached food to return to.
- Worth calling, because the damage continues at the same daily rate whatever the temperature
- Quiet spells mean nothing. A fortnight of silence in January is weather, not departure
- The clock is running towards the late-winter breeding season, which is the point at which one animal becomes several
Late winter and spring
The first breeding season. Sudden new activity in February or March is often a female prospecting for a nest site, and by April there may be dependent young.
- Call promptly, and say what you are hearing rather than waiting for it to become clearer
- Mention any higher-pitched noise — chittering or squeaking under the heavier movement — because it changes the approach
- Do not seal anything, which is true all year and matters most now
Summer
The quietest season for new problems and the busiest for discoveries, because summer is when people go into their lofts. Much of what gets found is historic: grey crumbling droppings under a layer of dust, flattened insulation with nothing fresh on it, old weathered gnawing.
- Historic evidence with no noise still means the roof has an opening. That is worth closing before the autumn rather than after it
- The second breeding season runs through mid to late summer, so new activity in July or August is not unusual
- It is the best time to do the preparation — the survey, the gutter clear, the tree work, the roof repairs — because the weather suits it and the pressure has not arrived
The out-of-season call worth making most. Evidence found in summer, with no current activity, is the cheapest version of this whole subject: an empty roof, an opening that can be closed at once, and no animal to deal with first.
Why autumn is still the peak
Because dispersal, caching and cooling nights arrive together from late August. Thetford sits alongside a great deal of forest, which supports a substantial local population and produces a large dispersing cohort each year. Properties on that side of the town feel it most sharply.
Which is the argument for acting in whichever season you find yourself in. A roof closed in June is closed before the cohort arrives, and that is the whole objective.
Questions
I found old evidence in summer with no noise. Worth calling?
Yes — an empty roof with a known opening is the easiest and cheapest version of this to resolve.
Is winter a bad time to deal with it?
No. The damage continues through the winter, and closing the roof before the late-winter breeding season is the point.
Should I wait until autumn if it is quiet now?
No. Closing an opening in a quiet season is easier and cheaper than closing it in a busy one.
Squirrel Control Thetford
Squirrel control in Thetford 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 Thetford, call 01502 630 122, or read the Thetford squirrel control page.