Squirrels
Trees, Roofs and the Brook Side of Whetstone
Squirrels live along the whole length of the brook, and where gardens back onto it, mature trees often stand within a leap of the nearest roofs. What the corridor brings in the way of rats and foxes is described on Pest Control Whetstone; for squirrels, the point is simply that the canopy runs right up to the houses.
Cottage roofs
Older cottages often have roofs patched over many years, with gaps where tiles or slates have slipped, where timber fascia has gone soft, or where a chimney stack meets the roof slope. A squirrel will gnaw a small opening wider, and the space under an old roof is often a series of small voids rather than one open loft.
Semis with shared roofs
The interwar semis share a roof with the house next door, and in the loft the party wall does not always rise all the way to the tiles. A squirrel that got in on one side may well be nesting over the other.
How a Squirrel Job Runs
1. Checking it is squirrels
Rats from the brook can climb into roofs too, and mice move into eaves in autumn, so the first step is being sure. Squirrels are loudest in the early morning and around dusk; scratching in the middle of the night points more to rats or mice. What squirrels sound like in a roof space helps you judge.
2. Trapping
What you pay £280 for is the trapping of the grey squirrels living in your roof space, whether that is one open loft or a cottage's small voids. Before anything starts you will be told what it involves and what is needed from you, such as keeping the loft hatch closed and leaving anything that has been set up where it is.
3. Making sure the roof is empty
The way in stays open until the squirrels have gone, because one shut inside will gnaw through a ceiling or another part of the roof to escape. In spring and late summer there may be young that cannot leave by themselves. How long squirrel control takes varies with the shape of the roof and the number of squirrels, and a cottage roof with several voids needs particular care to be sure it is clear.
4. Repairing the entry point
Once the roof is quiet, the gap needs a lasting repair. On a cottage that may mean replacing soft timber or re-bedding tiles; on a semi it usually means work at the eaves. Either is normally a roofer's or carpenter's job, so line one up early. Stopping squirrels getting back into your roof describes what a proper repair involves.
5. Cutting back branches
Branches that reach the roof act as a bridge, and trimming them after the repair makes the house harder to get onto. Before work on a large tree, check with Barnet Council whether a tree preservation order applies or the house is in a conservation area, and use a tree surgeon.
When in the Year to Book
There is no quiet season for grey squirrels in a roof, but two moments matter. From late winter into spring, and again around midsummer, females are choosing where to have young, so noise that starts in February is worth acting on before a litter complicates things. In autumn they are busy gathering and burying food, and a gap left open from earlier in the year invites them back; why squirrels return to the same loft explains why the repair matters so much.
The Law on Grey Squirrels
Grey squirrels are classed as an invasive non-native species, and once one has been caught it is an offence to release it or allow it to escape. Carrying it down to the Greenwalk and letting it go is therefore not an option. The legal position on release sets this out, and Squirrel Control Barnet has the borough-wide picture.
