Which Wembley Homes Get Squirrels
A grey squirrel needs two things from a house: a way up onto the roof and an opening once it is there. The Edwardian and interwar houses around Wembley Central, Tokyngton and Barn Hill often offer both. Many have gardens with mature trees whose branches reach towards the roof, and eaves timber that has had many decades to weather. Barn Hill, part of Fryent Country Park, and the trees along the River Brent give squirrels woodland right beside the houses.
The new blocks around Wembley Park are built differently, without the pitched roofs and open lofts of the older streets. If you live in one of those flats and hear movement above a ceiling, it is worth ruling out mice first, and mouse control in Wembley may be the better booking.
From Your First Call to a Repaired Roof
Squirrel control works best when each stage waits for the one before. Blocking the hole early, or cutting the tree back while squirrels are still inside, tends to cause more trouble than it saves.
Before you book
Be sure of what you are hearing. Squirrels are generally busy in daylight, while rats and mice are more often heard at night, and droppings or a sighting at the roof line settle most doubts. Squirrels or rats in the loft sets out the differences, and if it proves to be rats, rat control is the service to book. Once you are sure, book the trapping service and say when the noise started.
The trapping service
The £280 service is for trapping the grey squirrels using your loft. You will be told what to expect and what is asked of you while it is under way, which generally includes leaving the loft alone and keeping children and pets out of it.
Once the loft is quiet
The way in stays open until the squirrels have stopped using the roof. A squirrel shut in may gnaw a new exit, sometimes into the rooms below, and in the breeding season there can be young that cannot leave on their own. How long this stage lasts varies with the house and the number of squirrels, as how long squirrel control takes explains.
The roofer and the trees
The repair is normally for a roofer or carpenter: replacing rotten fascia or soffit boards, refixing tiles or closing the gap where the roof meets the wall. Tell them exactly where the squirrels were getting in. After that, cut back branches that overhang or come close to the roof, using a tree surgeon for anything large, and check with Brent Council first if a tree might be protected. Keeping squirrels out of your roof describes what a lasting repair looks like.
Timing Across the Year
Squirrels breed from late winter and again in summer, and those are the months when a dry loft appeals most to a female looking for a nest. Calling when you first hear activity gives the best chance of dealing with adults before young are born. A roof that has been used once is likely to be tried again, which is why the repair matters; why squirrels return to the same loft explains the pull.
Releasing a Grey Squirrel Is an Offence
Grey squirrels are an invasive non-native species. It is against the law to release one into the wild after it has been caught, so taking it up to Barn Hill or across to King Edward VII Park and letting it go is not an option. The law on releasing grey squirrels sets out the position.
For squirrels in lofts across the borough, see Squirrel Control Brent, and neighbouring Preston looks at how pest problems change through the seasons.
