From the park trees to the roof line
Tree canopies, fence tops and open ground all present the same easy route to a grey squirrel; it moves through them all with equal ease - the same pattern holds near Stoke Newington, where victorian terraces around Church Street and the reservoirs. Houses close to Hackney Downs, London Fields or Clissold Park usually have a branch overhanging the roof that acts as a bridge, and from there the squirrel needs only a weak spot at the eaves.
Streets bordering the parks
The terraced streets that border Hackney's larger parks put squirrels within easy reach of a great many nearby rooflines. It's worth checking the eaves each autumn, ahead of squirrels looking for winter shelter once the weather turns, just as near Clapton, where victorian terraces rising up from the marshes.
Stoke Newington's reservoirs
The trees around the reservoirs near Stoke Newington Church Street give squirrels a similar route onto the terraces nearby, even in streets set back a little from the water itself.
Confirming it is a squirrel
Timing alone often gives the strongest indication, as anyone near Stoke Newington will recognise, where victorian terraces around Church Street and the reservoirs. Squirrel activity happens by day, typically a burst around first light and another in late afternoon, so overnight scratching or running points elsewhere, to rats or mice, just as near London Fields, where terraced streets around the park and lido.
Checking for damage
Without going in, check from the loft hatch with a torch for signs like squashed or shredded insulation, gnaw marks on timber, chewed storage boxes and droppings by the water tank, true near Stoke Newington too, where victorian terraces around Church Street and the reservoirs. The one finding to treat seriously is chewed electrical cable, exposed conductors are a fire risk, so leave it alone and call an electrician, whether that's near Homerton, where terraced streets and ex-GLC estates near the hospital and Chatsworth Road, or elsewhere in the borough.
What not to do
- Block the entry hole while squirrels may still be inside; they chew a new way out, sometimes into the house
- Put down poison in the loft
- Catch a squirrel and release it elsewhere
There's a legal dimension too: grey squirrels count as an invasive non-native species, so putting one back once it's been caught is against the law - the same pattern holds near Homerton, where terraced streets and ex-GLC estates near the hospital and Chatsworth Road.
Booking squirrel control in Hackney
Our squirrel trapping service in Hackney is £280, and since around London Fields, where terraced streets around the park and lido, it helps to say when you book squirrel control whether the sounds are by day or night and whether trees overhang the roof, with more on the Hackney squirrel control page.
