From the canopy to the roofline
A grey squirrel moves through tree canopies and along fences as easily as along the ground. Houses close to mature trees typically have a branch overhanging the roof that acts as a bridge, and from there the squirrel only needs a weak spot at the eaves.
Wanstead's leafy streets
The Victorian and Edwardian houses of Wanstead sit close to Wanstead Flats and the Green, among some of the borough's most established trees, and older roofs here often have the small gaps at ridge or fascia that a squirrel needs to get in.
Hainault's woodland edge
The suburban semis backing onto Hainault Forest give squirrels a similarly direct route from woodland to roof, and a check at the eaves each autumn is worth doing here before a quiet loft turns noisy over winter.
Confirming it's a squirrel
The timing of the activity is usually the clearest tell - the same pattern holds near Hainault, where suburban semis close to Hainault Forest. Squirrels are active by day, so running and thumping at first light and again in late afternoon points to them, while noise in the middle of the night usually means rats or mice instead.
Checking for damage
Look from the hatch without climbing in, using a torch: flattened or shredded insulation, gnawed timber and droppings around the water tank. The most serious sign is chewed cable, since it exposes live wiring and creates a fire risk; don't touch it, and have it checked by an electrician, true near Aldborough Hatch too, where a quieter.
What not to do
- Block the entry hole while squirrels may still be inside - they will chew a new way out
- Put down poison in the loft
- Catch a squirrel and release it elsewhere, which is against the law once caught
Booking squirrel control in Redbridge
Our squirrel trapping service in Redbridge is £280, and since around Ilford, where the town centre and surrounding streets, 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 Redbridge squirrel control page.
