From the park and towpath to the roofline
A grey squirrel moves through tree canopies and along fences as confidently as along the ground, and houses close to Richmond Park or the riverside trees along the Thames often have a branch overhanging the roof that acts as a direct bridge. From there the squirrel only needs a weak spot at the eaves.
Barnes and Kew's mature gardens
The village-style streets around Barnes, and the leafy roads near Kew Gardens, sit among some of the borough's most established tree cover, and older roofs here often already carry the small gaps at fascia or ridge that a squirrel needs to get in.
Confirming it's a squirrel
Timing alone often gives the strongest indication, as anyone near Kew will recognise, where leafy streets of period houses close to Kew Gardens and the river. Since squirrels keep daytime hours, overhead running and thumping around first light and late afternoon points to them, while overnight noise usually means rats or mice - the same pattern holds near Barnes, where village-style streets and large houses around the pond and the river towpath.
Checking for damage
A torch from the hatch, without climbing in fully, should reveal flattened or shredded insulation, gnawed timber and droppings by the water tank, much as it does near Twickenham, where riverside houses and terraces close to the Thames. If you find gnawed electrical cable, treat it as urgent: exposed wiring is a fire risk, so don't handle it yourself, call an electrician instead, much as it does near Twickenham, where riverside houses and terraces close to the Thames.
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 Richmond upon Thames
Our squirrel trapping service in Richmond upon Thames is £280, and since around Richmond, where georgian townhouses and riverside streets close to Richmond Park and the town centre, 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 Richmond upon Thames squirrel control page.
