From the park to the roofline
A grey squirrel moves through tree canopies and along fence tops with ease, so a house within reach of Victoria Park's mature trees, or backing onto a stretch of the canal towpath lined with trees, has a natural bridge straight to its own eaves.
Confirming it's a squirrel
Timing is the clearest clue: squirrels are active by day, so running and thumping around first light and again in late afternoon points to them, while activity in the dead of night points to rats or mice instead.
Checking for damage
Look from the loft hatch without climbing in, using a torch: shredded or flattened insulation, gnawed timber, chewed cable. Chewed electrical cable is the most serious find, since bare conductors are a fire risk - don't touch it and get an electrician to check it.
What not to do
- Block the entry hole while a squirrel may still be inside - it will chew a new way out, sometimes into the house itself
- Put down poison in the loft
- Catch a squirrel and release it elsewhere
That last point is a legal one, not just a practical one: grey squirrels are an invasive non-native species, and releasing one once caught is against the law.
Booking squirrel control in Tower Hamlets
Our squirrel trapping service in Tower Hamlets is £280, and since around Canary Wharf, where high-rise apartment towers with commercial premises at ground and podium level, 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 Tower Hamlets squirrel control page.
