Good lord, did the exterminator tell you all this nonsense? Shame on them. Biologist here, I'm also a wildlife rehabber and former vet tech. This is bull.

Since 1950, a total of 8 squirrels have been found to have rabies. Plus, if you get bitten, just get the treatment, which is 100 percent effective.

Squirrels are important dispersers of seeds and nuts. Tree distribution would be severely impacted without squirrels, who have managed to survive in cities despite the fact that humans have all but decimated the natural areas there.

And if we hadn't killed off half their predators, there wouldn't be so many. Just seal up the holes in your house, and please don't pay to have these jokers kill these helpful animals.

hah! I was going to say - they *can* carry rabies but it's probably unlikely and your Animal Control/Dept of Health can probably confirm that.

HSUS has some squirrel problem-solving tips here, too:

http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/squirrels/tips/solving_problems_squirrels.html

I had the same problem, all i had to do was bang the wall a few times and they got scared and left. Don't call an exterminator, you never know what they really do to these poor animals just looking for warmth for the winter.

I agree with Emmi - and not just because I adore squirrels and love watching them in our yard. Why kill these animals for, well, acting like animals when simply patching up the hole in the roof might solve your problem? Especially since an open access point to your warm, cozy house would also likely be appealing to many other wild creatures, all of whom would then also potentially be subject to extermination.

One more quick thought: given your comments on air quality issues due to squirrels being in the home, wouldn't the toxic chemicals used by exterminators also be of grave concern?

@Emmi: I'll give you the point about the likelihood of squirrels carrying rabies. Fine. But what about the damage they can cause to home? That's certainly undesirable, yes? Also, interesting point about them spreading seeds, etc. Thanks!

@Emmi & Smitty3: We did have the hole patched yesterday. The exterminator put a one-way door there with caging around it. Re harsh chemicals, smitty3, I'm not a fan and don't opt for that kind of treatment.

The story actually continued this afternoon when I came downstairs and the 2 squirrels in question were in my fireplace. They had made their way in the chimney -- through the protective caging that we had put in months ago -- and fell down into the fireplace. Needless to say I was a bit freaked. I called the exterminator and the squirrels were removed from the house just to be put outside on the lawn.

My biggest gripe about the situation is the potential damage they can cause to our home. I just don't want them living inside our house. I, too, love seeing them in the yard.

Agree with all of the comments above. The bulleted list reads like a sales brochure from an extermination company.

Particularly given this statement "We all try to keep our home safe and healthy: using chemical-free cleaning products; purchasing organic produce; using VOC-free paint, etc" I would think you most definitely do not want to contaminate your home with the toxic chemicals that will be used by an exterminator.

My dad lives in the country and they had a squirrel problem too- they would find holes in the soffit and also occasionally (rarely) come in through the chimney. He called a wildlife "pest control" type of place, and they came out and put some sort of mesh/screen in the chimney and patched up any openings that squirrels or other critters could come in. No fumigation, no killing, no chemicals. Just covered up the entry points. Problem solved.

I don't think this method would trap them inside to die- they'll run out when you're hammering around up there.

My in-laws have a seasonal issue with chipmunks moving in to their garage for the winter. The first winter they called an exterminator -- it's worth noting that the exterminator doesn't actually exterminate them. They set up the one-way traps that do not harm the animals. The key to actually keeping them from returning is to release them at least a mile from your home or they'll keep finding their way back... though I don't know how much that works since this family returns, gets trapped and released annually.

Thanks for the update, Landis. I understand your wanting to prevent them from damaging your home and am relieved to hear that exterminators also offer no-kill solutions to these kinds of problems.

When I was a child a squirrel made it's way inside the walls of our home, chewed a wire, and caused a fire to start in the middle of the night. Luckily, the 5 of us escaped without injury, but part of the home had to be gutted and we were out of the home for almost a year.

I understand about animals potentially damaging a home - however as someone correctly pointed out, how are you going to get rid of all the dozens of squirrels, bats, raccoons, possums after you've killed the ones off in your home? Why don't we just exterminate every wild animal out there?

Much better to seal up any holes asap before animals get trapped in there. Squirrels, so far as I know, don't typically cause damage - the vast majority of fires are caused by lit candles or cigarrettes.

People should know also that exterminators are not the same as a professional animal handler and they are not always honest about their animal disposal policies. I studied chimney swifts in gradutate schools and some exterminators have broken up nests during nesting season even though it's a federal crime.

I agree with the other comments about making sure you seal up the openings to your home, rather than have these poor little guys 'exterminated'. They are doing the only thing they know how to do - survive. I'm really surprised that this was even posted, since I always thought the tone of re-nest was about finding ways of living with respect to the natural world around us. We had a squirrel in our roof (I thought it was a raccoon it was so loud) and called a pro to set a humane, exit-only device onto it's entry point (a crumbling chimney). This way it could get out, but not back in. The chimney was then sealed up, and no squirrels have found a way back in since.

A great future post would be about humane and natural rodent deterrents, and ways to better seal up the exterior of a home to make it less hospitable to our furry friends.

Calm down folks!
Where on Earth did you get that this lady wanted to kill & poison wildlife??
Having wild animals living in your house IS damaging; cute & furry as they may be. It's all fun & games until you realize a chipmunk has died and you have to cut through your wall to get it out.

Try to seal your house as well as you can before the cold. Take measures as soon as you discover an animal in the house. Exterminators, despite their name, do usually offer no-kill, chemical free services. Many will capture & release animals several miles from your house.

Depending on the situation, borrowing someone's cat for a while is another solution.

Cozy warm homes, complete with yummy food, comfy insulation, and delicious wires, make appealing targets for wildlife. We should take steps to all live peacefully, while being aware of potential complications of our coexistence.

Happy holidays!

Hmm. I wonder how many posters - who seem to be quite certain in their opinions - have actually had a problem with squirrels? I'm guessing not many. We've had squirrel problems twice in two different homes, and let me tell you, they are tricky little buggers to get rid of. They are smart and curious and once they figure out they can get into your (warm and safe) home, they will gnaw right through the new wood you've used to patch the hole they entered in the first time.

When people say "exterminator" it really means animal control. In my state, the laws are very strict regarding control of anything larger than a rat, so as a result, there are few companies that are in that business. And they trap, not poison (because a poisoned animal is likely to crawl back to its den in or under your house and die there, leaving you some serious stink problems).

True story. Squirrels got into our 2 family, nested and bred (I didn't know right away, because our tenant didn't inform me about the skittering he had been hearing in the attic space!). They eventually found their way into the actual apartment and, in one playful little romp, wreaked havok by knocking over all the plants, tearing open food packages in the kitchen and leaving little poop presents around. It took several rounds with one-way gates in the holes and many repeat patches by the pest control company to get them to finally stay out.

Another true story. Just this past summer, my neighbor (in another 2-family. I don't own her side) discovered that a squirrel had gotten trapped in her kitchen when she had left the back door propped open and then left the house, closing the door behind her (I have no idea how she missed the fellow in the first place!). Anyway, he found a loose screen and gnawed into the window sill until he could wiggle his way out. BUT, he had identified this as the place with food (bear in mind that this was in the plentiful late summer too) and later that week, MADE A NEW HOLE IN THE OTHER KITCHEN WINDOW SCREEN, came in and helped himself. The neighbor came into the kitchen and found him casually sitting in the middle of the table munching on some crackers. He then, just as casually, took a leisurely hop back out the window. Thus started the squirrel wars. I won't bore you with all the details, but the culmination was that, after he started making holes in MY kitchen screen (I discovered this before he actually got in) and showed an absolute lack of fear at my chasing, yelling and even THROWING things at him, and trying to trap him for weeks (everyday, he somehow managed to get the peanuts and not trigger the trap!), I FINALLY got the little bugger and now he's happily living (or not?) in a patch of woods about 5 miles away across a river.

So don't tell me it's simple to get rid of squirrels. And sorry for the insanely long post!

oh, and I call BS on Spicy Basil's claim that all she "had to do was bang the wall a few times and they got scared and left". If that really happened, 'them warn't squirrels'!

And Emmi, you may well be expert wildlife in a forested habitat, but that's NOT the same as being an expert in rodents in an urban environment.

Amy - you are correct that I am not a rodent expert; however, I am a lisenced wildlife rehabber and have handled many human-wildlife conflict calls. I also said my qualifications in order to speak about the rabies risk.

You are right that not all exterminators kill animals; however, they are also not usually animal control. Animal control is a city service; exterminators are private businesses, usually.

Many exeterminators "greenwash" in a sense, in that they call themselves humane but they are not, and in fact may not always even follow the law or tell the truth. Does this mean they're all dishonest? NO, not at all, however customers should *not* blindly accept what they say on good faith.

When people here saw the word exterminator, I'm glad they spoke up.