Looking for ideas and tips on how to capture a squirrel? Squirrels only need a tiny space to crawl into the attic and then wreak havoc on your walls, wiring and worse. Don’t wait until the situation gets worse and you’re forced to pay thousands of dollars in damages.
Before contacting an extermination company for a squirrel capture service, it is good to know that the exterminator will not exterminate it, but rather will catch it. When the squirrel is captured, the exterminator relocates and releases the animal. The squirrel is one of the urban wildlife animals most likely to become a pest in the home. Learn more about the other most harmful urban animals in Quebec.
Find out now how to capture a squirrel and why it is advantageous to entrust this work to specialized exterminators.
Install a trap
There are many solutions to get rid of squirrels safely. Here are a few.
How to Capture a Squirrel: Design or Buy a Trap to Catch a Squirrel
You can easily find squirrel traps in specialty stores or on the web. Alternatively, you can design your trap yourself with materials you have at home. There are many guides to help you design traps that are not likely to injure the animal.
Getting a trap for a single animal
Animal cages are usually made of steel and have a lever located at the back of the cage. A little food is placed inside and the squirrel, attracted by the smell of the bait, steps on the lever and locks itself in the cage.
Just make sure you choose a cage that is large enough to hold the squirrel. We recommend a size of about 40 cm long by 15 cm wide and high.
Build a trap positioned in an entrance
If you want to learn how to capture a squirrel, it’s good to know that This method is the most effective.
You must first find out where your invader entered and then position your trap at that opening. The goal is to force the animal into the trap and prevent it from getting out. A clue would be to observe if there are tree branches that are near your house and that would give access.
To find an entrance, look for a draft or a light. We recommend starting by checking your air vents and any openings in your roof. The opening doesn’t have to be large for a squirrel to crawl in and invade your attic.
In the immediate suburbs of the South Shore, for example in the territory covered by our team in Boucherville, grey squirrels frequently settle in the attics of semi-detached houses as early as October, well before the cold weather.
How do you capture a squirrel that has infiltrated the house?
When your traps are installed, it’s time to move on to the second step.
Placing food in the trap
The best way to catch a squirrel is to use peanut butter with berries or an apple wedge to prevent it from becoming dehydrated. Once the animal has been baited and captured, you must relocate it 15 to 20 km away, to avoid its return.
Peanut butter has a strong smell that will attract your pests to the cage and make it easier for them to catch. To avoid dirtying your cage, use a small piece of bread. If you don’t have peanut butter, only berries are also a good solution. You can also use your leftover food, but avoid meat or dairy products, as they have an undesirable smell.
Conditioning the squirrel with food
To know how to capture a squirrel, you have to understand that these animals are wary. So you can bait them for a few days by leaving food near a deactivated cage. Then, when you are certain that the squirrel likes your bait, slide the bait into the activated cage.
Position the trap in an easy-to-reach location
The position of the trap is important in your capture strategy. To capture squirrels in the garden, place the cage near the bird feeder. To know how to capture a squirrel in the house, you need to know where it has made its nest. Most of the time, it is the attic that houses the squirrels. So set your trap in the attic.
Check the trap
After you set your trap, check it every day. Don’t let the squirrel suffer unnecessarily or worse, let the animal end up dead. A good solution if you don’t have time to check every day is to leave enough food and water in the cage to ensure the animal’s survival.
How to capture a squirrel: relocate to release the captured squirrel
Choose a wooded area away from your home. We recommend a distance of at least 2 km between your home and the rest area to keep the squirrel away from your home for good.
Release the squirrel more than ten meters from the road to ensure its safety. Open the cage and move away to give the squirrel a chance to calm down and escape.
Why call on professionals for squirrel capture?
Knowing how to capture a squirrel is good, but you still need to be able to take care of:
- Relocation;
- Release the animal safely;
- Decontaminate because their smell is likely to attract other squirrels.
Also, store-bought cages sometimes have complex mechanisms. You could injure yourself during installation.
For all these reasons, we strongly recommend entrusting the capture of squirrels to a specialized exterminator.
If you are struggling with a squirrel problem or need a wildlife extermination service, contact us. Be in control of squirrels in your residential territory and keep squirrels at bay. Our experts in the capture of unwanted animals will be happy to put their expertise at your service.
Comparison of capture methods
Five types of traps and devices are available for squirrels in Quebec. The table below crosses the method of capture, risk for the animal, cost and legal framework to guide the decision according to your situation.
| Type of trap | Capture | Risk of animal injury | Cost | QC Legality | Recommended for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bait cage (Havahart) | Alive | Very Low | Moderate | Legal on its property | Individuals and professionals |
| Sliding door hatch | Alive | Weak | Moderate | Legal | Multiple capture in case of infestation |
| Tooth Trap (Conibear) | Instant death | N/A | Weak | Trapping licence required | Licensed trappers only |
| Sticky traps | Alive | Very high | Weak | Discouraged by SPCA Quebec | Not recommended |
| One-way device | Capture Free Output | None | High | Legal | Attic exclusion with animal living inside |
For the majority of residential cases, the classic bait cage remains the most balanced choice: safe for the animal, simple to use and compliant with regulations. The one-way device becomes essential when the squirrel is already installed in an attic with a potential reach.
Three test cases and their resolution
Isolated squirrel in the garden attracted to feeders
Typical situation: one or two grey squirrels frequent bird feeders and fruit trees on a daily basis, without entering the house. Recommended intervention: no capture necessary. Modify the environment (anti-squirrel feeders on metal poles with anti-climb collar at 1.8 m height, removal of fruit fallen in autumn, pruning of branches that touch the roof). Zero to moderate cost, result in 2 to 3 weeks.
Squirrel entered the attic in autumn
A typical October-November situation: a squirrel is looking for a winter shelter and finds a crack in a soffit. Audible morning running noises. Intervention: confirm that there is no range (listen for 24 hours), place a one-way device on the identified exit, wait 24 to 72 hours for the animal to come out, then close permanently with welded mesh. Complete inspection of the other soffits to anticipate a reintroduction. Total duration: one week.
Family of squirrels with litter in the attic
A more complex case encountered in the spring. Running noises but also high-pitched baby cries possible. Intervention is not possible before the emancipation of the young (8 to 10 weeks after birth). During the wait: non-lethal scaring (radio, light) to encourage the mother to spontaneously move her young to a new site, which occurs in 60 to 70% of cases in two to three weeks. If the mother does not move, wait for the natural flight and then place the one-way device.
Securing sustainably after exclusion
Capturing or bringing out the squirrel is not enough. Without a rigorous closure of all access points, another individual will take the place of the previous one in a few weeks. The grey squirrel defends a home range of several hectares and any abandoned site is quickly identified.
Complete inspection to be carried out immediately after departure
At least three areas should be checked and closed: all soffits and eaves (an access point is almost always at the junction with a wall), roof and bathroom vents (squirrels gnaw on plastic grates), and trees with branches that extend 2.5 metres from the roof (cut shorter or install anti-climb metal collars on the trunk).
Materials that really resist teeth
Squirrels can chew through wood, regular expanding moss, plastic, and even stucco over time. Only a few materials are durable in the long term: welded wire mesh in mesh of at least 12 mm, aluminium or galvanised sheet metal plates for exposed corners, and expanding foam reinforced with metal fibres for complex junctions. Silicone caulk alone is useless against squirrels.
Questions
When is the best time to exclude a squirrel from the attic?
Grey squirrels have two breeding periods in Quebec: December to March (young born in March-April) and May to June (second litter in July-August). The best window for exclusion is between the end of August and the end of November, when the young of both litters are emancipated and the female does not raise young. Exclusion in the middle of the calving period condemns the babies stuck in the nest, which is not only inhumane but creates a decomposing smell and attracts other pests.
How many young can be present in a nest?
A litter of grey squirrel usually has 2 to 6 young after a gestation period of 44 days. The babies are born blind, hairless, and remain dependent on the mother for 8 to 10 weeks before leaving the nest. Since the female can produce two litters per year, it is not uncommon to find 4 to 12 different individuals in the same attic during the year. Before any exclusion, listening for 24 hours will confirm if any young are present.
What bait to use in a squirrel trap?
Four baits give the best results, in order of decreasing effectiveness:
- Peanut butter spread on a piece of apple : a combination that almost always triggers the trap.
- Peanut butter alone : strong smell, texture that sticks to the trigger.
- Whole nuts (hazelnuts, walnuts): natural but sometimes extracted without triggering the trap.
- Sunflower seeds as a complement to the main bait to enhance attractiveness.
Placing the trap along a visible path (droppings, claw marks) increases the catch rate. Check the trap twice a day, as required by Quebec regulations.
Is it legal to relocate a squirrel to Quebec?
Trapping a squirrel on its property is authorized without a permit if the animal causes damage. Relocation, unlike skunks or raccoons, is not restricted by current rabies regulations. The minimum recommended distance is 8 to 10 km from the capture site to avoid return, and ideally in a wooded area that provides food and shelter. Relocation in winter has a low survival rate for the animal: a permanent exclusion without capture is preferred if possible.
How do you prevent squirrels from accessing the roof?
The squirrel jumps an average of 1.5 m horizontally and climbs almost all vertical surfaces. Four prevention actions in this order:
- Prune branches at least 2.5 m from the roof: the average jumping distance of a grey squirrel is 1.5 m.
- Install 60 cm wide metal collars 1.8 m above the ground on isolated trees near the house.
- Close all openings larger than 5 cm with welded wire mesh (not soft netting, which they gnaw on).
- Inspect soffits and vents annually in the spring before the first litter.
How long does it take for a squirrel to leave an attic?
With a well-placed one-way exclusion (door that opens outward only), an adult squirrel usually comes out in 24 to 72 hours. The duration goes up to several days if a litter is present: the mother has to move each baby one by one to a new site. Without a one-way device but with forced caulking, the animal can stay for up to 2 weeks looking for a way out, gnawing on materials and causing significant damage.
When should you call an exterminator for a squirrel?
Three situations justify professional intervention: confirmed presence of a span in the attic (the exclusion chronology becomes critical), visible damage to insulation or electrical wiring (risk of fire), and any attempt at exclusion that has not worked after two weeks. A certified trapper installs the one-way devices, identifies all access points, and secures the permanent exit after the animals have left.
Areas Served
Our squirrel capture teams operate on the South Shore, the Richelieu Valley and the Maskoutains. We are present in Boucherville, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu and Saint-Hyacinthe, with a high availability in early fall when the squirrels are looking for a shelter for the winter.
