You may love watching squirrels jump from branch to branch as they always seem like they can fly. Alternatively, you may enjoy seeing them sitting on the ground chewing away on a nutty treasure. If you are a property owner, however, you will want to discourage them from taking up residence on your property. Here are some examples of the damage that squirrels can cause.
It is estimated that squirrels cause about 30,000 house fires every year. These fires are often caused when squirrels decide to eat the electrical wiring in the home. Each year, approximately 2,500 people die in house fires in the United States while over 11,000 people are injured in house fires. Additionally, fires cause over $7 billion in damage. While not all fires are caused by squirrels, eliminating them from your property increases the chances that you will not have a house fire.
Squirrels are incessant chewers, and they often chew through PVC water pipes. This can cause your home to become flooded especially if no one is home when it happens to find the leak quickly. Additionally, squirrels can eat through shingles, eaves and gables causing the roof to leak when it rains. Assuming the damage is not fixed, it can even cause the ceilings in the home to collapse. Complete devastation can happen quickly if the damage done by squirrels are not fixed quickly.
While it is rare, squirrels can transmit diseases to home occupants. They often have ticks, which may become unattached and reattach themselves to family members. Squirrels can also have mites and they may carry rabies. Plague, encephalitis, tularemia, and louse-borne typhus can all be caused by squirrels. While most diseases caused by squirrels can be treated with antibiotics, if left untreated, then they can become quite serious.
One of the most common types of damage done by squirrels is that they eat insulation. They often make nests in the insulation in the attic. They can, however, destroy insulation in walls as well. Furthermore, as they live in the insulation, they often urinate and defecate causing odor problems. The amount of noise that they make while in the walls and attic can make it difficult to sleep.
While squirrels may be cute, you need to get them out of your house. The best way to do this is to call an exterminator, like Colonial Pest Control Inc.
Hannah Whittenly is a freelance writer and mother of two from Sacramento, CA. She enjoys kayaking and reading books by the lake.