Key takeaways
Squirrels are daytime animals, so if you hear activity in daylight it is probably them. Two things make this urgent rather than annoying: they gnaw constantly, and chewed wiring in a roof void is a fire risk — and between roughly February and June there are usually young in the nest. Sealing the entry before everything is out is how a nuisance becomes a structural problem.
The short answer
Squirrels are active in daylight, especially dawn and late afternoon, which separates them from rats and raccoons. They must be removed before any entry point is sealed, because a sealed-in squirrel will chew a new opening — often into the living space. Between February and June, assume there are young present.
How you know it’s squirrels
Timing. Squirrels are diurnal. Peak noise is shortly after first light and again in the late afternoon, and the roof void goes quiet overnight. Anything that only happens after dark is not a grey squirrel.
Sound. Fast, light scampering with a distinctive rolling noise — squirrels cache nuts and they roll across joists. Persistent gnawing is standard; their incisors grow continuously and they wear them down on whatever is there.
Entry. A gnawed, roughly round opening about golf-ball sized, usually at a soffit-fascia junction, a gable vent, a roof-line gap or around a pipe penetration. The edges will look chewed rather than broken.
Flying squirrels are the exception — they are nocturnal, much smaller, and colonial, so you may hear a dozen or more. If you have night-time activity that sounds too light for a rat and there is a lot of it, that is worth ruling in.
Active
Daylight — dawn and late afternoon
Entry hole
Golf-ball sized, chewed round
Young in nest
Roughly Feb–Jun, and again late summer
Main hazard
Chewed wiring
Before you do anything else
If you find chewed wiring, stop and call an electrician.
Squirrels gnaw continuously and roof voids are full of cable. Insulation stripped from a live conductor, inside a space packed with fibre insulation and stored cardboard, is a genuine fire risk — and it is the reason this problem does not keep until next month. An electrician deals with the cable; a wildlife operator deals with the animal. You need both, in that order.
The order that matters
Every part of this job is straightforward except the sequence, and the sequence is what people get wrong.
| Order | Step | What happens if you skip it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Survey — find every opening, not the obvious one | You seal one gap and they use the other |
| 2 | Establish whether there are young | Sealing leaves a litter walled in |
| 3 | Remove or exclude the animals | — |
| 4 | Confirm the void is empty | A sealed-in squirrel chews inward |
| 5 | Seal in chew-proof material — steel mesh, metal flashing | Foam and wood get chewed straight through |
| 6 | Check wiring and insulation | Fire risk and lost R-value stay behind |
Step five is where cheap jobs fail. Expanding foam and timber offcuts are what a squirrel does for exercise. Sealing has to be in something they cannot get through — galvanised mesh, sheet metal, hardware cloth.
Trapping vs one-way exclusion
One-way doors let the animal leave and not return, which avoids handling the animal entirely and avoids the relocation question. They are the default for a simple case with a single entry.
Trapping is used where exclusion is impractical or where young are present and need to be removed by hand and reunited outside. Relocation is regulated at state level and in many states it is restricted or prohibited outright — often because of disease-transmission rules. Anyone telling you they will ‘release it in the woods’ should be able to say which statute lets them.
Where this stops being a DIY job
It is between February and June, or late summer. Those are the two breeding peaks. Assume young until someone has actually looked, because sealing a litter in is both an odour problem and, in several states, an offence.
You have found chewed wiring. Electrician first. This stops being a wildlife job.
The entry is at roof level. Soffit and fascia work at height, on a ladder, is where the injuries in this category come from — not the animal.
You are planning to trap and relocate. Check your state’s rules first. Relocation of nuisance wildlife is restricted or banned in a large number of states.
Daytime noise overhead, or chewed entry at the roof line?
Connects you with a wildlife operator serving your area
What to ask before you book
- Are there young, and how will you check?
- Exclusion or trapping — and why that one here?
- What material do you seal with?
- If you trap, what happens to the animal, and under what state authority?
- Do you inspect wiring and insulation, or is that separate?
Sources. Behaviour, seasonality and exclusion sequencing follow USDA APHIS Wildlife Services technical guidance and the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management. Relocation legality varies by state and is not summarised here — check your state wildlife agency. Breeding windows are given as broad ranges because they shift with latitude and season.
Questions people actually ask
How do I know it’s squirrels and not rats?
Timing. Squirrels are active in daylight, loudest just after first light and again in the late afternoon, and the roof void goes quiet overnight. Rats are the reverse. If you also hear something rolling across the joists, that is a squirrel moving a cached nut.
Can I just block the hole?
No, and this is the mistake that turns a nuisance into a repair bill. A sealed-in squirrel chews a new opening, and it will chew in whichever direction is easiest — frequently into the living space. Everything has to be out and confirmed out before anything is sealed.
What months are squirrels most likely to have young in an attic?
Broadly February to June, with a second, smaller peak in late summer. Those windows shift with latitude. If you are inside one, assume young are present until someone has actually looked.
What should I seal the entry with?
Something they cannot chew: galvanised steel mesh, hardware cloth or sheet metal flashing. Expanding foam and timber offcuts are what a squirrel does for exercise, and a repair in those materials is the reason people call twice.
Is it legal to trap and relocate a squirrel?
It depends entirely on your state, and relocation of nuisance wildlife is restricted or prohibited in a large number of them — usually on disease-transmission grounds. Check your state wildlife agency before buying a trap, not after.
