Crazy amount of squirrel damage

[winterh]

I have never seen anything like what I saw last night. Been away for a few days and got to my house about 8 last night. Walk in and the place is a disaster zone. Broken lamps, pillows torn apart, all the food from cabinets all over the floor mixed in with smashed bottles of olive oil, kitchen faucet running full blast..... and worst of all woodwork, slider doors and window sashes chewed apart. I notice a bushy tail sticking out from under a pillow and poke it with a broom. At least 8 big squirrels start running all over the place! No way I am spending the night so i open all the doors and windows and go home hoping they find their way out. Came back this morning with my dog and a bunch of traps I bought but they seem to be gone. Good move on their part as I will show them no mercy. At least $10,000 in windows need replacing! State Farm says policy does not cover rodents. Now that I think about it maybe they were small bears as they do cover bears.

[thinkxingu]

That's awful—sorry to hear this.

I'd posted that squirrels were chewing my composite decking earlier in the summer. Took us almost two months to get rid of them and will replace the boards next spring.

Good luck with the fixes.

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

[tis]

Oh wow. That is just awful, I can't imagine. Any idea how they got in?

[winterh]

No idea. I did have a big pine removed recently. Was joking that they must have lived in it and this was their revenge. I can understand them getting in as they can squeeze thru small holes but its the number of them and the damage they did that blew me away. I assume they got in and then could not get out so they tried chewing their way through my windows

[tis]

Originally Posted by winterh

No idea. I did have a big pine removed recently. Was joking that they must have lived in it and this was their revenge. I can understand them getting in as they can squeeze thru small holes but it's the number of them and the damage they did that blew me away. I assume they got in and then could not get out so they tried chewing their way through my windows

That's just horrible. Any pictures to show us?

[pjard]

Originally Posted by tis

That's just horrible. Any pictures to show us?

Can I ask what you did to get rid of them? (maybe we don't want to know) LOL

[BillTex]

I think you may have had some two legged intruders. Faucet turned on? Broken bottles?
Hmmm…

I think the squirrels stopped by to take advantage of the easy pickins’

[Woodsy]

I am with BillTex on this.... I seriously doubt squirrels turned on the water and broke glass etc. I would file a police report, call it vandalism and see how it plays out!

Woodsy

[FlyingScot]

So sorry to read this, winterh.

We had one come in through a chimney a year or two ago. Fortunately, he was not able to open cabinets or access water. He knocked over a couple of lamps, pillows, etc, left a few funny stains, then died quietly curled up on a couch.

[dippasan]

Originally Posted by winterh

I have never seen anything like what I saw last night. Been away for a few days and got to my house about 8 last night. Walk in and the place is a disaster zone. Broken lamps, pillows torn apart, all the food from cabinets all over the floor mixed in with smashed bottles of olive oil, kitchen faucet running full blast..... and worst of all woodwork, slider doors and window sashes chewed apart. I notice a bushy tail sticking out from under a pillow and poke it with a broom. At least 8 big squirrels start running all over the place! No way I am spending the night so i open all the doors and windows and go home hoping they find their way out. Came back this morning with my dog and a bunch of traps I bought but they seem to be gone. Good move on their part as I will show them no mercy. At least $10,000 in windows need replacing! State Farm says policy does not cover rodents. Now that I think about it maybe they were small bears as they do cover bears.

So sorry to hear this. Terrible thing to come home too. Any signs of forced entry by humans? It seems like a tremendous amount of damage for it to be just squirrels. door or window accidentally left cracked open?

[WinterHarborGuy]

[winterh]

I tried to post pics but could not figure out how. My kids are coming over later. They probably know how to do it. I have a video of the walk thru and will try to post it but you will have to excuse my language. My first thought was a break in but I don't think that was the case. The water was hardest thing to figure out but i could see how it was possible. Just a lever that could be pushed forward if they were climbing on it. I set a bunch of traps yesterday inside the house, the basement and the outside but caught nothing. Did bring my dog back so maybe that scared them away.

[winterh]

Heres some pics. Look at the window sash. There are about 10 windows plus a big slider chewed like that.

[tis]

Wow, that is terrible! I feel so sorry for you. It looks like they got in and didn't know how to get out and chewed the windows, do you think?

[John Mercier]

Andersen A series or another brand?

[winterh]

Pella architectural.
Not cheap but I called the Pella rep and he was great. I can replace just the windows but keep the frames
Insurance won't cover though

[winterh]

Originally Posted by tis

Wow, that is terrible! I feel so sorry for you. It looks like they got in and didn't know how to get out and chewed the windows, do you think?

Yes, I believe thats exactly what happened. A friend has a place on the cape and similar thing happened to him a few years ago. His squirrels were in there so long they eventually went cannibal on each other and he found them all dead with some half eaten.

[John Mercier]

Originally Posted by winterh

Pella architectural.
Not cheap but I called the Pella rep and he was great. I can replace just the windows but keep the frames
Insurance won't cover though

Yes.
Depending on the damage, the sashes may have to be replaced.
If the stain was factory, Rob should be able to supply the manufacturer and color so that sashes that might be saved for the time being could be lightly sanded and refinished.

[tis]

Originally Posted by winterh

Yes, I believe thats exactly what happened. A friend has a place on the cape and similar thing happened to him a few years ago. His squirrels were in there so long they eventually went cannibal on each other and he found them all dead with some half eaten.

Ugh and how long were they dead in there? It is a terrible smell and must be awful to get rid of. At least you didn't have that.

[winterh]

Ok time for a squirrel update. returned Thursday after leaving doors and windows open for a night and Stayed here for a day/night with my dog. Set some live traps and went home. Came back today and had 2 in the traps in the house. They will not be bothering anyone anymore. Saw one running around house so I knew there were more. Lit a fire about 3 hours ago and sitting by fire and one just dropped out of the chimney right into the fire. Unsure if thats the one I saw but maybe thats how they get in. 3 down and at least 5 more to go

[John Mercier]

Check the chimney cap.

[winterh]

John, What do you mean by that? Check to see if the screen that keeps them out is still intact? Since only one fell out I am thinking this is the one that I saw when I walked in and he ran up there as opposed to a nest full of them in there.

[ishoot308]

What John said…chimney cap for sure!

Dan

[John Mercier]

Correct.
If you can get to it; worth checking.

[8gv]

Originally Posted by winterh

Ok time for a squirrel update. returned Thursday after leaving doors and windows open for a night and Stayed here for a day/night with my dog. Set some live traps and went home. Came back today and had 2 in the traps in the house. They will not be bothering anyone anymore. Saw one running around house so I knew there were more. Lit a fire about 3 hours ago and sitting by fire and one just dropped out of the chimney right into the fire. Unsure if thats the one I saw but maybe thats how they get in. 3 down and at least 5 more to go

So...

Ketchup or BBQ sauce?

A borescope camera might reveal a nest or another dead one laying on the back of the fireplace smoke shelf.

[garysanfran]

Are they gray or red? I find the reds to be much more invasive.

[ghfromaltonbay]

Originally Posted by garysanfran

Are they gray or red? I find the reds to be much more invasive.

We had a red squirrel chew through the screen on our jalousie window early one morning. He chewed up 3 or 4 hamburger buns near the window and then jumped on my brother while he was sleeping. When my brother jumped up, the squirrel ran back to the kitchen and was under the table. I heard the racket at about 6:45 am and came out into the kitchen to see my brother opening the door and chasing the squirrel out with a straw broom. We then found the hole in the screen, and only saw the chewed buns later. The little bugger had jumped up on the shed roof in front of the cottage and then got on the window sill to chew the screen. We set up a have a heart trap with peanut butter bait, but we never caught him. We did have to chase him off the windowsill for a day or 2 after we had patched the screen. Luckily, he didn't bite my brother when he startled him.

[winterh]

Originally Posted by garysanfran

Are they gray or red? I find the reds to be much more invasive.

These squirrels were grey. I set traps and caught 6 very quickly. Nothing since.
Will be interesting to see if they come back when I leave house for a few days.

[tis]

Originally Posted by winterh

These squirrels were grey. I set traps and caught 6 very quickly. Nothing since.
Will be interesting to see if they come back when I leave house for a few days.

We had tons of grey squirrels this year.

[winterh]

Originally Posted by tis

We had tons of grey squirrels this year.

There are now 6 less

[tis]

Originally Posted by winterh

There are now 6 less

I won't miss them and I know you won't! I would hate them to get in my house like they did in yours'. They are pretty brave too. I swear they would come to the patio right in front of my dogs to tease them.