Now that it’s autumn, the squirrels are setting up their homes for the winter. You definitely want to make sure it isn’t in your attic! No, no, not a good thing! (Damp insulation doesn’t insulate, wires can get chewed, things get soiled, yuck, no good.) So I have an article to share with you: “Something’s living in the ceiling — maybe squirrels, maybe not” —in The Washington Post. The upshot is, a company licensed for wildlife control can banish whatever is up there. More and more companies are specializing in human removal and release. And you can just as easily release them on your own property, only with reinforcement against them regaining entry to your attic.

Not that squirrels in the attic (a link with DIYs on humanely removing them) has ever been a problem for me (they’ve never gotten in). My novel solution is actually providing them housing. I do it for them seasonally. I have a new DIY called Make a Squirrel Cabin Out of Wine Crate that’ll get you started, and it’s rather an easy effort, too.

Four, count ’em, four squirrels, on a cold morning

So as I described in that tutorial, I’ve had a squirrel cabin out back since oh forever, but a few years ago I started putting one up above my front door like so:

A squirrel demanded a house (by trying to move into the bird house)
So I provided a cabin I made out of a wine crate and scrap wood in about 45 minutes
The squirrel cabin occupied by a black and a grey squirrel

That first winter, I had at least three squirrels living in new cabin: A black one and two greys.

I repaired the damaged sparrow row-house the following spring, like this:

The bird house, repaired
The first portal was too destroyed, but that doesn’t prevent my changing it for the better!
With new portals in a new orientation that the sparrrows actually prefer
The sparrows absolutely love the new orientation, and I now have a flock that visit it year-round

Long-time local wildlife like it here

That they moved in should be of no surprise to anyone. I had an earlier play-by-play of two squirrels raucously playing right there:

One squirrel
Two squirrels play-fighting
"I love you bro"

Squirrels have domestic disputes

That doesn’t mean it’s all fun and games, though. Squirrels can get into moods. One afternoon I came home and found this boy perched on one of the vines, just staying put. For hours. Night fell, and he was still there. When I came out to find out what was going on, a very angry squirrel was in the box, and he was too afraid to go in. He retired up to the window ledge.

Waiting on the vine
still waiting
Retiring to the chilly window ledge
You can even see Bitchy Squirrel in the cabin, here, while Poor Boy is up on the windowsill

Fortunately, by the time I went to bed, he’d gotten back into the cabin. He probably had to wait until the other squirrel fell asleep, or the third squirrel came in and placated the angry one. What drama!

Bonus: babies!

Come spring, a female in the cabin had babies! I got to watch them grow up and explore and continue to play together as teenagers and adults. Surely they’re ones I have running around my property now. Look how cute one of them is here:

Here’s the one I like the most!

The eavestrough, before the neighbour mistakenly extended theirs to abut mine (neither good for bricks nor for squirrels)

Soon after that, I watched a treacherous event unfold as their momma (not the brightest star in the firmament) tried to teach them to pull themselves up and over a badly-done, obstructing eavestrough, to get on the roof to go to the backyard. Had she just chosen the neighbour’s tree, the access would have been SO much easier, but one poor baby, in a failed attempt to get over the hurdle, fell to the ground and was injured. It was favouring one side of its body, and I could see it was afraid of trying again. When I do my own roof next year, I’ll restore the access gap between the eavestroughs (as pictured) that was there before the neighbour’s eavestrough was needlessly extended.

End-of-life care

Obviously as my yard is high-traffic, friendly territory, I’ve had a disabled squirrel I’ve made accommodations for. I’ve had thieving squirrels, who also happen to be good friends of mine, who might have come to mischief. I’ve had terrible harvests of tomatoes because these guys think I do it for them (I do not!).

And ultimately, I’ve had my fair share of dead squirrels, because if you had a park where you knew you’d be safe and surrounded by greenery, wouldn’t you choose to go there to die? So I’ve buried many of these squirrels in the backyard. It’s a service I’ll gladly perform. Their presence and antics amuse me so, I would hate to be without them.

But if ever you find the carcass of an animal and you think its death might be suspicious, you can call the Ministère du Developpement durable, de l’Environnement, de la Faune et des Parcs and get a wildlife officer to claim the body for a necropsy. I did so once, and this is the form they hand you:

I presume nothing untoward was found with this squirrel after all, as I never heard back from them.

Now you know what it’s like to be a landlady or landlord to these critters. It’s more worth than it’s trouble.

A squirrel sunning itself in the front honey locust, early spring