# what is this animal on my attic



## pawntan (Aug 24, 2020)

Is trap the best way to get rid of them ? What should I put as bait in the trap ?

Once I trap them, what's the most humane way to get rid of them ?
If I do not get rid them / sending them to heaven, and just release on the backyard, pretty soon they will climb up my attic again


The body shape looks like a chipmunk, but I do not see traditional chipmunk stripes on the body


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## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

Looks chipmunk to me. The are super skittish. Any chance you can plug any of the holes and keep him out? Glue trap will kill him.


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## DexterII (Jul 14, 2010)

Note the different shade flaps along the side and the long slender tail; I'd say a flying squirrel. No guarantee now that it's found a warm place to hang out, but if you disturb it enough it's more apt to look for another home than mice or regular squirrels would be. The main thing though is as WOW said, get the holes plugged because it and other critters will be back.


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

Put a speaker in the attic and blast load rock music. That will make him disappear...then find out where he got in.


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## pawntan (Aug 24, 2020)

Two Knots said:


> Put a speaker in the attic and blast load rock music. That will make him disappear...then find out where he got in.



Is it true that loud music will drive them away ?


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## pawntan (Aug 24, 2020)

DexterII said:


> Note the different shade flaps along the side and the long slender tail; I'd say a flying squirrel. No guarantee now that it's found a warm place to hang out, but if you disturb it enough it's more apt to look for another home than mice or regular squirrels would be. The main thing though is as WOW said, get the holes plugged because it and other critters will be back.



That is correct. Looks like a flying squirrel based on this picture
https://wildlife.org/do-shifting-ranges-under-climate-change-mean-more-species-invasions/


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## Two Knots (Nov 12, 2011)

pawntan said:


> Is it true that loud music will drive them away ?


Absolutely, I had a client that had an exterminator come to trap a squirrel 
in his attic...when he got the bill he almost blew a fuse and called them
up to complain...he got the receptionist and after his complaining, 
she said, well you should have just put a speaker up there, and blasted 
him out, *that’s what we do!*


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

@pawntan, welcome!

Flying squirrels like to be up high, chipmunks are down low, mostly, and they're striped.

Great idea about the music. Do all you can to avoid exterminators. They cost a lot. Sometimes (rarely) you really do need them, but mostly they're over used.

Let us know how it goes, and what music you use. I'd suggest Van Halen, Judas Priest or AC DC.


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

Another trick for getting critters out of your attic is ammonia. Take a rag. soak it in ammonia. Put in a can, with no lid, and place in attic.


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## Fix'n it (Mar 12, 2012)

DoomsDave said:


> . I'd suggest Van Halen, Judas Priest or AC DC.


be careful though, he may start drinking your beer :vs_laugh:


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

When all else fails, have everyone over for karaoke, preferably something loud, and, perhaps at least arguably obnoxious and pipe it up there.

Jokes aside, others have told me that loud music does work, which is great. Squirrels don't die, they just go somewhere else.

But, thinking some more, what harm do flying squirrels do? Chipmunks undermine foundations (oh how well I know), maybe someone here can share?


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## DoomsDave (Dec 6, 2018)

Fix'n it said:


> be careful though, he may start drinking your beer :vs_laugh:


Well, near-beer, for what that matters.


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

DoomsDave said:


> Let us know how it goes, and what music you use. I'd suggest Van Halen, Judas Priest or AC DC.


Hey, if it works for the the US military! Back in the day they got Manuel Noriega out of the Vatican Embassy in Panama City using Guns n Roses (and others)!

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-40090809


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## Windows on Wash (Aug 30, 2011)

GnR for the WIN!!!


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## Artemis2007 (Jul 13, 2012)

This is a flying squirrel. The first time I had them I paid a guy to repair the holes and install a one way exit, so they couldn't get back in. Ultimately, one squirrel found a new gap, and this time I got a humane trap from Amazon and easily got him with peanut butter. Drove him 5 miles away to a wooded area for his new home. And of course I had a roofer repair the opening. At one point I used a powerful strobe light to try to drive them out, on the advice of a pro. But it didn't work.


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

Play a recording of Biden and Harris continuously. After the critter slips into a coma, hit it with a baseball bat.


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## Missouri Bound (Apr 9, 2011)

Plug a radio in up there and turn it up.
Here in So Missouri there are a lot of vacation / summer homes.
The owners leave a radio on in their garage and the rodents stay away.
They do not want to be around humans and the noise convinces them that someone is there.
And I am glad to see the humane suggestions.
Enough wildlife gets killed for no reason as it is.
If you use a humane trap, check it every day.
Starving an animal to death because you are too busy to check the trap is cruelty.


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## Old Thomas (Nov 28, 2019)

If you use a humane trap don’t let it go on someone else’s property. I have caught people trying to let animals go on my farmland. Those animals do damage. I remind them that I will shoot or poison it as soon as I can.


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