Dealing with squirrels

[JoeMorgan]

I live in a second floor apartment in Park Slope and squirrels have built a nest beneath an air conditioner I have in one of my front windows. The fact that they're nesting in that spot doesn't really bother me except they're stashing all kinds of garbage up there that ends up falling to the ground and freaking out my old landlady.

I realize that it's probably technically my landlady's responsibility to do something about it, but for a number of reasons that I won't get into right here I'd just prefer to take care of it myself. Anyone have any advice? Should I call a pest control service? Should I have a friend come over and help me pull out the A/C unit and then remove the nest by hand? My only reservation about that is I'm concerned there might be squirrel babies in the nest. I'm not sure what to do in that situation.

 

[UncleSally]

I live in a second floor apartment in Park Slope and squirrels have built a nest beneath an air conditioner I have in one of my front windows. The fact that they're nesting in that spot doesn't really bother me except they're stashing all kinds of garbage up there that ends up falling to the ground and freaking out my old landlady.

I realize that it's probably technically my landlady's responsibility to do something about it, but for a number of reasons that I won't get into right here I'd just prefer to take care of it myself. Anyone have any advice? Should I call a pest control service? Should I have a friend come over and help me pull out the A/C unit and then remove the nest by hand? My only reservation about that is I'm concerned there might be squirrel babies in the nest. I'm not sure what to do in that situation.

Squirrels will have their babies in the spring. So right now you'd just interrupt some squirrel fucking if anything. But they will probably run away from the noise you would make when you remove the AC. Once you remove the nest, you just need to put something up to prevent them from getting in again.

 

[gktkd]

You can order fox pee online and spray it around the nest. Humans can't smell it but they will scare the beejeezus out of the squirrels and they won't come back.

 

[lefty]

I bet there's like pheromones in the fox pee. So yeah, I'm also guessing you could use the left overs as a cologne to help attract the foxes.

Mixing Garlic and Parsely with water is supposed to chase deer away, I spray it on shrubs were I live because I've got a lot of deer. I hope I don't sound too anti-deer. They're nice, at a distance. But eating your shrubs is not at all as great as it sounds, and they have ticks with Lyme's Disease, so it ain't me it is the deer. Those damned deer. I'm just saying I wouldn't want any of them moving in to my neighborhood or attending my kids' schools.

Back to squirrels, if you have a crawl space type attic or well any kind of attic above the top apartment they can get in there and start living and that is a real tough thing to deal with, so deal with them soon. Removing the the AC might just make them find shelter inside.

Red Pepper spray (bought or ground up red pepper flakes like for pizza or a bottle of tabasco sauce and put in a spray bottle with water otherwise the powder won't spray or to dilute the sauce) should work on squirrels.

In any event, get rid of them. Don't give them a chance to regroup and arm themselves. The guy that took this picture soon had to run for his life.

 

[Will Choy]

Fire.

 

[Eugenegue]

If you want to borrow it, I ordered fox feces extract for an experiment I was trying with rats. The laboratory rats didn't care about it, and it smells ungodly, but if you'd like to give it a try, send me a PM.

 

[Dayna]

AHHH Squirrels are my nemesis. I have a long squirrel story but won't post it here.

What I learned from the fellow who eventually removed my squirrel problem...squirrels are territorial. They nest and they STAY. Noise or pee is a temporary solution. (This goes for any situation in which noise or pee is a solution.) If they have decided your airconditioner is a good place to live, they will live there. For generations. I suggest a no-kill pest control company. They can catch those evil things and carry them off to a magical forest a hundred miles away. Because if you don't take them far enough away, they will find their way back. For miles and miles. They can cause damage to your building. Best to get rid of them. Talk with your landlord.

I...hate...squirrels.

 

[lefty]

I didn't realize they were territorial and they'd come back. Amazing.

I wonder if these three are fighting over territory.

at first I thought they were like the three musketeers