How do I know if there are baby squirrels in the attic?

Squirrels like to be in attics, and this is a common reason that humans and these wild animals tend to experience a conflict. Squirrels are typically arboreal, which means that they prefer to live in trees. Normally in the wild, squirrels make nests in twigs or leaves, but squirrels are adaptable animals and they may also thrive in urban or suburban environments.

Squirrels are opportunistic and so they might find out they can live in attics of homes quite comfortably. Squirrels may see an attic as a big and hollow tree that has many advantages such as being safe, warm and dry.

Squirrels can have two litters of young every year. The timing can be different in different parts of the country, but there is typically a litter born in the winter and the other one will be born in the late summer. The pregnancy takes place over 44 days and the mother can give birth to up to three small babies that have their eyes shut. They are small when they are born, but as time passes, they grow quickly. In just six weeks, they will be moving around, and at three months they will be close to the adults. They can stay in the attic until the time that the mother is ready to have the next litter. During that time, they will start to defecate, urinate and chew on things in the attic.

Many people do not like the squirrels since they do not want to hear the noise or the running in the attic, and squirrels can lead to serious problems. To know whether the squirrels have babies or not, you should try to hear the noises they make. If you hear that there is only one squirrel, it may be a female ready to have babies or the babies might still be small. You may hear the scratching or vocal sounds of the babies, or you may also see that the female is breastfeeding if you can see that its nipples are enlarged.

When there are babies in the attic, you should not remove the mother since you may end up stranding the babies in the attic. You should wait for some time until the babies grow and you start to hear the pitter patter of different squirrels.

Go back to the How to Get Rid of Squirrels page or email us if you have any other questions about How do I know if there are baby squirrels in the attic?