I’m not bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning, because I was awake at 4 am trying to catch the flying squirrel in my bedroom.
We had flying squirrels in the house years ago, and eventually got rid of all of them, but they are now back. I live in a centuries-old house. They can fit through a hole the size of a quarter. Have others had to deal with this? I don’t want to have to put holes in walls, and they move around. Way more of a nuisance than mice. BTW, the cat is pretty useless.
I don’t have any tips but I will be following this thread avidly. I just heard scratching in the walls and think it might be from the nonflying variety of squirrel.
Around the exterior we put copper mesh in any little holes. It was suggested as an alternative to steel wool since it won’t rust. Then we repaired the damaged wood fascia and soffits. In the attic we set up Havahart traps, ordered from Home Depot and Amazon, baited with peanut butter cookies, peanut butter and sometimes a bit of chocolate. Some people do catch and release, driving to nearby parks to let the rodents go. We don’t.
There are sticky traps meant for mice, and larger ones for rats, that might work but then you have to pick up the trap with a live rodent on it unless you’re willing to live with the odor of decomposition. I use the small sticky traps for spiders and scorpions, being careful to warn people if they’re near a garage entrance where someone might step on one.
Thanks @silpat . Scorpions, yikes! I live in New York, thankfully none of those here. We had read that if you catch live flying squirrels, they have to be driven 25 miles away. We put one on the other side of a lake, but it’s a real pain of course. We have rat traps set with peanut butter. I don’t like to kill them, but rodents in the bedroom are just too much.
A few years ago, I hired an animal control specialist to deal with my raccoon problem. He said that he drove the live trapped animals (we ended up getting 7 or 8 animals, a combination of one house cat, oppossums, and raccoons) at least 20 miles away to release. Don’t worry, I was brave enough to free the cat myself, into the backyard.
Are flying squirrels protected in your state? That would be my first worry as it would make dealing with them a much bigger challenge.
No flying squirrels in our attic, just regular ones several years ago. All gone now. Yay!
Yes, I have had them in my attic. What a nightmare! My Dad went and bought some big rat traps and chained them down to the floor - I don’t think I need to explain why. We caught them, but only after they had made a huge mess of my insulation. And emptying rodent traps is not my most favorite thing to do.
You might want to hire a wildlife control person. They could check out the house and seal up where they might be getting in.
In NYS there are many species that it’s illegal to remove them from your property. Believe it or not you have to either release them on your land or kill them. You can’t even dispose of them off your property - you either have to bury or burn them (eew). I was just reading an article about this today. Crazy but true. You should check with the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.
Sent you a pm… we had this problem last year but, fortunately, they stayed in the attic!
Pardon my ignorance, but just what the heck is a ‘flying squirrel’?
@wisteria100
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_squirrel
(Probably not https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_the_Flying_Squirrel )
^^^ Oh my!
Yep,they are real, @wisteria100 ! And they are pretty cute, until they wake you up at 4 am, running around the house.
A regular squirrel got in my house a few years ago. My huge dog took care of it. 
@janjmom , I don’t have a pm from you. Can you try again please?
@musicmom1215 my ordinary-sized cat is pretty useless, but we love him anyway.
I thought the OP would be writing that a family member decided to get a sugar glider!!!
This time its personal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNggrti5SQ8
Not really funny, but you need to take advantage of opportunities to work levity into real life, which is often brutally frustrating.
Regrettably, I have no solution. Some of the trapping ideas sound promising.
I’ll trade you my stink bug infestation for one or two of your flying squirrels!
OMG. Are you in North Carolina? What IS it with the stink bugs this year? As if ticks, field mice, and orb weavers weren’t bad enough!
@Massmomm , I have enough stink bugs to fill a few suitcases. You can keep them!