Squirrel Control Crawford

Crawford is a settled suburb where many families have lived in the same house for decades, adding rooms as the family grew. The work here is steady household stuff: rats in the roof, cockroaches in the kitchen and ants once summer arrives.

Crawford: what drives rodents here

Roof rats travel along boundary walls and overhead cables into ceilings, and Norway rats dig in under outside rooms and wendy houses. Keep bin lids shut, because one open bin feeds the whole row.

You'll find solid freestanding houses and semis on modest plots, often with outside rooms, garages and flat-roofed additions built on over the years. Where an old roof meets a newer extension there is very often a gap, and rodents find it quickly. Houses sit close together, so a problem next door can be yours within a week. Corner shops and takeaways along the busier roads around Kromboom Road add food businesses to the mix.

Something most people miss

Grey squirrels were brought to Cape Town in the late 1800s and have spread across the Southern Suburbs since then.

Signs to look for

1. Scratching and running in the ceiling in the early morning and late afternoon, rather than at night.
2. Shredded insulation, leaves and twigs found in the roof space.
3. Chewed fascia boards, barge boards or roof edges with fresh wood exposed.
4. Chewed electrical cables or damaged ceiling boards.
5. Squirrels seen jumping from a tree onto the roof and disappearing under the tiles.

Squirrels in the roof chew cables, which is a fire risk, and they damage insulation and ceiling boards. Their urine and droppings can stain ceilings and cause smells. They also chew through irrigation pipes, damage fruit trees and dig up gardens. A squirrel that dies in the roof leaves an unpleasant smell for weeks.

How the treatment works

We do not use poison for squirrels. Our approach is exclusion: we find every entry point and fit one-way exclusion devices so the squirrels can get out but not back in. Where it makes sense, live cage traps are used to remove squirrels from the roof. Once the roof is empty, we close the gaps with steel mesh and repair chewed areas so they cannot get back in. We also advise on trimming branches that give squirrels easy access to the roof.

1. Roof inspection

   We check the roof space and outside roof line to find nests and every entry point.

2. Exclusion or trapping

   One-way exclusion devices or live traps are fitted so the squirrels leave the roof.

3. Confirm it is empty

   We check that no squirrels or babies are left inside before anything is sealed.

4. Proofing

   Entry points are sealed with steel mesh and repairs, so they cannot chew back in.

5. Report

   You get a report with details of the work done and any trees to trim.

Keeping them out afterwards

• Fit squirrel guards on bird feeders, or move them away from the house.
• Check fascia boards and roof edges each year for chewed spots and repair them quickly.
• Trim tree branches so they are at least two metres away from the roof.
• Do not feed squirrels in the garden, however cute they are.
• Pick up acorns and fallen fruit regularly if you have big trees close to the house.

What affects the price

The cost depends on how many entry points there are, how high the roof is and how much repair and proofing is needed. A single gap is quick to deal with, but an older roof with many chewed areas takes longer. Trapping and follow-up visits are included in the free quote.

You can trim the trees and fix obvious gaps yourself, but sealing a roof with squirrels still inside is a mistake that leads to trapped animals and more damage. Getting them out humanely and proofing the whole roof line properly is a job worth getting professional help for.

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