Squirrel Control in Delft

Delft is one of Cape Town's more densely built areas, with families living close together and many extra rooms built onto the back of houses. Most calls here are about rats, cockroaches and fleas, and the best results come from treating a few neighbouring homes together.

Rodents around Delft

Norway rats burrow under backyard rooms and along walls in the sand and cross from yard to yard easily. Treating several properties at the same time works far better than doing one house alone.

Housing is mostly government-built family homes on small plots, many extended with backyard rooms, wendy houses and informal structures. Homes stand close together, and extensions built with corrugated sheeting often leave gaps at the roofline. More people and more food in a small space gives pests plenty to work with. Spaza shops run from homes add stock rooms to the picture.

A note from the field

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

Tell-tale signs

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

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 we handle squirrel control in Delft

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.

Want the full step-by-step? See how our squirrel control service works.

Keeping them out afterwards

• Use metal mesh, not plastic, over roof vents and gaps.
• Fit squirrel guards on bird feeders, or move them away from the house.
• Do not feed squirrels in the garden, however cute they are.
• 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.

How much will it cost?

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.

Questions we get asked in Delft

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