Case Study: Squirrel Breaks Soffit in Pickering

Case Study: Squirrel Breaks Soffit in Pickering

This case study details a squirrel removal job in Pickering. This article will analyze and recount a case of a long-standing issue of a squirrel in an attic. It will detail the steps taken in exclusion, by the technician, to humanely remove the squirrel from the attic. This visit is located between Finch and Concession Road 3 in Pickering.

The technicians, before the exclusion, must first inspect and confer with the customer or customer’s on the issue and then must inspect for levels of activity. The customer’s original complaint was a squirrel in the attic at the front of the house that would make noise at the same early time of day, every day. A technician was sent out to inspect the roof for a squirrel entryway to exclude the squirrel using a one-way door.

Liverpool, Pickering: A Forested Neighbourhood Near a River

Liverpool, Pickering is a swirling suburb surrounded by forest and the West Dufferin Creeks. This area is overtly residential with few restaurants and businesses. The area is filled with nature and wildlife. Schools and religious centers including the Masjid and The Jesuit Spiritual Renewal centre. This area is both rural and multicultural as the city is affordable but still close enough to Toronto to commute. Pickering was originally under the stewardship of the Iroquoian-speaking Wyandotte. Until the 1770s when British colonists started moving into the area. The American Revolutionary War brought a large number of people to Pickering as the Crown resettled loyalists after the war.

Exterior Inspection

When the technician arrives on site they will perform an exterior inspection of the house. The initial inspection on-site revealed an opening at the front of the house in a small area of soffit just at the base of the peaked roof. The squirrel was present for the inspection.

Roof-Soffit Intersection Entry Point
Soffits are vulnerable to break-ins, especially where they meet the roof below. Squirrels can chew right through them and raccoons will break them to reach the attic inside.
Eastern Grey Squirrel Roof Soffit
The guilty squirrel introduced himself to the technician during the inspection.

Initial Measures

The technician found the main entranceway which was an opening at the intersection of a soffit, this was the entryway the squirrel used to enter the attic. A squirrel, that was likely the occupant, was present at the entryway during the inspection. The one-way door was applied at this point to assure the removal of the squirrel from the attic.

Exclusion

The technician used a one-way door and attached it with galvanized steel mesh to the soffit intersection the animal was using to enter the attic. The one-way door was successful and the animal vacated the attic through the one-way door and left the property and the sounds in the attic stopped.

Squirrel One-Way Door Roof Soffit Intersection
The one-way door would allow the squirrel to exit safely but prevent its re-entry.
Galvanized steel mesh roof soffit exclusion squirrel entry point
As soon as the door is removed, it is replaced with a steel mesh to prevent a future break-in.

 

Conclusion

While the customer did not know the location of the entryway the entry was discovered by the technician after a full roof inspection. The one-way door was attached to the open soffit intersection. The squirrel vacated through the one-way door and the technician returned to take the door down and was informed by the customers that the sound had stopped.

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