Squirrel Removal in Mableton, GA

Squirrels in your Mableton home

A mid-century house makes things easy for a squirrel. The roof is low and close to the trees, the eaves run deep, and the original features — metal gable louvers, vented soffit panels, a brick chimney with a gap at the flashing — have had decades to rust, warp and pull apart. South Cobb's wooded hillsides put oaks and hickories right over many of those roofs, so the squirrels are living within jumping distance of every weak spot.

The noise is the least of it. Squirrels chew all the time, and in an attic that means wiring, insulation, the edge of the roof deck and sometimes the siding on the way in. A house of this age may already have wiring that's seen better days. So the job isn't just getting the squirrel out. It's finding every opening the house has developed and closing it with metal, because Georgia's mild winters mean squirrels want attics in every month.

What makes a ranch roof easy to enter

The three entry points pros find most often across Georgia are gable vents, ground-level vents and construction gaps, and a Mableton ranch usually has all three. The louvered gable vent at each end was often thin aluminum with a light screen behind it, and a squirrel can bend or chew through either. Along the eave, deep soffits mean long runs of panel that can sag at a joint. Where a carport roof, porch or later room addition ties into the main roof, a construction gap that was never fully closed is a common and easily missed entry.

Trees on a sloped lot

On hilly south-Cobb lots, the ground often rises behind the house, so a tree at the back of the yard can sit level with the roof, or above it. Limbs that would be well clear on flat ground end up hanging over the shingles. Trimming them back is worth doing, but it won't fix the problem alone. A squirrel can climb a brick wall or a downspout, so the openings still need to be sealed.

The mother-and-babies problem

Squirrel babies in Georgia usually come in spring and again in the fall, though the timing varies from year to year. If a mother is shut out while her young are still inside, she won't give up. She'll chew a new hole beside the old one to get back to them, so the house ends up with more damage than before. That's why a pro confirms whether there's a litter before any opening is closed, and removes the young by hand if needed.

Flying squirrels in older attics

If the activity starts after dark and keeps going through the night, the culprit may be a southern flying squirrel rather than a gray. They're small, nocturnal, and live in groups, and they do turn up in Mableton's wooded neighborhoods. The work is basically the same, but they fit through much smaller gaps. A mid-century attic needs a finer inspection: the corners of old louver frames, the joints in a soffit, and the area where the ridge meets a chimney.

How the removal works

After the inspection maps every opening, the pro puts a one-way door on the main entry and closes the secondary ones. Squirrels leave to feed and can't get back in. Where trapping is used, live traps have to be checked every day, which is part of why squirrel jobs cost what they do. Once the attic is confirmed empty, the last entry is sealed with metal: hardware cloth behind louvers, metal flashing at roof joints, and replacement soffit where the old panel has failed. Done properly, the repair should last as long as the house.

What not to do

Don't put mothballs in the attic. They don't drive squirrels out, and they shouldn't be used near an animal problem at all. Don't nail a board over the hole until you know there are no young behind it. And don't hire anyone whose plan is to trap a few squirrels without sealing. Another squirrel will move in, and you'll be paying for the same job again.