Posted By:
Ed McCollumThey have their good points, and their bad points. Long personal story here.
Our first home in Lincoln was overrun by squirrels. Seems the previous owners had not done a good job of keeping the moulding and gutters secured to the roof, and a family of squirrels had moved in. A female squirrel will give birth where she was born. She will give birth twice a year (early spring, late fall). A normal birth is two. Twins is actully four. Each female in that group will go back to where she was born to give birth. They mate for live. When accidents happen, if possible, they will carry the corpse of their dead mate, and place it where they were born. They become protective of where their dead are placed, and will actually attack when that area is threatened.
We live trapped 56 squirrels in a 16-month period to get rid of the problem. Sometimes you would trap as many as three in a day. Our retired neighbor also took great delight in sitting in his attic with a couple of beers and a pellet gun, and shooting them off our house. He got an additional 23.
Some of these points are good. Others not so good. Let's remember ... squirrels are close relatives of rats.