Originally Posted By: dbias
Catch it out and seal up where it is getting in. I had a squirrel get in my attic years ago and while I was on vacation for 2 weeks it chewed down through the drywall ceiling and destroyed my house. Pulled up into the driveway and saw all curtains and miniblinds half hanging in every window and initially thought I'd been robbed. He ran out after I opened the garage door. Spent two weeks in a hotel while insurance put the house back together. 4 straight weeks in a hotel was rough.
Somehow the little bugger made his paws bloody trying to dig his way out through multiple walls, there were bloody paw prints everywhere, even on the ceilings
We had a squirrel in the attic of our first house and I was 100% sure that I had caught it out of the house when I was home during the day just before we left on a short vacation. Hustled the ladder out and found the little gap he was using to get in, which I sealed up with a piece of aluminum siding that I nailed into place and also caulked.
Get home from our little trip and my next door neighbor rushes over and tells me there was an AWFUL racket in my attic while I was gone! Yep, the bushy tailed rat was trapped inside and he went berserk trying to get out...luckily, he didn't get into the house proper. Rushed the ladder back out and found that the squirrel had actually chewed through enough of the aluminum siding patch to squeeze out, leaving pieces of fur and a lot of blood behind.
The thing bit through metal!!! Learned a lesson from this one.