Squirrels Using Electric Lines
Squirrels are fantastic climbers. Vinyl siding, brick, stucco -you name it- if a squirrel absolutely wants to get on your house’s roof they will.
But, the path of least resistance is usually the preferred route. So, if tree branches are close to the roof, expect squirrel visits. This is, after all, how they normally travel.
But, let’s say you’ve done your due diligence and kept the trees trimmed back from your house. What is the next easiest way for a squirrel to access your roof? In most cases, the electrical line.
The picture shows a nicely chewed squirrel entrance from a recent job in the vicinity of a where the home’s electrical service enters.
This is a common place on a home for squirrels to make entry. Why?
It is common for squirrels to make entry points by the electrical service connection because it is often where they first make contact with a house.
Electric service power lines are used often because, as far as wires go, they make make for good climbing; they provide a lot of surface area and have a higher tension providing stablilty.
Because the electric line is a bundle of wires, it is used much more often than say a solo cable or telephone wire strung to a house.
Video Advice | Line Squirrels
Ryan makes this point in the following video of a squirrel removal job by the electric service line.
Please take a look.
For this problem, Ryan carefully set up traps all around this entrance.
As you saw, the noisy gray squirrel was caught as it exited the house and went into the trap.
Once all the squirrels were removed the trap array was removed and Ryan found a piece of cedar to seal off the hole. That is pictured here.
The electric line still connects to the house here and provides other squirrels good access. But, hopefully the removal of the offender does the trick in making this home squirrel free once more.
Other Electric Line Squirrel Examples
In the video, Ryan noted that this is not the first time has taken video around electrical lines. Take a look.
Here’s an older example. This picture shows where squirrels were accessing the attic by climbing along the electric service. This is where the line from the pole is attached to the house.
As you see, the electric line ends directly at a wooden gable vent. This point is a weak spot in the roof structure already and the placement of the line here has brought squirrels right to it.
As stated above, squirrels like electric lines because they are a bundle. This makes them good for climbing.
The best way to visualize this bundle is to go outside and look at your electric line (unless yours is underground!). You’ll see two black coated wires and a piece of shiny cable with them. They’ll all be twisted together until they reach the house. The shiny cable is for part support/part neutral. The black coated wires have the electricity.
The squirrels don’t really care about all that though. They just see it as something wide enough, stable enough, and easy enough to climb. No tree branch? –No problem. If it leads to a place on your roof that has attracted their attention, they’ll use it with ease.
Here’s the video that goes with this example.
Another video showed the issue of chewing.
And don’t forget our blog post from early January called BAD LUCK SQUIRRELS.
Squirrel Removal & Trapping | Akron, Canton, Kent OH
It is usually of combination of factors that leads to squirrel problems in homes.
Design elements, easy access, opportunity, and a high population of squirrels usually all come into play in varying doses before a squirrel problem becomes a reality.
But, when the circumstances align and squirrels move into your attic or walls, analyzing how the problem came to be is a big part of finding a solution.
We hope this post has put the electric service drop as a squirrel travel path on your radar screen.
If you live in the Akron, Canton, Kent, OH area and are having problems with squirrels, please contact us.
And if you’d like to learn more about squirrels or our squirrel related services, please check out our:
