Huge NEST in the attic, would fill half pickup bed!

   / Huge NEST in the attic, would fill half pickup bed! #1  

RSKY

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2003
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Location
Kentucky, West of the Lakes, South of Possum Trot.
Tractor
Kioti CK20S
I had to go up into my attic Saturday to do a minor bit of rewiring. Entrance is by one of those folding ladders in the garage. I went up the ladder, turned left, and (painfully) crawled halfway across attic to do my job. On the way back I happened to shine the flashlight at the other end of the house over the garage. There is a pile of grass there that looks like half of a beaver lodge. Roughly, I estimate this pile to be 5-6 feet wide, 3 feet tall, and could not tell how far out from the wall it extends but if it is a half circle it is about 3 feet out from the wall. It is located underneath the screened vent at the top of the north wall.

Remembering our month long ordeal with skunks a few years ago I did not go to investigate closer. I will call somebody else later this morning.

Why me????

RSKY
 
   / Huge NEST in the attic, would fill half pickup bed! #2  
Is it a squirrel or a pack rat?
 
   / Huge NEST in the attic, would fill half pickup bed! #3  
I had a squirrel nest in the crawl space above my garage a few years back. It looked something like what you describe. The animals were getting in through a hole they chewed in the attic vent screen.

We have a lot of oak in the area and there are many of the critters running around. I solved the issue with a couple of Have a Heart traps. I caught a total of 22 in a 2 week period and released them 25 miles away on the way to work. Technically, it's against the game commission rules in my state but I figured it was more humane than just shooting them.

I was advised NOT to patch the hole in the screen until after I got rid of the tree rats. They often chew their way out and cause more damage.
 
   / Huge NEST in the attic, would fill half pickup bed! #5  
I had one of those occur in a previous house that I owned. The screen on a roof vent broke and birds carried in a totally unbelievable amount of grass over the course of several years, enough to make thousands and thousands of nests. I don't know what those little bird brains were thinking(??) I know it was birds because I saw them doing it. That roof was incredibly steep and tall so chore of fixing the vent was put on a side burner indefinitely, which was a huge mistake. When we sold the house I had to clean all of the grass out and fix the vent, what a chore that was!
 
   / Huge NEST in the attic, would fill half pickup bed! #6  
I had to go up into my attic Saturday to do a minor bit of rewiring. Entrance is by one of those folding ladders in the garage. I went up the ladder, turned left, and (painfully) crawled halfway across attic to do my job. On the way back I happened to shine the flashlight at the other end of the house over the garage. There is a pile of grass there that looks like half of a beaver lodge. Roughly, I estimate this pile to be 5-6 feet wide, 3 feet tall, and could not tell how far out from the wall it extends but if it is a half circle it is about 3 feet out from the wall. It is located underneath the screened vent at the top of the north wall.

Remembering our month long ordeal with skunks a few years ago I did not go to investigate closer. I will call somebody else later this morning.

Why me????

RSKY
I'd find out what it is and where it's getting in. You can then get a 'excluder' door to put over the entrance. The critter can get out, but can't get back in.


ADvance this one to about 1:15 for better view.

Anyhow, there's all kinds of videos on making excluder doors so the critters can get out, but not get back in.
 
   / Huge NEST in the attic, would fill half pickup bed! #7  
I had a squirrel nest in the crawl space above my garage a few years back. It looked something like what you describe. The animals were getting in through a hole they chewed in the attic vent screen.

We have a lot of oak in the area and there are many of the critters running around. I solved the issue with a couple of Have a Heart traps. I caught a total of 22 in a 2 week period and released them 25 miles away on the way to work. Technically, it's against the game commission rules in my state but I figured it was more humane than just shooting them.

I was advised NOT to patch the hole in the screen until after I got rid of the tree rats. They often chew their way out and cause more damage.
oh good make them someone elses problem..... why? Just shoot them.
 
   / Huge NEST in the attic, would fill half pickup bed! #9  
Quite a family in the second video if I don't say so myself....
 
   / Huge NEST in the attic, would fill half pickup bed! #10  
Just sit in your living room and when you hear something start shooting through your ceiling. Seems like the thing to do. You may need a roofer.
 
 
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