Photo Album: Crafty squirrels make trapping challenging in Tennent, NJ
Hard to reach roof, hard to trap squirrels.
There could not have been a more difficult, out-of-the-way place to reach - the access point in the corner of a soffit in the highest part of the home, and the obstacles I was facing would have even made this job challenging for a skilled cat burglar. First, the lower roof jutted out out way too far in order to place a ladder to get past it to reach the point of access . Another obstacle was that the entry point happen to be right where power lines came into the home. Power lines are challenging to work around, and are something to be avoided. Finally, the lower roof was steeply pitched, so climbing up to the lower roof and then placing another ladder on it would have made a work safety inspector faint. I had to think of a solution that would allow me to reach the entry point in order to do an exclusion without putting myself at risk. As a wildlife technician, you learn early on that safety is the top priority, especially when it comes to using ladders.
Extremely challenging trap and exclusion in Tennent
My solution required some extra work on my part, but it sure beat doing something potentially dangerous and having my boss come visit me in the hospital. I placed a roof brace across the lower roof and then secured a 2X6 plank to it. This structure supported my ladder without it "kicking out". Once the ladder was secured, I could devote all of my attention to being careful around the power lines. I placed an exclusion over the access with adequate safeguards to prevent an ladder fall.
Access point for squirrels in Tennent, NJ
I was called to resolve a squirrel infestation for a home in Tennent. During my inspection, I had one of those "I can't believe it" moments. Some wily, little squirrels picked the absolute worse spot around the entire house to make their entry. While the entry may have been good for them, for me, it was a nightmare.
Squirrel traps set up in Tennent, New Jersey
While up there, I also placed three traps. With the homeowner's permission, I left the roof brace attached to the roof, so I didn't have to take it down and re-assemble it when I needed to return to close the job. Fortunately, the challenges of this particular job are not commonly encountered, but every so often a wildlife technician finds himself staring high up at a home or other building thinking to himself: how in the world am I going to get up there? For me, there is a feeling of satisfaction figuring out how to safely make possible what others may consider impossible. After all, if some pea-brained rodent squirrel can find its way up there - so can I!