What Are the Dangers of Having Squirrels in a Yard?
- Squirrels dig up many patches of a lawn or garden when stashing food for winter. Squirrels may eat plants, vegetables, grains and planted seeds in gardens. Attracted by food set out for birds, squirrels often scare birds away to steal food and chew up feeders. In the winter when food is scarce, tree squirrels "ring" trees. They strip bark entirely all the way around a branch or tree trunk. This activity kills 5 percent of trees.
- Wild animals such as squirrels carry parasites, including fleas, ticks and mites. These parasites can carry diseases or internal parasites. For example, fleas carry tapeworms that transmit mostly to pets. People may catch tularemia if they are bitten by squirrels. Squirrels may also carry a fungal infection called ringworm that easily transmits to pets, livestock and people.
- Squirrels, like most rodents, constantly chew on just about anything, including siding, gutters underneath eaves, insulation and telephone wires. Squirrels start fires by chewing on live electrical wires or by stripping the plastic casing off wires. These bare wires then connect with insulation or other flammable material and spark a fire. Squirrels can leap from tree branches onto houses to widen any small opening they find.
- Squirrels eat bird eggs and nestlings when squirrels can reach nests or nest boxes. During these hunts, squirrels will completely rip out bird nests and send them falling to the ground. Flying tree squirrels hunt birds and insects more than other species of tree squirrel. Squirrels also can take over bird nest sites to make their own drays or nests and often compete with birds for available food resources such as nuts, acorns, seeds and commercial bird seed.