I posted a while back about identifying the thing living in my loft. Loud scrabbling, scratching noises. Called council, who diagnosed rats, but the guy who put the bait out said it might be squirrels. Since the council 'don't do squirrels' he wrote 'rats' on his report but told me the bait would also kill squirrels (and winked).
We had some silence for a month or two, but the scrabbling/scratching started again recently.
Looked at the side of the house, and noted there is a hole in the bricks/trim right up at the top of the point of the roof. There are two wooden trim things that appear to have been knawed at the point they meet.
We now have a positive ID on the little bastard, as we pulled up in the car a few days ago and saw a squirrel's head pop out. He watched us for a while (in a mocking way, the little shit). We think he jumps to his hole from a tree that is quite close (thinking of having tree cut down as well).
So.....
I think what we need is someone to check the loft and make sure Mr Squirrel has vacated. Then they need to get up on a ladder outside and fill in the hole with.....something (not entirely sure what). DH thinks maybe we need the wood trim replaced, but I'm not sure.
Honestly, if I weren't 6 months pregnant, I'd consider doing it myself. DH has a very bad back (4 lots of spinal surgery), so I don't want him doing it either. Plus my brother fell off a ladder last summer from that height and nearly died. He spent months recouperating from a brain injury, cracked loads of ribs and broke his collarbone. So I think DH and I both have a healthy fear of ladders now!
Who do I need for this job? A general handyman? Pest control? A builder? A roofer? We've got a few loose tiles that could use attention too! We are new up here and don't know anyone to get a recommendation from. Anyone know someone who'd like this job in the Warrington area? How much would you pay someone for this?
Sorry so long, please help!