Wildlife Removal · Austin, Texas
Squirrel removal in Austin
Squirrels in the attic make noise during the day, chew the corners of your soffits and fascia, and come right back if the hole stays open. Our squirrel removal in Austin gets them out with one-way doors or live traps, then seals the opening with metal and mesh.
Signs it’s squirrels and not rats
People call us saying something is running across the roof and they can’t tell what it is. With squirrels, a few things line up:
- You hear it in the daytime, mostly early morning and late afternoon, and it’s quiet at night.
- It sounds heavier than a rat: running, a rolling sound like a nut moving across the ceiling, and gnawing.
- The corners of the fascia or soffit are chewed, with light, fresh wood showing.
- There’s a gap at a roof return, where a lower roof meets a wall or a second story.
- You find a nest of leaves in the attic, or see squirrels jumping from a limb onto the roof and disappearing at the same spot.
If the noise is after dark, it’s more likely roof rats, mice or a raccoon. Our guide to noises in the attic sorts out the sounds animal by animal.
Why Austin homes get squirrels in the attic
The squirrel you see all over Austin yards is the fox squirrel, the big one with a rusty orange belly. They live in the live oaks and pecans, and in the older central neighborhoods those trees hang right over the roof. A squirrel runs out a limb, drops onto the shingles and starts checking the roofline for a soft spot. A roof return with a small gap or an old soffit corner is usually where they start chewing.
Fall is busy. The pecans and acorns are dropping, squirrels are burying food and looking for a dry place to spend the winter, and an attic is warmer than a leaf nest in a tree. Bird feeders and fallen pecans keep them close to the house all year.
West of town in the Hill Country you’ll also see rock squirrels, the gray-brown speckled ones that live in rock piles and dig under foundations and patios. We don’t trap rock squirrels. They’re very hard to catch, and our techs would rather tell you that up front than charge you for traps that sit empty.
How squirrel removal works
Inspection, $55
The technician walks the roofline and finds the chewed entry plus any other gaps a squirrel could use. If there’s attic access (often through the garage), they go up and look for the nest and any sign of young.
Same-day quote
You get an itemized quote listing each opening, what we’ll use on it and whether we’ll use a one-way door or traps. Nothing starts until you approve it. The $55 is credited if you book.
Get them out
Usually we seal the smaller gaps and put a one-way door on the main hole. Squirrels leave to feed during the day and can’t get back in. Where a door won’t fit, we cover the outside hole with hardware cloth and set a live trap in the attic.
Make sure they’re gone
The door or trap usually stays up about a week, sometimes longer. Call the office as soon as you see a squirrel in a trap. We pick it up and relocate it 9 to 11 miles away.
Seal the hole
Once the attic is quiet, we take the door down and seal the opening. We don’t leave one-way doors on. Every opening we seal carries a 1-year warranty.
What we seal with
Squirrels chew wood, vinyl and foam, so we close their openings with metal and mesh. These are the materials our techs use, matched to the opening. Your quote lists each spot and what goes on it.
| Opening | What we use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Chewed soffit corner or fascia | Metal flashing or sheet metal cut to fit, held with screws and construction adhesive | Squirrels can’t get their teeth into a smooth metal edge |
| Gap at a roof return | Metal flashing and 1/4-inch galvanized hardware cloth | Closes the gap where the roof lines meet without blocking drainage |
| Gable vent or roof vent with torn screen | 1/4-inch galvanized hardware cloth or sheet metal fastened over it | Keeps the attic venting while keeping animals out |
| Small gaps along the roofline | Copper mesh or stainless steel mesh, finished with chew-resistant sealant | Mesh fills the gap and won’t rust out or get chewed through |
| Gaps at the foundation or a patio slab | Concrete patch, hardware cloth | For openings at ground level |
Not just expanding foam. Foam is fine for filling space behind a patch, but by itself rodents and squirrels chew through it. It’s the same approach we use for rodent exclusion.
Baby squirrels and timing
Fox squirrels usually raise young twice a year in Central Texas, once in late winter into spring and again in mid to late summer. The young stay in the nest for several weeks before they can get around on their own.
That’s why the technician checks for a nest with young before any opening gets closed. If you seal the hole with babies inside, the mother will chew or tear a new way in to get to them, often doing more damage than the first hole. If she can’t, the young die in the attic and you smell it. We don’t seal until they’re out. If you’ve seen small squirrels or hear high squeaking from one spot, tell the office when you call.
What’s included and what isn’t
Included in the job
- The $55 inspection, credited toward the work
- One-way door or live traps, with checks
- Relocation 9 to 11 miles away for trapped squirrels
- Sealing the entry and the other openings on your quote
- 1-year warranty on every opening we seal, and a free check if you hear them again inside that year
Not included
- Attic cleanup, droppings removal, sanitizing, deodorizing or insulation replacement. Use an attic restoration company for that.
- Replacing rotted fascia or soffit boards. That’s a carpenter or roofer job.
- Roof intersections we can’t reach from a ladder. We’ll tell you, and a roofer handles that spot.
- Rock squirrels digging under foundations
- New holes somewhere else on the house
Squirrels aren’t part of the quarterly pest plan. Squirrel removal is quoted as its own job, with no contract. It works the same way as the rest of our wildlife removal.
What sets the price
For squirrel removal in Austin, the only fixed number is the $55 inspection, and it comes off the job if you book it. After that, the quote depends on what the technician finds:
- How many openings need sealing. One chewed corner is a smaller job than a roofline with five gaps.
- How high and how hard they are to reach. A one-story ranch is quicker than a two-story with a steep roof.
- The materials each opening needs: mesh, hardware cloth, flashing or sheet metal.
- Door or traps. Live traps have a fee to set them and a separate fee to remove and relocate the animal, and we don’t charge the removal until something is caught. Live traps carry a refundable deposit.
- The size of the home and how many squirrels are using it.
More on how cage traps work is on our live trapping page.
Keeping them off the roof
- Trim tree limbs back so they don’t touch or hang over the roof. That’s the main highway in Austin.
- Move bird feeders away from the house, and pick up fallen pecans near the walls.
- Look at your roof returns and soffit corners once a year. Squirrels test the same soft spots again.
- If you hear heavy thumping at night instead, it’s more likely a raccoon. See raccoon removal.
Who does the work
We’ve done this work around Austin since 2010. Magic Pest & Lawn is locally owned, based in South Austin with no walk-in office, licensed by the Texas Department of Agriculture (TPCL #606255) and fully insured. We have 4.9 stars on Google from nearly 1,000 reviews and on Yelp from 800+, we’re Austin’s highest-rated pest control company on Yelp, a 4-time Nextdoor Neighborhood Fave (2021, 2022, 2023, 2025) and a People Love Us on Yelp award winner (2023, 2024, 2025). You can read what customers say on our reviews page.
Squirrel removal questions
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Send a quick request and the office will get back to you with a quote, usually the same business day. Or call and talk to a person.