Squirrels terrorise woman in her kitchen in Ayrshire, Scotland

Michelle Collins, 39, from Kilwinnning in Ayrshire says she is terrified to enter her kitchen each morning due to the grey squirrels who have been living in her house since 2020.

The furry beasts have been chewing up her skirting boards and doors and eating her dogs´ food.

Michelle, a gym owner told BBC Scotland: “I never imagined squirrels could do this to my home, it’s unbelievable what they can do.

“I’ve tried everything but nothing is working. I feel terrorised by them.

“I’m terrified to go into my kitchen every morning.

“I live near woodland and they jump off the trees, onto my car port and then onto my house,” she said.

“There is a hole where they have dug under my porch and are coming up the inside of my walls.”

The squirrels had chewed through the door to get to the dogs’ food in the conservatory, which is off the kitchen.

“I now put the food away when I go to bed, but in the morning I’ve found the towel I’ve used to stop up the gap is pulled out and chewed too.”

Pest controllers are prohibited from trapping and killing grey squirrels living in guttering or roofs—however once they enter lofts or other rooms in a house they can be exterminated, but Michelle´s pest controller had given up after attempting to catch the squirrels.

Scott McIntyre, a pest controller who covers Edinburgh, the Lothians and Fife, said he had seen the “nightmare damage” caused by squirrels.

“The worst was a woman in Fife who had every electrical cable chewed, so she had to have her whole house rewired. The damage they caused cost £30,000.

“Another woman in Edinburgh had her cables chewed through in her converted attic, and I’ve seen them chew through from attics into bedrooms.

“What they can do to a house can be devastating.”

The British Pest Control Association said there were thousands of call-outs every year due to squirrels.

“This is in part due to the damage they cause to your home and the noises squirrels make at night—which can be very distressing.

“As their numbers have increased in the UK, so has the damage they cause,” the BPA said.

It said there were no poisons which could be used by the public, however, the BPA recommends trying to seal all entry points to the inside of a property.

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