Squirrels are undoubtedly one of the most interesting animals that can be found in many different habitat types.
These opportunistic eaters can generally be found anywhere that they can manage to find enough food to keep them alive.
They feed on many different types of foods, from plant materials to insects, basically eating anything they can find.
Their unique behavior often makes people consider owning one as a pet.
While these little critters might be interesting to watch in your yard, if you are thinking of owning a squirrel as a pet, read this!
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Why Would Someone Have a Pet Squirrel?
It might seem interesting to some people that anyone even has the opportunity to get a pet squirrel, as they are a very uncommon pet.
This is a valid question, as many different pet stores will not sell squirrels outright.
One of the most common reasons people want to have a squirrel as a pet is because it originally started off in their home or on their property.
Squirrels are widely considered to be a serious nuisance animal, as they cause all kinds of problems and can spread diseases in many different ways.
Continue reading to learn more about why you should think twice about keeping a pet squirrel.
Tularemia
Squirrels are one of the primary carriers of the serious bacterial infection, tularemia.
Also carried by rabbits and other smaller critters, tularemia can be spread to humans and their pets through coming into contact with a squirrel that is infected with the disease.
One of the problems with this diseases is that its initial symptoms appear to be similar to the common cold, so many people do not get treated right away.
Fevers, headaches, swollen lymph nodes, nausea, and sores of the skin are all associated with tularemia.
Luckily, once tularemia is identified, antibiotics usually clear most patients up with no long-term damage.
Leptospirosis
Another common disease of squirrels is Leptospirosis, another bacterial infection that can cause some pretty serious problems.
Leptospirosis is generally spread through an infected animal’s urine.
While it seems odd that people and their pets would come into contact with this urine, squirrels often make their way into homes and can urinate near food supplies, near food preparation areas, and near cooking supplies.
These are all very serious vectors for transmission.
The symptoms that are common with leptospirosis are headaches, nausea, vomiting, chills, and many other common cold symptoms.
Once discovered that a patient has leptospirosis, a course of antibiotics should clear up the problem.
Food Contamination
While specific diseases that squirrels are known to carry are bad, there is an even more common problem that pet squirrels can cause.
Food contamination is a very serious threat to humans and their families, as one infected bit of food could potentially cause problems for the whole family.
Squirrels carry many different bacteria and viruses on their feet, their fur, and in their saliva, and each of these parts of them can easily infect different food products and cooking supplies.
Salmonella is usually one of the more common serious bacteria carried unwittingly by these little creatures.
Home Destruction
One of the worst parts about squirrels is their ability to absolutely destroy a home in a short period of time.
Most of this problem comes from their unique ability to gnaw through virtually any building material present in a home.
One of the specific problems is that squirrels will begin to gnaw on wires, potentially causing an electrical fire hazard with exposed wires.
In addition, squirrels love to tear up insulation to make nests for the young they often have in the attics and walls of homes.
Finally, squirrels will chew through structural lumber, drywall, and many other materials to get wherever they want to go, creating even more problems.
New Entry Holes
One specific destructive problem that squirrels often cause is, again, related to their chewing habit.
Since squirrels can and will chew through virtually barrier they find, this can present unique problems.
If a squirrel decides to gnaw through your exterior, your attic, your roof, or any other place, this creates new entry points for other nuisance animals.
Then you can have mice, rats, bats, birds, wild squirrels, and other animals in your home as well, creating a really bad situation.
Squirrel Removal Solution
As can be seen, keeping a squirrel as a pet can present some serious headaches for a person.
Instead of keeping a squirrel as a pet, one way to get rid of these animals is to hire a professional wildlife removal company.
Reach out to Frank’s Wildlife Removal or whatever full-service wildlife removal company is in your area, as these experts can not only remove the squirrels from your home, but find out exactly how to stop them from gaining access in the future.
