Ask a Burlington homeowner what a squirrel in the attic costs them and they will talk about the noise, the mess, maybe a chewed hole at the roofline. Almost nobody mentions the wiring — and the wiring is the part that can burn the house down. Squirrels chew constantly, attic cable is one of the things they chew, and a stripped wire in a dry attic full of nesting material is a fire risk hidden over your ceiling. This post explains why squirrels chew wires, what the damage does, the warning signs, and how squirrel removal stops it for good.
Why squirrels chew — and why wiring is on the menu
A squirrel's front teeth never stop growing. Chewing is not bad behaviour; it is survival — if a squirrel stops gnawing, its teeth overgrow and it cannot eat. Outdoors that chewing lands on branches, bark and nuts. Indoors, it lands on whatever the attic offers: wood framing, stored boxes, plastic pipe — and electrical cable.
Attic wiring is an easy target. It runs along joists through the same spaces squirrels travel, its plastic coating gives under their teeth the way natural materials do, and cables carrying current give off a little warmth. A squirrel does not know what is inside the coating — just that the cable is the right size and texture to work its teeth on. So it does, a little more every day it lives up there.
What a chewed wire actually does
Electrical cable is copper wrapped in insulation for one reason: bare conductors are dangerous. When a squirrel strips that coating away, three things become possible:
Short circuits and sparks. If an exposed conductor touches another wire, a junction box or metal in the attic, it can arc — a small, very hot spark. Do that next to insulation, wood framing or a nest of dried leaves and shredded material, and the spark has fuel.
Overheating. A partly chewed conductor carries current badly and heats up under load — quietly, inside a wall or under insulation, with nobody watching.
Dead circuits and strange behaviour. Severed or damaged runs show up as flickering lights, dead outlets, or a breaker that trips for no obvious reason.
The part homeowners miss: the risk does not leave when the squirrel does. Chewed wiring stays chewed — an attic can sit empty for a year and still hold a stripped cable waiting for the wrong contact. A wiring check after a squirrel job is not an upsell; it is the second half of the job.
The warning signs in a Burlington home
You will probably never see the chewed wire itself — it is hidden in the attic or the walls. What you see and hear is this:
Daytime attic noise — scampering, rolling and scratching, busiest morning and late afternoon. Squirrels are daytime animals; heavy night noise points to a raccoon instead.
Flickering lights or a breaker that trips now and then, especially on circuits running through the attic.
A faint burning or hot-plastic smell near the attic hatch or a ceiling fixture — treat this one as urgent, every time.
Chewed entry points outside — a hole chewed through a soffit corner, fascia or vent screen. If they are chewing their way in, they are chewing inside too.
Nesting material and droppings in the attic — leaves, twigs and shredded insulation in a nest, often right among the cable runs.
One sign can be a coincidence. Noise plus electrical strangeness is a squirrel problem with a wiring problem attached — and it does not improve with time.
What to do if you suspect chewed wiring
Do not reach into the attic and start moving insulation to look for damage — disturbing a live, damaged conductor is how a bad situation gets worse.
If you smell burning, turn the affected breaker off and treat it as an electrical issue first, a wildlife issue second.
Damaged wiring is a licensed electrician's job. Wildlife removal gets the animals out and keeps them out; it does not repair cable. After the squirrels are gone, have suspect runs inspected and repaired properly — tape over a chewed conductor is not a repair.
Get the squirrels out before the repair, not after. New cable in an attic that still has squirrels in it is just fresh material to chew. Ontario's guidance on preventing and managing conflicts with small animals makes the same point: deal with the animal and the openings, not just the damage.
Squirrel removal in Burlington: how the chewing stops
Humane squirrel removal follows the same sequence on every proper job:
Inspection. The roofline and attic are checked to confirm it is squirrels and find every entry point — and any wiring damage visible along the way gets flagged for your electrician.
One-way door. A one-way door is fitted over the main entry. The squirrels leave on their own to feed, as they do every day, and the door does not let them back in. No animals sealed inside, ever.
Check for young. Young in the nest are part of the job — nothing is closed until the attic is confirmed clear.
Exclusion — seal every entry point. Once the attic is empty, the chewed holes and weak points are sealed with material squirrels cannot chew through.
The wiring follow-up. With the attic empty and sealed, the electrician's repair is the last step — and this time it stays repaired.
That is the same approach used on wildlife removal in Burlington calls across the city — older homes near the lake with mature trees, and newer subdivisions where the roofline gaps were there from the build.
Keeping the next squirrel out of the attic
Trim branches back from the roofline — a tree that touches the house is a squirrel highway.
Check soffits, fascia and vent screens every fall, before denning season, while a small gap is still a small fix.
Do not leave the attic "for the winter." A squirrel denned in November chews for months; the earlier the removal, the less it gets through.
Store birdseed and pet food sealed — a fed squirrel population around the house is a shortlist of future attic tenants.
Frequently asked questions
Can squirrels really start a house fire by chewing wires?
The mechanism is real and simple: stripped insulation leaves bare conductors that can arc, spark or overheat, and attics hold the dry material — insulation, wood, nesting debris — that a spark needs. Not every chewed wire starts a fire, but every chewed wire is a hazard to find and repair, not leave in the ceiling.
The squirrels are gone. Do I still need to check the wiring?
Yes — the animals leaving does not repair anything. If squirrels were in the attic more than a few days, have the visible cable runs checked and any damage repaired by a licensed electrician.
Why not just seal the hole I found?
Because if a squirrel is inside when you close its door, it chews a new one — and the new hole can be worse than the first. Sealing is the last step of a removal, after the one-way door has emptied the attic.
How fast do I need to act?
Faster than feels necessary. Squirrels chew daily, so the damage grows daily — and if there are electrical signs (flickering, tripping, a burning smell), treat those as urgent on their own, animal or no animal.
Hearing scampering overhead in Burlington?
Call Regional Wildlife Services at 905-320-8984, or reach us through the contact page. You will get a named owner-operator with 20+ years removing wildlife humanely — an inspection that finds every entry point and flags wiring damage for your electrician, a one-way door that lets the squirrels leave on their own, and every opening sealed so the chewing never starts again. Phone calls and bookings are taken 7 days a week; service appointments run Monday to Friday typically. Serving Burlington, Oakville, Milton, Hamilton, Stoney Creek and Niagara — call 905-320-8984.
