Florida, private property
Dead Squirrel Removal
Florida has three tree squirrels: the eastern gray, the larger fox squirrel, and the southern flying squirrel. The gray is the one FWC says will sometimes nest in attics and other structures when it can get in, so a dead squirrel is often something you smell in the roof space before anyone sees it.
Before you pay anyone. Work out which room smells worst, and whether it sits under the eaves on an outside wall or in the middle of the house. A squirrel on the attic floor or in a soffit can usually be reached. One that dropped inside a finished wall may not be, and that decides whether this is a paid job at all.
What this covers
- A squirrel dead on the attic floor or buried in the insulation
- One inside a soffit or eave void that opens from outside
- One in a garage ceiling space with an access panel
- A squirrel on the roof, in a gutter, in the pool or on the lawn
- Nesting material and droppings lifted out with the carcass
Where the limit is
A squirrel that fell into a finished wall or ceiling, where nothing reaches it from the attic above, is covered in the article on a smell coming from a wall as written information, with no visit. This page does not cover live squirrels still using the attic, or closing up the hole they came in by.
The eave, where the roof meets the wall, is the hardest part of an attic to crawl to. Vented vinyl or aluminum soffit panels can usually come down from outside to reach that corner. A solid or painted-over soffit may not open without cutting, and cutting is outside a removal call, so say which kind your house has.
How a call goes
- Say which room smells worst, and whether scratching you heard overhead in recent weeks has since gone quiet.
- We ask whether there is an attic hatch, a pull-down ladder or a garage panel, what the soffits are made of, and your address, because calls route by ZIP where an operator covers the address.
- An operator who takes the job settles the price with you first, then searches the reachable parts of the roof space and removes the squirrel with any soiled nesting material.
- If the squirrel proves to be inside a finished wall after all, you are told so before paying for more searching.
Questions about this animal
Do squirrels carry rabies in Florida?
Rarely. The Department of Health in Highlands County states that rabbits, squirrels, rats and other rodents are rarely found infected and have not been known to cause human rabies in Florida. A bite from a live squirrel is still worth a call to your doctor.
I can still hear squirrels up there. Is the dead one the only one?
Perhaps not. FWC says gray squirrels can breed up to twice a year with one to four young a litter, so an attic nest can hold several. Scratching that carries on after the smell starts suggests live squirrels are still using the space, and getting them out is wildlife-control work this page does not cover.
What if it is a fox squirrel?
Fox squirrels are bigger, one to three pounds, often with black faces and white noses, and they spend more time on the ground than in trees. FWC says they are protected from hunting throughout Florida and that two of the four Florida subspecies are listed: Sherman's fox squirrel in central and northeast Florida, and the Big Cypress fox squirrel from Lee County south into Miami-Dade. If you think you have one of those, ask the FWC regional office before disposing of it.
Why would a squirrel die in the attic?
Age, disease, a fall or a fight kill squirrels in a roof space the same as outdoors, and the smell does not say which. Sometimes one dies because an entry hole was sealed while it was still inside. If someone recently closed up a gap along your roofline, mention it on the call.
Can I leave it and wait for the smell to fade?
Some people do, especially when it cannot be found. A squirrel is small, so there is less to break down than with a raccoon, but how long any smell lasts depends on heat, airflow and where the animal is lying, and this site gives no day count.
Not sure this is the right page? Who removes a dead animal in Florida works through the public and private split, and the county pages give the published position where you live.