Baby squirrels on snowy Ottawa roof surprise animal control

Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control says it found a litter of squirrels in the snow on an Ottawa rooftop, March 5, which they say is earlier than normal. (Photo submitted by Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control)

OTTAWA — A wildlife control company says "baby season" has arrived after they found a litter of baby squirrels on the roof of a local home.

Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control said Tuesday that a previous customer of theirs had called about sounds on the roof last Friday, fearing squirrels had gotten into the attic. When technicians arrived, they found a small nest in the snow on top of the roof and, inside, five baby squirrels, estimated to be just two days old.

“It’s rare for us to find squirrel babies this early in the year, and even more rare to find them born in a pile of snow,” said Bill Dowd, President and CEO of Skedaddle in a release.

The company says this is also only the second time in their 32 years of business that they've found baby squirrels before finding baby raccoons, which typically marks the beginning of the birthing season for urban wildlife.

Skedaddle says it expects to visit more than 150 homes per day as baby season gets underway, especially with more people staying home.

"It’s important to be proactive with wildlife control, given that it is less safe, and more expensive to have full litters removed rather than a single squirrel," the company says.

Since the home in this case had already been serviced, the mother squirrel was unable to enter the attic. And, as the squirrels were not in the house or causing any risk to it or the people inside, technicians let them be, allowing them to move to a safer place once the snow melts.