[coboled]

I have squirrels in the attic , I am thinking of mixing chlorine and ammonia to produce a toxic gas to drive them out.

If I mix a small amount(1 pint each) in 6” X 6” oven pans :

How long will it produce gas?
Is there a danger of fire or explosion?
Will the gas permeate the lower floors of the house?
How long before the house is inhabitable again?

This is not a joke , just a simple question.

Thanks.

[The Tao]

I think you mean 2NH₃+ 2HCl ---> Cl₂ + 2NH₄

And Cl is around 3.2g/L, while air is 1.2g/L, meaning that it will settle to the floor, and probably permeate around the house under the doors. It's useful for shooting into trenches, because then it settles to the bottom and the trenches become lethal to hide for cover in.

Cl was used in WW2. It's useful for shooting into trenches, because then it settles to the bottom and the trenches become lethal to hide for cover in. I think you can use something other than what we used to kill Nazi's to kill your squirrels. Like..rat poison.

[enahs]

I have heard that just putting a strobe light in the attic for a couple of days will drive all the critters out (it would drive me out). Once they are gone seal the entrances so they can not get back in and you can turn off the strobe light.

My suggestion did not involve chemistry though.

[The Tao]

I have heard that just putting a strobe light in the attic for a couple of days will drive all the critters out (it would drive me out). Once they are gone seal the entrances so they can not get back in and you can turn off the strobe light.

My suggestion did not involve chemistry though.

Boil some water with the strobe light and it will! 

[Borek]

I think you mean 2NH₃+ 2HCl ---> Cl₂ + 2NH₄

No such thing as NH₄, no such reaction as written. Completely off.

[AWK]

Chlorine is Cl₂ and ammonia is NH₃
They raect to form NH₂Cl then N₂ + HCl

[lost and found]

The Tao, NH₃ and HCl react to form NH₄Cl, which is a fertilizer (commonly called "sal ammoniac"). Also, I thought Cl₂ was used in World War I, not II.

coboled, both ammonia and chlorine are gasses, so you can't mix them in a oven pan. Also, chlorine is more dense than air, so it would permeate to the lower levels. Ammonia is less dense, but is flammable in a specific concentration in air.

[coboled]

I plan to mix househiold versions of amonia and chlorine.  There are thousands of warning on the web that this will produce a toxic gas.

[Borek]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramine

[Dan]

Yeah, chloramines by bleach + ammonia is probably what you were getting at.

This is a really bad idea, you will probably hurt yourself. The last thing you should make in your house is a gas chamber.

I'd suggest an ingested poison (rat poison etc.), an issue with this is the squirrels crawl into your roof to die and your attic smells like death. Not nice.

Can you borrow a large cat with a mean sreak from a friend (don't use a poison as well, you might kill the cat)?

Traps? You can get pretty serious rat traps that would get a squirrel.