Animal in the attic?!

Bettyboo84

Hi
There's some sorta animal in our attic got the past good few weeks..it definitely not a rat or mouse because there is some weight in it footsteps! It does be running around, banging and occasionally scratching! Could it be a squirrel or pine Martin or somethin like that!? Advise plz (ps I don't want to kill Anythin)

jmkennedyie

Most ceilings are very thin and mice footsteps and scratching can be very loud below. You could have a look for droppings. You could set a live trap either. I got mine in b and q.

monkeynuz

Sounds like rats to me, lots of running back and forth at night? Get it sorted ASAP and look for holes outside where they could be getting in, you don't need rat or mouse damage in the loft!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

It is impossible for anybody here to ascertain if this is a rat or mouse or any other animal without hearing it for ourselves. Put a live trap in place and hopefully you'll find out.

Bettyboo84

monkeynuz wrote: »

Sounds like rats to me, lots of running back and forth at night? Get it sorted ASAP and look for holes outside where they could be getting in, you don't need rat or mouse damage in the loft!

Hi! It kinda makes most noise around dusk? Would that make a difference to what it is? Will have to get it sorted ASAP anyway

monkeynuz

Bettyboo84 wrote: »

Hi! It kinda makes most noise around dusk? Would that make a difference to what it is? Will have to get it sorted ASAP anyway

Buy a bucket of poison and chuck some blocks in the loft.

Bettyboo84

monkeynuz wrote: »

Buy a bucket of poison and chuck some blocks in the loft.

I think I go with the trap thanks, don't want to kill Anythin

monkeynuz

Bettyboo84 wrote: »

I think I go with the trap thanks, don't want to kill Anythin

Lol you might feel differently if they've gnawed your cables!

Ichabod Crane

monkeynuz wrote: »

Buy a bucket of poison and chuck some blocks in the loft.

There's always the risk of secondary poisoning of course.

monkeynuz

Ichabod Crane wrote: »

There's always the risk of secondary poisoning of course.

Secondary poisoning of what?

I'd be more concerned about house fires.

Bettyboo84

monkeynuz wrote: »

Secondary poisoning of what?

I'd be more concerned about house fires.

Oh god how will I know if it's caused wire damage? house fire is such a big fear of mine!!

OpenYourEyes

Monkeynuz - the OP said they don't want to kill anything in their first post, so your posts are unhelpful at best.

Bettyboo84 obviously wants help in figuring out what's in their attic, and what they can do about it then. Live traps, as Srameen said, is probably their best option. Bettyboo84, you could also look around up there for droppings to get a better idea of what's up there.
Re: Wire damage, have a look when you're up in the attic, and it's probably best to set the traps immediately to minimise any risk

sopretty

I once thought I had mice or rats in the attic. Wasn't a hope in hell I was going to investigate though! Got a friend to stick his snout into the attic, and it turned out to be birds! There were some tiles loose or missing (can't remember the details!) and the birds had gotten under the felt. They created a woeful racket up there!

cbreeze

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Monkeynuz - the OP said they don't want to kill anything in their first post, so your posts are unhelpful at best.

Bettyboo84 obviously wants help in figuring out what's in their attic, and what they can do about it then. Live traps, as Srameen said, is probably their best option. Bettyboo84, you could also look around up there for droppings to get a better idea of what's up there.
Re: Wire damage, have a look when you're up in the attic, and it's probably best to set the traps immediately to minimise any risk

one of them can be dealt with, but it would be worrying if there were two and they start making little ones!

OpenYourEyes

cbreeze wrote: »

one of them can be dealt with, but it would be worrying if there were two and they start making little ones!

They can still be dealt with using live traps, as the OP stated twice that they'd prefer to do. If they want to re-evaluate their options at a later point they're obviously aware that they can do that. But for now the best course of action is to 1) go up and figure out whats there, 2) if it's rats or mice get some live traps and set/check them accordingly, and 3) see how well that worked and decide if any further/alternate action is needed.

monkeynuz

OpenYourEyes wrote: »

Monkeynuz - the OP said they don't want to kill anything in their first post, so your posts are unhelpful at best.

Bettyboo84 obviously wants help in figuring out what's in their attic, and what they can do about it then. Live traps, as Srameen said, is probably their best option. Bettyboo84, you could also look around up there for droppings to get a better idea of what's up there.
Re: Wire damage, have a look when you're up in the attic, and it's probably best to set the traps immediately to minimise any risk

Don't see the need for bold mod.

I missed the but about not killing in the first post , my apologies.

Killing is the most effective though when dealing with critters in the house to prevent further damage.

I was going on to say turn electric off and go in lift with a torch and look for nibbled wires.

I would like to reiterate that I was only trying to help , I have no desire to antagonize anyone.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Bettyboo84 wrote: »

Oh god how will I know if it's caused wire damage? house fire is such a big fear of mine!!

Please don't worry a rat is unlikely and the incidences of chewing wire is rare - this was common when wires were insulated with India rubber but not so much now. Please relax and just get the trap. Let us know how you get on.

monkeynuz

I don't know if any of you have ever had vermin in your lofts but I know people that have and one of them resulted in their 600 year old house burning to the ground. Others have had a lot of damage and I have helped deal with two cases of infestation, it isn't much fun as I hate killing anything I even say sorry to each corpse as I dispose of it.

monkeynuz

Preston Eager Jeans wrote: »

Please don't worry a rat is unlikely and the incidences of chewing wire is rare - this was common when wires were insulated with India rubber but not so much now. Please relax and just get the trap. Let us know how you get on.

Not that unlikely, I know lots of people who have had rats in lofts, also they still chew on wires to shorten their teeth.

sopretty

Op - will you ever get someone to go up and have a gawk in the attic lol! Curiosity is killing me.

OpenYourEyes

monkeynuz wrote: »

Don't see the need for bold mod.

Mod's use bold to differentiate between when we're speaking as 'ourselves' and when we're speaking as a Mod. Bold text indicates I'm speaking as a mod!

sopretty

monkeynuz, while I don't doubt your experience with pest infestation, would it be usual to have mice/rats confined to the attic solely?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

sopretty wrote: »

monkeynuz, while I don't doubt your experience with pest infestation, would it be usual to have mice/rats confined to the attic solely?

Not that common as ultimately food attracts them and most modern attics carry very little edibles. They also are not fond of fibreglass apparently, but I don't buy that myself. Modern attics are much colder than attics years ago,thanks to insulation, so are less welcoming to rodents. That said, of course they are found in some attic spaces. Many more cases of rodents in homes are mice rather than rats but it's amazing how people immediately cry "rat"!
Unlikely any rodent would be soley confined to a loft space, as they need to eat. Rats much prefer under floorboards and between walls than attics.

monkeynuz

sopretty wrote: »

monkeynuz, while I don't doubt your experience with pest infestation, would it be usual to have mice/rats confined to the attic solely?

You first need to know how they got in, ordinarily they find a hole outside, normally alongside a pipe or badly filled joint in the wall then they travel up the cavity and into the loft. It is more common than you think.

monkeynuz

monkeynuz wrote: »

You first need to know how they got in, ordinarily they find a hole outside, normally alongside a pipe or badly filled joint in the wall then they travel up the cavity and into the loft. It is more common than you think.

Well loft/between floors also if they can get in the cavity they can get anywhere.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

monkeynuz wrote: »

You first need to know how they got in, ordinarily they find a hole outside, normally alongside a pipe or badly filled joint in the wall then they travel up the cavity and into the loft. It is more common than you think.

OK before this goes any further, I'm agreeing to disagree on this but would ask OP in line with topic to get the trap and check the attic for droppings. It could all be something or nothing. I had a case a few years ago when someone thought they had rodents in the attic but it turned out to be sparrows under the roof tiles and scurrying along the guttering.

monkeynuz

Preston Eager Jeans wrote: »

Not that common as ultimately food attracts them and most modern attics carry very little edibles. They also are not fond of fibreglass apparently, but I don't buy that myself. Modern attics are much colder than attics years ago,thanks to insulation, so are less welcoming to rodents. That said, of course they are found in some attic spaces. Many more cases of rodents in homes are mice rather than rats but it's amazing how people immediately cry "rat"!
Unlikely any rodent would be soley confined to a loft space, as they need to eat. Rats much prefer under floorboards and between walls than attics.

Not just good attracts them, being warm and dry helps they are known to commute back outside for food.

Bettyboo84

Thanks to all your replies! I'm waiting for my husband to get back as he is away, firstly I will prob breaks neck tryin to get up there ,lol, as It's an old house and very hard to get up to attic..I'll will let yee know wat we find wen he comes home. I could ask landlord but I'm afraid he will just go up on a killing spree regardless of wat animal is up there...I think birds can be ruled out anyway as I can hear the footsteps, It just sounds very heavy, like the noise my cats make wen they are racing around the house playing... I report back wen I find out, in case ye all are curious!

sopretty

just to note - the birds sounded like a rat running across the ceiling! I was completely amazed to discover it was birds!!! Must have been the sound of them flapping their wings or something. What time is your husband home lol - I'm dying to know what's up there! Honestly, birds are a nicer prospect than rats or mice!

monkeynuz

Just for reference mouse poo is about the size of a grain of basmati rice but brown black in colour, rat poo is about the size of a sugar puff and similar colour.

Ichabod Crane

monkeynuz wrote: »

Not just good attracts them, being warm and dry helps they are known to commute back outside for food.

And that's when secondary poisoning can become an issue.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Ichabod Crane wrote: »

And that's when secondary poisoning can become an issue.

It can also mean something other than a rat in the attic would be poisoned?

monkeynuz

Ichabod Crane wrote: »

And that's when secondary poisoning can become an issue.

Still don't follow you.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

monkeynuz wrote: »

Still don't follow you.

Secondary poisoning is when you poison an animal which crawls off to die somewhere and the body is then eaten by another animal be it a raven, buzzard, stoat, magpie, or whatever. This scavenger is then killed by ingesting the poison in the carrion.
Laying poison is also I discriminate and may be taken by more than the intended species.

Is that now clear?

monkeynuz

Preston Eager Jeans wrote: »

Secondary poisoning is when you poison an animal which crawls off to die somewhere and the body is then eaten by another animal be it a raven, buzzard, stoat, magpie, or whatever. This scavenger is then killed by ingesting the poison in the carrion.
Laying poison is also I discriminate and may be taken by more than the intended species.

Is that now clear?

Perfectly thank you.

I would dispute this in cases where you are poisoning rats in holes or lofts because they tend to die in their beds so to speak.

I have heard rats in their final death throws in lofts.

The other option is to buy spring loaded traps.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

monkeynuz wrote: »

Perfectly thank you.

I would dispute this in cases where you are poisoning rats in holes or lofts because they tend to die in their beds so to speak.

I have heard rats in their final death throws in lofts.

The other option is to buy spring loaded traps.

And I have seen many dead rats that just surcomed to their poisoning in the middle of fields and gardens. The old wife's tale that they crawl away to their nest to die is, I'm afraid, untrue.

Lay poison and you cannot tell what all will become victims. Anyway, we drift from the topic and into a sphere perhaps not appropriate to a Nature forum. Apologies Mods!

monkeynuz

Preston Eager Jeans wrote: »

And I have seen many dead rats that just surcomed to their poisoning in the middle of fields and gardens. The old wife's tale that they crawl away to their nest to die is, I'm afraid, untrue.

Lay poison and you cannot tell what all will become victims. Anyway, we drift from the topic and into a sphere perhaps not appropriate to a Nature forum. Apologies Mods!

My final word on this and then no more is that it isn't an old wives tale, I have seen it happen. I have poisoned/trapped/shot many rats over the years. (Comes from living in the country all my life)

OpenYourEyes

It is an old wive's tale - some poisoned rats/mice end up dying in their nest, but plenty don't. It depends on a huge amount of factors including how much poison was ingested, whether the rodent was intending to soon go back to it's nest afterwards anyway etc.

Just because you've seen it happen doesn't mean it happens every time. To think otherwise because you've found some poisoned rodents in their nests is simply confirmation bias.

sawdoubters

its a rat or mouse

Capercaille

monkeynuz wrote: »

My final word on this and then no more is that it isn't an old wives tale, I have seen it happen. I have poisoned/trapped/shot many rats over the years. (Comes from living in the country all my life)

It would be great if all poisoned rodents went back to their nests to die. We wouldn't have the huge problem of secondary poisoning in birds like barn owls or red kites then.

Choke Dee

Its a rat or rats Sound gets amplified within walls etc suggesting something very large Do what I did call <snip> they sorted it out and sealed the entry point


Mod: I have removed the name of the company since your only two posts on boards have been to promote them.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

There is absolutely no evidence that this was Rats as none of us have heard the noise. It is likely to be one of a number of animals that frequent our attic spaces at times.

sopretty

Did we ever find out what was in the attic?

Bettyboo84

sopretty wrote: »

Did we ever find out what was in the attic?

Well 3 days ago I was out feeding my cats, wen I found a huge rat that they had killed, it was massive! Anyway I have not heard a peep from the attic since, so I'm thinkin the he was the culprit!

sopretty

Yikes!