Is that noise mice or a squirrel?

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Globalti

Legendary Member
We are staying in a depressing and damp cottage for the next 3 or 4 months. GTi junior heard tapping sounds in the attic on the second night. I have been awake most nights for the last 2 weeks worrying and stressing and I've heard nothing at all until this morning when I heard brief tapping sounds but no prolonged scrabbling or rustling. There is no sign of mouse poo in the bedroom cupboards or the kitchen and nothing is eating our cereals. The house is a holiday cottage so not usually occupied. The area is wooded and there are red squirrels about. I'm hoping that all we heard was a squirrel larking about on the roof but it was dark and I thought they slept at night.

Since I've heard nothing else in two and a half weeks of lying awake I'm hoping it's not mice. Our cat is living with us so I've sprinkled her wet cat litter round the outside of the building.

Anybody got experience of the habits of mice and squirrels?
 
Mice and rats are most active in the early morning and early evening as they come and go for food. They like to have their nests in/under insulation and will likely use the same run. You need to round the property and check for hanging wires, pen size holes etc and block them up. Also buy some rat valves to put in the drains and sewers to stop them getting in. Doesn’t matter what pest controllers can say rats can climb! We had them and they stopped coming in to the loft when we put eave guards in and gutter hedgehogs in as they were climbing the down pipes!

For squirrels, I believe they are quite noisy and call to one another
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
We had squirrels in the attic a couple of years ago in september/october - heard tapping sounds at night and early morning, so it fits with my experience.

We persuaded them to leave by removing a branch from a tree that was close enough to the guttering that they could jump across the gap and go under the eaves. Once we removed the branch there was no more activity, worth checking for easy ingress/egress options for squirrels.

Also worth letting the landlord know - no idea what sort of damage is being done by rodents in the loft of any variety.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
Also worth letting the landlord know - no idea what sort of damage is being done by rodents in the loft of any variety.
This...contact the letting agent :okay:

You could also send the cat up there to do her feline murdering duty :whistle:
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
We are staying in a depressing and damp cottage for the next 3 or 4 months. GTi junior heard tapping sounds in the attic on the second night. I have been awake most nights for the last 2 weeks worrying and stressing and I've heard nothing at all until this morning when I heard brief tapping sounds but no prolonged scrabbling or rustling.
Maybe it is an Asian Longhorn beetle having a snack...? :whistle:

Last year our lounge got so hot that it woke up the dormant larva of an Asian Longhorn beetle in the Chinese-made sofa, which started munching away at the woodwork and sounding like a demented dog chewing a bone.
 

Donger

Convoi Exceptionnel
Location
Quedgeley, Glos.
I wouldn't worry about it. Probably just vampire bats. Sleep tight.
 
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Globalti

Globalti

Legendary Member
We had squirrels in the attic a couple of years ago in september/october - heard tapping sounds at night and early morning, so it fits with my experience.

We persuaded them to leave by removing a branch from a tree that was close enough to the guttering that they could jump across the gap and go under the eaves. Once we removed the branch there was no more activity, worth checking for easy ingress/egress options for squirrels.

Also worth letting the landlord know - no idea what sort of damage is being done by rodents in the loft of any variety.

The fact that I've been awake most of every night for two weeks and we've only heard the tapping noise twice makes me think it's a visitor not a resident.
 
Rats love a loft for their winter holidays.

Too right they do! Right little clever feckers. Avoided all our traps, didn’t take the poison bait and showed no paw prints in the talc we put down. We knew they were there as droppings were fresh and there were runs in the insulation. In the end one got desperate enough to eat the bait and then decided to die in the void. Bloody stunk for three weeks and then we got bluebottles as it started to rot- worse than the 🐀! Had no idea where it died just it was in a void between the outside wall and internal wall of a bedroom.
 
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Globalti

Globalti

Legendary Member
The other possibility is bats. They coexist quietly with humans and only make noise occasionally, which would explain why we've only heard the tapping sounds twice in two weeks. That could be their wings on the ceiling if they get down onto the board. This is the least worrying possibility.
 
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