View Full Version : Noises In My Attic
Speedy Claire
16-06-09, 05:20 PM
Not sure if anyone can answer this for me but.....
I own my house and the house next door to me is privately owned too but has been empty for nearly 3 years as she is in a nursing home. Lately I`ve been hearing odd noises when I`m in bed, the noises seem to be either in my attic or in my walls so I`m now thinking is it mice. The last couple of nights the noises have been so loud that it`s woken me up and my son has now heard them for himself so he know`s i`m not going mad. The noise is like a rustling sort of scratching noise?
I`m worried that it could be mice in the house next door or even worse those bigger than mice things that have long tails and being with R. Would the council come out and be able to check the house out? I really don`t know how to go about it but if there was a water leak or something then surely they`d have to force an entry?
Somebody suggested it could be birds in my attic but I really can`t see how they`d get in there... I`m too scared to look myself in case there really is those things with R up there or zombies or something! :confused:
Is there any Starlings flying around outside? if the answer is yes then that will be what your hearing, starlings and sparrows nest in our house every year they just fly in through the gaps between tiles and soffit.
I would say it will be unusual for it to be rats as if the house is empty next door then there will be very little food etc.
Not sure about the council due to both homes being privately owned i would have thought you would need to pay to have someone come take a look
mick
Speedy Claire
16-06-09, 05:35 PM
Yep somebody else did suggest birds so it could be that and your point about there being no food next door is a good one (unless she hasn`t actually gone into a nursing home and they`re feeding on her remains!!!)
My son will go up in the attic tomorrow and see if he can see any birds nests or anything. If I know it`s birds then I`ll probably be able to settle. I`m sure a bat flew over my head the other night, hope it`s not them up there!
rick0361
16-06-09, 05:47 PM
Most councils have a good pest control service who will usually come out for a look at no charge - ours certainly does and they see (and smell) things that you (and I ) don;t notice.
When we had a strage smell in our cellar last year which I thought was the drains the guy from the council turned up and said immediately that there was a rat or a pigeon dead in the brickwork somewhere and that was causing the smell - no charge.
So my advice is if there is something there get em out pdq because the smell is bl**dy awful for a couple of weeks if they die in there
Speedy Claire
16-06-09, 05:54 PM
Yikes!!!! but would the council come out to look at the house when there`s nobody living in it? do they have the right to force an entry?
Spiderman
16-06-09, 06:04 PM
Water and gas have rights to force entry but no law for RSPB or whatever as far as i know.
its gonna be birds i'd say too.
Do you mean rats btw? I saw a yout tube vid of some guy with a Giant Rat...and i mean giant, i thought ti was a big beaver first...till i saw its teeth!!!
littleperson
16-06-09, 06:06 PM
It could be squirrels. If so they can only be removed if caught and killed before leaving the premises!
Speedy Claire
16-06-09, 06:13 PM
Water and gas have rights to force entry but no law for RSPB or whatever as far as i know.
its gonna be birds i'd say too.
Do you mean rats btw? I saw a yout tube vid of some guy with a Giant Rat...and i mean giant, i thought ti was a big beaver first...till i saw its teeth!!!
DON`T SAY THE R WORD!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://uploads.bikechat.net/Speedy Claire/fear.bmp
the_lone_wolf
16-06-09, 06:13 PM
When there's something strange...
In the neighbourhood...
Who you gonna call?
Speedy Claire
16-06-09, 06:14 PM
It could be squirrels. If so they can only be removed if caught and killed before leaving the premises!
Doubt it`s squirrels... there`s a few tree`s nearby but i`ve never noticed any and the tree that was in my garden has now been cut down.
Thank god really cos I couldn`t kill one!!
Speedy Claire
16-06-09, 06:14 PM
When there's something strange...
In the neighbourhood...
Who you gonna call?
Erm Hovis??
Spiderman
16-06-09, 06:25 PM
DON`T SAY THE R WORD!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://uploads.bikechat.net/Speedy Claire/fear.bmp
take it you wont want a link to the vid then? It may work like shock therapy and flood yur senses so much that you just go "Meh, is that it, pffft!"
Speedy Claire
16-06-09, 06:27 PM
Erm... i think i`ll say no to the link. I like your shock therapy theory but don`t want to give myself nightmares!!!
Spiderman
16-06-09, 06:31 PM
:lol: But they're nice, our own TerriakiMonkey had one as a pet till it went to the big cheese upstairs last year.
dizzyblonde
16-06-09, 06:32 PM
Is your loft a shared space or owt.....cat stuck up there?
More likely to be rodents if you can hear it in the walls.
We had squirrels in our roof a few years ago and they were really loud, council came out and sorted it for us in the end.
yorkie_chris
16-06-09, 07:13 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ApQYSxMe8A
bald git
16-06-09, 07:32 PM
shortly after moving to our house there was scatching in the attic, we called the council pest controller who poisoned the little pests. they died in the end house cavity wall. nasty smell for a month.
Im afraid to tell you that my friend had the same thing and it turned out to be rats.
CAll the council and they will sort it out for you.
Speedy Claire
16-06-09, 08:08 PM
OMG this is turning into something potentially awful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It`s not shared loft space Lou but I suppose there could be a small hole somewhere where things could climb thru!
Not gonna sleep tonight now... birds I could have slept with but not R... :(
bald git
16-06-09, 08:15 PM
you now have to pay for pest removal
punyXpress
16-06-09, 08:17 PM
Hi Claire
When your son goes up for a look, he prob wont see anything, but tell him to look for rodenr droppings.
Not nice I know, but might identify the culprit/s.
By the 'R' words, do you mean Raccoons? My sister had them ON the roof but that was Seattle.
Speedy Claire
16-06-09, 08:18 PM
Not according to my local council website...
They say public health pests:
rats, mice, bedbugs, fleas, cockroaches
is a free service but they charge for non public health pests ie.
Ants - £56.00 for a treatment
Wasps / burrowing bees / other insects - £48.50 for a treatment
Speedy Claire
16-06-09, 08:22 PM
Hi Claire
When your son goes up for a look, he prob wont see anything, but tell him to look for rodenr droppings.
Not nice I know, but might identify the culprit/s.
By the 'R' words, do you mean Raccoons? My sister had them ON the roof but that was Seattle.
lol :D
Don`t think i want him going up there if it is big mice beginning with r :( r.. urine carries disease. If it`s a free service i`ll get the council pest control out and they can do the job.
Am now worried cos the website description says they live in lofts and cavity walls and gnaw continuously even if not eating to sharpen the front teeth. That would fit in with the continual scratching noise i`m hearing.
Bags are packed and i`m off to the local travel lodge!!!!
bald git
16-06-09, 08:22 PM
if all else fails.....blow there bl++dy heads off
Speedy Claire
16-06-09, 08:24 PM
if all else fails.....blow there bl++dy heads off
Who`s gonna pick up the body bits??? think I feel sick now
bald git
16-06-09, 08:28 PM
it,s ok, the rats will eat all the bits right up.
Speedy Claire
16-06-09, 08:29 PM
Can`t answer.... have a room booked in the travellodge!!!
dizzyblonde
16-06-09, 08:31 PM
....however I had a hole in an airvent, high up above the front door. One day there was a lot of mate calling from a sparrow, and then he moved his family in, there was lots of scratching noises and movement for a long time. When they vacated we filled the hole up....fed up of the early risers that woke us up in the morning!
bald git
16-06-09, 08:32 PM
i here on the news travel lodge got busted for vermin in the kitchens
dizzyblonde
16-06-09, 08:39 PM
i here on the news travel lodge got busted for vermin in the kitchens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BovhZ2yB1UI&feature=related
bald git
16-06-09, 08:43 PM
excellent
They could be a family or three of Iraqi's or Afghans you know...
Starlings can make an iNsAnE amount of noise banging around and scratching the ceilings even in the dead of night!
I would'nt get too worked up until you've had a look i doubt it will be rodents unless you can actually hear them down in the walls etc.
I would'nt dream of paying anyone to come and sort summit like that out, if its rodents of somesort i would be shooting the little blighters and if its grey squirels i would be shooting them even betterer :cool:
Good luck with it anyway, as has already been said looking for droppings is the easiest way to find out if you have rodents as they are shy and good at hiding but they are messy dirty bu**ers
mick
Mr Toad
16-06-09, 09:44 PM
Probably a mouse - they can make a lot of noise despite being very small
Get a mousetrap - B&Q sell them, and so do Morrisons. Bait it with peanut butter or chocolate - contrary to popular opinion they don't go for cheese. Check it every day
madness
16-06-09, 09:45 PM
My mum had a similar thing a while back. It turned out to be a rat. It had burrowed down into the house foundations and gone up the wall cavity into the roof. Quite a determined little b*gger! The council soon sorted it out with some poison. If you've not already rung the local council then you should, any problem needs sorting sooner rather than later.
metalangel
17-06-09, 07:32 AM
I heard similar noises and had a similar case of the fear and went up and looked and saw no signs of rat nesting or droppings or anything, but just to be on the safe side I bought one of those ultrasonic rat-o-upsetters (emits an unpleasant noise in that room and also causes some kind of rodent displeasing waves to emit from your household wiring).
The noise continued... and I've since discovered that it's just the very fat, obnoxious birds who live around here clomping their stupid bird feet on the roof. I know this because I can see them outside sitting on the roof and making the cap on the old chimney go 'CLANG!', and also I've been up in the attic and heard the same noise and it was definitely coming from overhead... and not from an army of drooling plague rats running at me to jump on me and eat my face.
So, er, yeah.
timwilky
17-06-09, 07:45 AM
My mother also dislikes the R word, we used to reverse it and say tar.
Round here it could be a tree rat (grey squirrel) the little blighter scurry up brick work and get in under the eaves etc. Air rifle works well on them
I have had the same. Mice were living in the attic and making their way down the walls and into the kitchen via water pipe holes. Baited traps sorted it out in next to no time.
Amanda M
17-06-09, 08:04 AM
Some mates had grey squirrels in their attic and he got rid of them with an air rifle :smt070 Unfortunately he wasn't a good shot and it cost them a fortune to get the roof fixed afterwards :p
Speedy Claire
17-06-09, 08:13 AM
Lots of suggestions for shooting lol, however i don`t have one and I think I`d prob end up blowing the roof off!
Council coming out tomor. Had another noisy night but I just visualised nice things and soon went off to sleep :D
Loft hatch now sealed down with superglue/duct tape/carpet tacks and finished off with a staple gun just in case whatever it is wants to travel further afield :rolleyes:
gruntygiggles
17-06-09, 08:23 AM
Speedy.....I'd put money on it being mice or birds....if it were rats, you hear the odd bump as well as they're bigger and can be super noisy, making some quite loud bangs the way they can run around, so I'd be suprised if that was the problem.
If it's birds, depends on which birds as some will be protected and the council will not be able to remove them. Just have a good clean with dettol in the rooms that join the other house as birds have fleas....tiny little ones and when I had a starling nesting my oven hood, I used to have a real problem with them and mites.....lots of cleaning needed.
If you have mice.....which you may also be able to hear in the walls, then it's good that the council are coming out today as they can cause havoc with your wiring. SO can rats, but I don't think you've got them.
Whatever it is.......the council will get it sorted so good luck and here's hoping you can sleep soundly soon!
Speedy Claire
17-06-09, 09:04 AM
Speedy.....I'd put money on it being mice or birds....if it were rats, you hear the odd bump as well as their bigger and can be super noisy, making some quite loud bangs the way they can run around, so I'd be suprised if that was the problem.
If it's birds, depends on which birds as some will be protected and the council will not be able to remove them. Just have a good clean with dettol in the rooms that join the other house as birds have fleas....tiny little ones and when I had a starling nesting my oven hood, I used to have a real problem with them and mites.....lots of cleaning needed.
If you have mice.....which you may also be able to hear in the walls, then it's good that the council are coming out today as they can cause havoc with your wiring. SO can rats, but I don't think you've got them.
Whatever it is.......the council will get it sorted so good luck and here's hoping you can sleep soundly soon!
Many thanks GG :D
Jayneflakes
17-06-09, 09:22 AM
:D If you are really very lucky, you could have a Bat, however they are quite shy so that is very unlikely. :thumbdown:
Nesting birds make a huge amount of noise, had that myself a few summers ago and it drove me mad. :smt091
I heard once of a lost pet that was found in the attic of one house, the little darling had been surviving by preying on insects up there, but was half starved and suffered with the cold. However, once caught it was put in a Vivarium and it soon regained it's health and grey up into a beautiful Tarantula. :D
timwilky
17-06-09, 10:01 AM
If it is a bat problem, say nought.
How you then encourage them to leave is up to you. Just don't let you local wildlife people know you evicted them
If it is a bat problem, say nought.
How you then encourage them to leave is up to you. Just don't let you local wildlife people know you evicted them
Indeed. Protected species they are. You will more than likely end up being responsible for their welfare.
Sir Trev
17-06-09, 11:40 AM
I have had the same. Mice were living in the attic and making their way down the walls and into the kitchen via water pipe holes. Baited traps sorted it out in next to no time.
+1
Lots of pitter-patter noises and scuffling about coming from the loft but no sign of em. Probably hidden away under the insulation somewhere. For such tiny creatures they make a fair old noise.
Couple of baited traps just inside the hatch and I caught three doormice in a week, after which we never heard a thing again.
I get field mice in my compost heap down the bottom of my garden. Sweet little things with big ears. They don't generally head indoors so I leave them alone. The r**s I found down there one year however were dispatched with poison, mixed with chocolate paste to make them eat lots of it, which they did!
Good luck with the council!
Pretty much everything that has been listed is possible.. or a mixture! If you lived next door to me it'd be perfectly possible for it to be one of my snakes or lizards in your attic! Many times i've had to re catch them from neighbours attics or in the walls!
Speedy Claire
17-06-09, 01:32 PM
Am relieved I no longer live in Plymouth!!!!! :smt107
Kate Moss
17-06-09, 01:51 PM
Am relieved I no longer live in Plymouth!!!!! :smt107
I'm officially offended!
Speedy Claire
17-06-09, 02:10 PM
Awwww no offence hun
I meant I`m glad I wouldn`t have to live next door to snakes etc. lol
But they would munch the mice and rats for you!
Kate Moss
17-06-09, 02:19 PM
Awwww no offence hun
I meant I`m glad I wouldn`t have to live next door to snakes etc. lol
No me either! Where did you say you lived Chewie, im avoiding that area!!!
Don't be silly! they can't do you no harm! i've only got the one snake now anyway and she's too fat, lazy and old to even try to get out! and downgraded to small lizards!
Just stick some rat/mice stuff in the attic with some traps.. jobs a good'un
markmoto
17-06-09, 05:52 PM
its bats :-)
Speedy Claire
17-06-09, 09:34 PM
its bats :-)
yeah right lol tho I`m sure that was a bat that swooped past my head one evening :(
The problem laying my own poison and traps etc is that if there`s anything there and it dies there`s absolutely no way in a month of sundays that I could pick the dead bodies up. Dead humans aren`t a problem but dead animals are :(
the_runt69
17-06-09, 09:57 PM
A few things to make sure of before you worry about rats and mice,
1, Do you have a fire wall in the loft between you and your neighbour
2, Have you got roof felt under the tiles
3. do you have any tiles missing on the roof if 2 is no
4. does your neighbour have any of the above if any of the above is no
Found pigeons nesting in my roof as we had nothing under the tiles in my house and every time a tile fell off it just exposed the house to the elements, good idea to have it looked at if you havent got it
House up the road had an acholholic living in it who only used one room and the ceilings upstairs collapsed due to the ammount of pidgeon crap on them. House was a complete mess when he died adn had to go through a council cleansing order before the family could sell
Speedy Claire
17-06-09, 10:09 PM
1. I`m not sure what a fire wall is? my house was built in 1890 so does that help?
2. Erm I don`t think I can recall seeing any last time I went in the loft.
3. As far as I know no tiles are missing and the roof is only about 4 years old
4. The house next door to me has been empty for around 3 years. I know it was in a poor state of repair prior to the lady leaving as she was one of my patients and I quite often went into the house. It still has the old cast iron oven in the parlour etc. There is quite a bad crack below her bathroom window that seems to be getting wider and wider so I`m a bit worried that rodents could get in thru that.
yorkie_chris
17-06-09, 10:18 PM
On a brighter note with noone living there, there will not be much food for vermin
Speedy Claire
17-06-09, 10:28 PM
Yep thats very true Chris and that`s why i`m hoping I haven`t got mice or the r word :D
the_runt69
17-06-09, 10:45 PM
1. I`m not sure what a fire wall is? my house was built in 1890 so does that help?
2. Erm I don`t think I can recall seeing any last time I went in the loft.
3. As far as I know no tiles are missing and the roof is only about 4 years old
4. The house next door to me has been empty for around 3 years. I know it was in a poor state of repair prior to the lady leaving as she was one of my patients and I quite often went into the house. It still has the old cast iron oven in the parlour etc. There is quite a bad crack below her bathroom window that seems to be getting wider and wider so I`m a bit worried that rodents could get in thru that.
Sounds like Your roof is Ok then but if the house next door has been empty that long and the age of the houses seems it could be bird investation from next door. When someoe goes into the loft get them to check weather the loft space between you and your neighbour has been sealed off (firewall) and if not how much this will cost to do (can be shared with the neighbour concerned) is a presiuite for selling a house these days
If it isnt check for bird infestation and get the estate or the new buyers of the property to agree a price for the clear up(more likley to go your way) as a firewall between the propertys is partof the mortgage requirements these days
Speedy Claire
17-06-09, 10:50 PM
Thanks for your help, is much appreciated and if needs be i`ll do as you suggest :D
metalangel
18-06-09, 06:04 AM
Yeah I needed my firewall upgrading when I moved in, it meant paying a fat, sweating man a lot of money to make noise up there all day while a cement mixer ground away even more noisily outside my house.
When he came back down apparently I had more bricks and my mortgage company was now satisfied but frankly I don't see the difference.
Speedy Claire
18-06-09, 07:55 AM
Well let`s hope I have the aforementioned firewall cos I don`t fancy having to pay a fat sweaty man with a cement mixer to sit up there scratching his bum..... think i`d rather have the mice :D
metalangel
18-06-09, 08:00 AM
If I (or rather, he) threw in some really loud Radio 1 blasted out of a tinny radio and constant demands for tea, would you reconsider?
You'd probably pop your head up into the attic to see how it was going and see him there drinking tea with the mice!
Speedy Claire
18-06-09, 01:40 PM
If I (or rather, he) threw in some really loud Radio 1 blasted out of a tinny radio and constant demands for tea, would you reconsider?
You'd probably pop your head up into the attic to see how it was going and see him there drinking tea with the mice!
:rolleyes: Smooth FM maybe lol
It`s mice!!!!! yuk but at least it`s not the dreaded r word. I also have a bees nest in there. He`s put 8 blocks of poison down, each block being enough to kill 27 adult rats. He said to give it 7 days then it`ll smell for 7 to 10 days (which will hopefully be while i`m up in Scotland). He said the bodies will decompose very quickly and not to move them thank god.
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