Whats in my loft?!

[Snappy]

For quite a while now i've heard scrabblings above me when i'm in bed at night. It's not every night but sometimes i hear something running about but it only goes a short distance above me then stops+i dont hear anything else. On 1 occasion i heard squeaking+scratching like they were having a fight! Could it be mice? I've never seen any or signs of any at all! What is it?

[simms]

Mice, rats - or a squirrel (my mum had the latter and it got in the kitchen and nibbled food). You need a word with the pest control person from your council - they can trap it and 'deal' with it - but you need to consider how it got in and block up any access holes

[Fern57]

We used to get bats in our loft.  They were quite noisy at night.  We have the occasional starling nest now.

[natalie_1982]

I've heard it's quite common to have squirrels in your loft (not your loft personally, lofts everywhere).

[ursula62]

Once you have got rid of them and boarded up the holes where they got into the roofspace you need to stop them coming back.

It took 3 goes to stop our squirrels from coming back.

We got a rodent zapper which uses ultrasound to frighten them away.

http://www.martleyelectronics.co.uk/pestcontrol-rodent.html

They also have them in DIY shops and places like B&Q. With the cheaper ones you need to check that the range is suitable for the size of the roof space.

[ursula62]

Sorry

Meant to say that bats are protected species so if it is bats you will have to contact the authorities and get them rehomed safely.  http://www.english-nature.org.uk/science/licensing/faq_bats.asp

[Sammy Snake]

I had mice.  The council came and put bait down and after about 4 weeks, said that they had gone/died as no more bait was being eaten.

I had to pay for this because they were mice. Apparently if they had been rats, it would have been free.  Also, I asked the man how they were getting in (and upstairs?)  He said that if they knew how they got in, he wouldn't have a job for very long.

Luckily they never came back (or maybe did and I never noticed?)

[NetSquirrel]

If it's in your loft, then possibly a pigeon or other bird? They can sometimes find their way in to nest.

[alunrw]

Had a similar issue myself -  found the cause as being Jackdaws nesting - living in a terraced street, all the attics are interlinked and its a haven for birds - the short running sound and the odd scratching sound is very similar.

[Gef]

As others say, get your loft checked. However, in my last house, which had an attic conversion, I could hear the birds walking on the roof.

[Newt]

If it's squirrels or mice, once you get them out, have every inch of electrical wire inspected.  Two years after my neighbor got them out of her attic, the house burned down because the squirrels had chewed on the wires in the attic (loft).