could this be a bat or am I barking up the wrong tree.

[sallybb]

Woken up last night several times,by an unusual noise , a loud scratching noise , which seemed to be from outside, possibly on the weatherboarding on the end gable of our bedroom. The noise moved from one side of the gable to the other.
One possibility was an owl, but we couldn't hear the patter of feet and owls tend to stay put and swoop. Checked attics this morning , no trace of anything so hopefully not rats or squirrels. Looked at the outside weather boarding on side of house and gable and noticed several horizontal scratches 3-4 inches in lentgh, approx 8-9 feet above ground level , these are like claw marks, as if something has slipped down after losing grip. Incidently these are below the sercurity light, which would attract plenty of moths when set off, just wondering if bats were landing on side of house and losing grip . Anyone with experience or knowledge of these things ?
Or was there a full moon last night. Urrgghh. :o}

[hc4361]

I'd be very surprised if you could hear a bat scrabbling. They are very light and don't really behave in a scrabbling way.

[didoatwork]

No, doesn't sound like bat behaviour. Could it have been a cat?

[Frank97]

Could it be a cat trying to catch moths? 8 or 9 foot is bit high for a cat to jump though I suppose.

[sallybb]

All scratches are a good 8-9 feet above the ground, there are none below, so I dont think a cat would have been somehow be clinging on for dear life at that height and then do it a few more times just for the fun of it ;o) There are no branches etc touching the house so we have ruled that out.
hc4361 , we seem to have a variety of bats in this area,very ocassionally see the larger ones. Have lived here 15 years and not experienced this before. All sorts of other wild life during the night.

[sallybb]

Not the sound of a fox or animal cry.
If you were too scratch yours nails down some rough sawn timber that would be as near to a dicription as I can think, then that noise moves across from one side to another, say 10-15 seconds over a 15foot width.

[boxtops]

sounds like a squirrel to me - our neighbour had squirrels in the eaves, got in through a gap in the boarding.

[sallybb]

Have checked the attic , few mouse droppings thats all, even lifted insulation, no rats or squirrel nests. Or bird droppings.
Are squirrels nocturnal?
This noise is was heard overnight, from an outside source very near to our bedhead. The gable ouitside is covered in wood lap and along the length of two of the boards are vertical scratches. If it was a squirrel and they are nocturnal, I would expect to see other boards with the same marks. The wood is sound and a tight fit,no gaps. it has be treated with 'Ducks Back' a waterproofing treatment which contains wax. It looks like something may have flown onto the wood surface and lost grip . Perhaps an Owl would do this?? Don't know, think this is one of lifes little mysteries. Last night was much quieter, or I was so tired from previous night, slept through it all.