ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like I have some critters up there. The other night I heard some scratching in the dorma roof above my desk, and now I'm hearing the odd low pitched squeek...a bit like a Zebra finch.

No I don't think we have a Zebra finch living in the roof, its too light to be a ceiling cat ( ), and the squeek is too low pitched for a mouse.

I had a rummage in the attic area, but alas they are in the dorma area where I can't access, and no sign of any dropping anywhere.

So what the hell is it?

Answers in the post card. Or just post it here (it'll be cheaper ).

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

Just don't feed them after midnight or get them wet.

peter zippy reid

iTrader: (25)

Squirrel

kevo10

Could be Santa late emptying his sac lol

donny andi

iTrader: (3)

It's me filming you and your mrs
Now be a good one and send her up with some food .......

And tell your neighbour to stop popping round while you are at work

Dirty ******

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

I'm pretty certain that there's something up in my loft above my master bedroom. What is more strange is that my house is a new build and the noise started just a month after it was fully built and after I had moved in. It sounds like heavy/loud scuttling. I've had a look up there but I can't see signs of anything. It still makes the noise about once every four days and it's always at around 10pm-12pm.... What is it surviving on?! I've considered buying and putting a wildlife camera up there to see what's going on! This has been going on for 6 months now

mike74

If you think you can hear rats it will only be mice... if you think you can hear burglars then it will be rats!

shytorque

Squirrel...?

PaulC72

sparrow or similar we have chicks in ours at the moment, they make plenty of noise lol.

shytorque

That mad women from the "hammer house of horrors" sat in the rocking chair...?

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Mice or bird's nest.

I allowed starlings to nest in one roof, the nest caused damp in the roof timbers......never again.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Most likely a rat or two, had one in the roof of my kitchen and got rat man in to sort it, you'll be amazed at how small a hole they can get through, I could hear it at about the same time everyday too, they say your never more than 10 feet away from one if you live in a big city.

daviee

+1 we had a Rat in the loft there was a gap about a inch at the bottom cellar door it was using.
Rentokill said it walked up the double cavity like a set of stairs it was storing all the nuts the wife put out for the birds.

Turbohot

I agree that it's possibly a rat, rattling about in your ceiling.

I suggest you get a cat to catch the rat.



Job will be done prim and proper.

dpb

Most cats on here are too pampered to bother / not man enough ?!?!!

Turbohot

It depends.

You may see the scenes like this where you are:



......but mine dart off at the sight of flies, rats, mice, spiders or even birds, and they don't come back without one in their mouth; dead or alive.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

I doubt many of your average house cats would take on and kill a decent sized rat, which is why farmers use a Jack Russell.

Butty

iTrader: (2)

We had exactly the same scenario.
Turned out to be a little owl who left its roost in the attic late at night. Must have returned in early hours when we were still asleep.
The new house had a hole in the join between chalet style windows and roof that it could get in.

If it's a rat in the roof then you'll know about it.

RA Dunk

Jack Russell would be my prefered option for taking out a rat, pretty sure my mothers Bengal which has a very wild streak in it wouldn't think twice at having a go at a decent sized rat.

spender(again)

iTrader: (1)

Glis Glis - you don't live near Amersham do you?

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

I seriously doubt it would have the power or bite to kill a big one quickly enough without getting hurt, they need to be bitten hard an shaken quite ferociously to dispatch them, even a Jack Russell can have a tricky time with them, I have seen a few that are like rabbits over the years being around horses, if they have a stable food source they can become rather large.

Check out this bad boy.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

So the answer to the ceiling rat is to get a ceiling cat.

Terriers kill rats by shaking them which breaks their neck. My dog (pedigree mongrel ) has ratter instinct, but I like him too much to shove up there. I'll leave him to go and kill toys and tennis *****

Anyhoo sounds too light to be rat - if it is, its a small one. Doesn't squeek like a rat though. Nor a mouse at that.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

That's an interesting thought. I have actually seen an owl flying past the house in the late evening.

Turbohot

It could be an owl, as Butty says, or it could even be a bat, which will rhyme with the rat and cat, thus more interesting.

Having a bat in your house is seriously scary. If it's in the loft, it hangs itself there upside down and flaps about something chronic at night. If it ends up coming inside your living area, it flaps about frantically, like a bat out of hell! I've had it in the old chapel. One used to make its way via a skylight window. My kids were little and would be asleep, then. Mr. T. would have gone to see his mum and dad, and I, on my own, would go so scared that I'd just shut myself in the bedroom, and ensure that my kids' rooms were properly shut. There are myths about the bats sucking your blood like vampires, while the owls steal your babies' clothes and cast voodoo spells on them; in order to harm the babies. All that bullsh7t is very frightening and feels real when you face the situation in real life.

I suggest you hire a Bengal cat, which will total any rat, bat and even an owl of a decent size. You don't have to keep the Bengal. Just hire one from a friend or something. Just keep your pooch away from Bengal, or it would attack him, too.

Another thing could be happening is that the roof slate could be on a p7ss and sliding gradually. Another thing could be that the material under the roof surface, that is to save the slate bits from dropping inside could have been punctured, and the slate bits are gradually dropping in. You only notice it at night, because the usual environmental noise levels are low. I've seen these problems happen, so worth checking.

Turbohot

My cats are average size. The younger one is a fat one at 7 kg while the older one is a skinny thing at 5.6 kg. They both kill normal size rats on the nearby farms, not just the little pathetic ones. Then they bring them home to show them off to me.

Jack Russell is cool. I never knew that he has a red alert syndrome with rats, though. The best Jack Russell I've seen is in the film called The Artist.

He did skateboarding on a TV chat show when he visited UK:

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Little owl, I reckon you'd have heard him, they make a decent racket during the day.

Turbohot

I'm really curious now, to find out what's up there in Al's dorma roof.

Al, can't you climb up and go on the roof to get into the dorma area, and drag the b@rsward out? Do it in the middle of the night so that you could follow the zebra finchy sounds, and grap the begger! If you hesitate, try staying on the roof, and just record the sounds first. Then put them on here for us 'NSR massive' lot to work it out what it could be.

Just a warning in advance: If it turns out to be nothing at all, it could be a ghost, in which case you may have to move out of your haunted house.

stoneface

iTrader: (6)

For rats get a Jr.

Turbohot

Beautiful!

I mean the dog, not the rat.

stoneface

iTrader: (6)

Thanks, she is 7 today.