In the dead of night, I am sometimes awakened by a scru-u-u-u-unch…scru-u-u-u-unch…scru-u-u-u-unch coming from the attic above my head. This is not the scribble-scrabble of mice. This is a slow, regular gnawing noise. Made by what sounds, at 3 a.m., like BIG teeth.
I can’t remember when I began hearing it, but it’s frickin’ winter here now. What could be up there that is gnawing, nocturnal, and not hibernating??? The attic, by the way, is the third floor of a brick house, as opposed to, say, the crawl space above a ranch. I’m thinkin’ whatever it is came in through one of the attic windows. It didn’t work its way up from the ground floor.
I also live in a brick house, and thought I was hearing animals up in the attic. I’d go up there with a flashlight, and not find anything, though the sound continued. It turned out to be not in the attic at all, but on the outside of the house. The wooden support for the gutters had loosened, and when it was windy, a metal part was scraping against the brick of the house.
My bet is a damn Squirrel, ugh I hate those bushy tailed bastards, always running in front of my car and or bicycle. It could be a raccoon, but I doubt it. Have you found any freakishly large feces in your laundry room by any chance?
Could be roof rats. Dunno about Ohio but here in the Bay Area they’re a problem.
General fix is to seal up any openings that they might be using to get into your attic (hardware cloth fastened over the vents, that kind of thing) and cut off their access to the roof itself (trim back trees, climbing vines, etc). Your local disease vector/animal control people may do free visits to check and make recommendations.
I assume that the same general measures apply whether it’s rats, squirrels, raccoons, possums or whatever.
[QUOTE=Valgard]
Could be roof rats. Dunno about Ohio but here in the Bay Area they’re a problem.QUOTE]
In Ohio oppossums are considered roof rats. Brings back fond memories of my OSU apartment at the 10th and High college getto. We fought bats in the kitchen, battled a raccon over the backporch we were trying to climb in on and was startled by a oppossum by the toliet one morning. :eek: The roaches eventually won out and we moved on. I miss Ohio.
What fun to have an unknown critter in the attic! Just set one of these* and see what crawls in.
*Some cheese, peanut butter and few assorted veggies would make a good all-around bait.
I’d for vote rat, too, not a squirrel. Rats are nocturnal and squirrels are diurnal.
I’ve tried everything to get rid of the ones I get in my attic once or twice every year, and have finally just resolved myself to having traps set all the time.
I was betting on your creature being one of the Big Three (squirrel, rat or raccoon). Given you’re in Northeast Ohio, I suppose we can’t rule out this pest (it generally becomes a problem every four years).
Not in this world. Interestingly enough, in a webcomic I once considered doing, I had planned to have a kind of celestial pest control company show up at one point.
Yup, and he’s not in my attic because he’s too busy organizing his presidential campaign. He may be a pest, but he’s a gadfly, not a rat. (I kinda like the guy. I admire his persistence.)
I once lived in an apartment that was, for a time, plagued by a rat, but we found evidence of the rat having gotten into stuff in the pantry. It’s the dead of winter, and there’s not a whole lot to eat in the attic. I haven’t seen any signs of rodent activity within our living quarters proper.
I’m obviously trying to convince myself that it CAN’T be a rat.
Time to get out the flashlight and go exploring.
I can borrow a Havahart trap. What kind of bait should I try for Azathoth or Níðhöggr? I don’t think our local grocery store carries Yggdrasill roots.
And, I’m sorry, people. “Roof rat” sounds to me like “sand shark” or “snow snake.”
Enriched uranium is good. He loves nuclear chaos. However, once you find him, your only chance for survival is to somehow cast him back through time, to the primordial monobloc. This is easier said than done.
Brings back fond memories of my OSU apartment at the 10th and High college getto. We fought bats in the kitchen, battled a raccon over the backporch we were trying to climb in on and was startled by a oppossum by the toliet one morning. :eek: The roaches eventually won out and we moved on. I miss Ohio.
