Rat or mouse problem! And BIG bug in loft!

[drjoolz]

Hi we're new to country life and have found that there's way more maintenance than we could ever imagine! We've been hearing some scratching noise in one of the skirting boards but occasionally only, about 4-5 times last year, usually 5-6am in spring time. However last week when my wife was in bedroom and heard the same again, then incidentally saw a massive bug with big antennae in the loft hatch gap and freaked out... so I came in and took her off the bed and into the living room, then as I went back to the bedroom, I saw a small rodent! This had to be a massive coincidence, with my wife being attacked by both at the same time! Anyway I killed it and I'm still not sure if it's a rat or mouse (see pic). I also noticed the particular skirting board was bent out slightly and had a gap so I dont know whether it was the mouse / rat that caused it and got out at the same time my wife was freaking out at the bug... anyway I had a look behind it after killing the mouse / rat and glued it back. We also had to be away for 3 days so I left some traps with peanut butter as bait in the loft (thinking it might have come from the loft, as it had rats poison before from previous owners) but they were not set off and didn't look like they had been disturbed.

Mice control guy is coming tomorrow and I hope he'll know what's going on... It's a bit worrying that we had a mouse / rat in the bedroom when we have absolutely no food source and are very clean. Also after 3 days of being away, we came back and didn't find any droppings anywhere visible (along skirting, open areas, kitchen etc) so i hope that was the only one that got in!

Anyway about the bug after reading up online I was also kind of worried that the bug she saw was a big woodworm and could cause structural damage! Apparently it had long antennae with a notch in front of its head, and BIG like 2-3". I read that these longhorn beetles (I'm just guessing)are attracted to light especially loft hatches! Should I be concerned or are big beetle like creatures just the norm in the country... ???

[maidofallworks]

The picture isn't very clear but I would say it is probably a rat as it has quite a thick tail. Mice are more delicate. Not sure of the scale of the pic but it doesn't look like a fully grown rat.

I don't know a lot about beetles so can't help there but maybe the pest control people can help with that too.

Welcome to the countryside with its myriad of creatures wanting to share your home!