What is living in my loft?

[Honeybunzz]

please tell me what the most common 4 legged creature that could be living in a loft.

I suspect it could be a fox or cat (although I know how unlikely that is - I just guess that based on the sound of the weighty footsteps I hear up there). Way too heavy and quiet to be a squirrel/ mouse/ rat.

I have mobility problems (broken leg) and no ladder so unable to check and to be quite honest - I’m abit scared too. Have asked a friend to come this evening to give it a look although the animal/ animals seem to scamper when they hear a loud noise so I suspect will be gone when we get round to it.

Squirrels make a tonne of noise, my mum had them in her loft. They destroyed all the Christmas decorations! They are also surprisingly heavy.

I doubt very much they are rats then.

I do have a bird family in my roof (they nest every year and I lost the fight for them to nest elsewhere), they do make far more noise than I would have thought birds would make. They are active early morning too.

So I would say birds or squirrel.

We had squirrels in our loft too. They were incredibly noisy & I think we heard them more at night as they were out collecting food in the day. So I don’t know if that tallies with the movements you hear OP or whatever people have found.

Skinwalker or Jackalope 💀

Rats, mice, or maybe bats. Bats can sound like mice scratching.

Squirrels are very noisy and sound heavier than they are.

I once had one in the loft and it made a right noise and then dug a hole through the ceiling into the bathroom!

I'd have said rats. When someone goes up to check, ask them to look for droppings - little pellets will indicate something smaller.

My DM had to get pest control out for rats - the chap was brilliant - she paid a one off fee which included all visits until rats were clear (he came back every 2-3 days to check). Also, he had a look around to try and find entry point (and he did). It's very solvable.

Forgot to say, I think my DM said they were most active around 5-6am.

If you can't get a friend to look, like I said the pest controller my DM used was brilliant.

If it’s morning it could be birds. We have a lot of wood pigeons around, big fat things. They run on our flat roof and they sound like they could be a small cat! I too thought it was mice or rats until I heard one run the full length of the roof and saw it through the window take off flying. Think we’re just a runway.

Rat or squirrel - I’ve had both. 😞

Rat are pretty noisy and sound much bigger than they are. I know people are against poison but when I had them in my loft I just shoved some poison blocks through the loft hatch and all went quiet after a few days 😬. I now have birds up there and they are unbelievably noisy.

Squirrels are just rats with furry tails. We get them leap on our carport roof and it sounds like an elephant with tap shoes up there.

Birds are surprisingly heavy footed.

Pine Marten if you're in an area that has them. Very cute and potentially very very destructive.

I can understand that but …naughty…Glis glis are a protected species.

OP don’t worry it’s them unless you’re in Herts/Beds area!

We had tiny little mice but they were dragging stuff around and made an unbelievable amount of noise, I was convinced it was going to be something bigger at first

Oh no - had no idea! It was about 10-12 years ago now. I just relied on the pest man that came out!

I'm in Bucks.

Squirrels are diurnal - they’re more active during the day. Rats are crepuscular - they’re more active at dawn and dusk. So if you’re hearing noises at those times then it’s probably rats. You need to call an exterminator to go up there and have a look.

Rats sound like a herd of elephants in your roof.

We’ve had squirrels, rats, mice and birds in our loft - we live in an old rural house and luckily don’t need to use the loft!

Noise early morning sounds like squirrels to me, they were the hardest to get rid of unfortunately.

My vote is for squirrels too, it's perfectly possible for them to sound like a cavalry regiment in full charge. in our case they weren't nesting there but were taking the loft insulation for bedding material!

Dont be too complacent thought they can cause damage and gnaw through wiring. Needs to be sorted, preferably by a professional.

What did your friend discover was in the loft @Honeybunzz ?