Somethings in my attic and I’m freaking out!!!

[DandyPinkDuck]

There’s something living in my attic and I’m freaking out, this whole situation is making my mental health even worse, I’m so anxious I can’t leave my room and haven’t eaten all day as I’m scared I’ll find something running around I’m extremely on edge 😔 I live by myself in a semi detached house in a semi-rural area.

Sunday around 2am I heard a noise outside my bedroom window (I have a conservatory below my window) it literally sounded like someone was trying to break in or open the window, was rather loud and I freaked out. Calmed myself down and thought maybe it was a cat outside my window on the conservatory roof….I was wrong…today (Monday) this time at 12:30am I could hear noise above me in the attic which was definitely in the attic as was rather loud, sounded like something crawling/running pretty fast as well as scratching, lasted about 10minutes and then went silent and not heard anything as of yet. Best way I can describe it is it was like a kitten that’s energetically running around and clawing things. I assume whatever it is climbed onto the conservatory and at first tried to find a way into my bedroom around the window which failed, I'm praying it failed, and then settled to the attic instead.

I called my landlord as I rent a council property and they said someone will contact me in 2-5 working days and I can’t afford to go private but I’m loosing my mind I’ve genuinely had anxiety attacks on/off all of today as I’m really stressed and scared to death that I’m gonna see something big and grey (don’t want to mention it) running around I honestly cannot relax and as mentioned I’ve not eaten because of it… may sound silly to some but my mental health is really bad and this situation has made it worse. The fact I heard it trying to get into my room near the window makes me terrified they may come into my room or already be here somewhere I’m having to constantly scan my room every few minutes to check (it’s triggering my OCD symptoms).

I know it’s not something sitting on the roof and doubt it’s a bird as when it was moving it was really fast. There’s no way I can put traps around or go into the attack, as you can tell I’m already distressed just knowing somethings there. I feel like I’m a complete mess and I’m dreading tonight as I know I’m bound to hear it again I’m really anxious this time I’ll hear it in my actual room or trying to get in again. I couldn’t even pluck the courage to look outside my window onto the top of the conservatory this morning in case I saw something.

Should I call the landlord again tomorrow to explain how I suffer with mental health and it’s really effecting me to hopefully see if anyone can come sooner?

Any reassurance would be great right now as I’m very panicky, already searched what the chances are of a pest in the attic coming into the actual house and regret searching it…any reassurance on that would be great or just to hear peoples experiences.

Yes, sounds like a squirrel. They are fast as you describe and love attics in winter.

I would not wait and try to find a friend to help you check.

Grins, thanks for the giggle! :-)

Can almost guarantee it’s a squirrel - all roofs have air bricks/ventilation. It’s tiny gap but squirrels are tiny under all that fur, so they can get through into the warmth. When they run around the acoustics of the roof space amplify the noise, and they sound like elephants.

Sometimes they just run across and over the roof outside and also sound really loud. They’re so agile - my garden is full of squirrels and they can run along fences, the washing line, so could easily run on the conservatory roof.

They cannot get into your actual living space. I can’t stress that enough. They won’t want to come in - we are massive and they’re usually terrified of us and run off.

I came on to say squirrel. We had one who was as noisy as if he had clogs on.

I saw him once sitting on the extension roof meeting my eye in a 'fuck you' way that made it clear he thought I should be the one leaving.

If you are anywhere near the Chilterns it could be a glis glis.

Fun fact. It’s actually illegal to release grey squirrels if you’ve caught one. They have to be dispatched in a humane way … or taken to be euthanised. Randomly I’m an expert on the subject, and very grateful I’ve never had to catch one as I’m a vegetarian.

Just thought I’d give everyone an update…I stayed up till around 3am and didn’t hear anything in the attic! I don’t want to get my hopes up and my anxiety won’t allow me to, it may be possible I didn’t hear it last night or that it’ll come back as it’s hard to picture a pest finding a warm place for winter, staying there for two mornings, then willingly giving it up.

I managed to get some sleep with the lights and tv on but barely any and have a awful headache, yet to venture downstairs to the kitchen, I’m still feeling on edge my anxiety is doing overtime right now…the landlord referred me to a pest control company and they called not long ago, they said the soonest they can come is Friday and I almost broke down in tears picturing going through this another 3 nights, but managed to wait till they got off the phone. I guess it’s a good sign I heard nothing last night but its still going to effect me until Friday, even afterwards I’ll still probably feel uneasy…Friday can’t come quick enough 😩

Honestly thank you all for the support, taking my mind off things and helping with my anxiety I really do appreciate it. A lot of times posts on here can get negative/judgy responses so I wasn’t too sure what to expect, thought I’d be called a wimp, really means a lot that you all showed compassion!

What pest control will likely do is
. identify animal from droppings
. look for access areas such as a hole
. lay traps and come back a week later

This. A squirrel isn’t going to hurt anyone.

Update edit…I got my hopes up too soon as I can hear thumping, crawling and noises coming from the attic still. Almost sounds like it’s in the house. The wait for Friday begins.

If it's trapped without water it will die by Friday. Are there any vents or windows in the attic that you could open, to let it out?

I can promise you that Sid the squirrel is more frightened of you than you are of him! I have a soft spot for them, very smart little things. You'll be ok, he won't be able to open a loft hatch and say hello, even though they are smart ;-)
Try relax, you'll be shattered by Friday. Are you able to go outside? You may spot him and the way in and out of your loft in the roof somewhere.

Hopefully if it got in it will find its own way out

Since he’s been given a name now

I was told this. They laughed in my face when I insisted it was a squirrel. Insisted there were no signs of squirrels. They put a trap up there anyway to humour me.

A week later they pulled a massive dead squirrel out of my attic. I did say ‘I told you so’.

Wow.

Why didn't they check the trap sooner than a week? How inhumane to let it die of thirst, fear and starvation in a trap.

Yeah, my neighbour said all squirrels are Sids, it stuck!

Op, this may help with the fear? Squirrels are so smart and great climbers - I remember this on TV :-) Am pretty sure you've got one popping in and out of your loft, just borrowing it to keep warm. Hopefully they can use a humane trap and find/stop the way in!

May not have been a humane trap.

We had a squirrel climb through a window into our flat years ago, it chewed all the wooden window frame before it left again !

The trap is designed to kill instantly. The point is that the trap kills it. No red squirrels round there so lethal traps are the preferred method, seeing as it’s illegal to release them.

The trap also makes a very loud bang so I can confirm it didn’t suffer for a week.

Agree
how sad!
I wish I was more shocked but I’m afraid a complete lack of empathy for animals is not unusual.
I wish people were more aware of how others suffer

People who are scared or mice,rats, spiders etc dont think those creatures are going to hurt them. That's not how irrational fears work

If it was as easy as being told that to cure an irrational fear don't you think maybe they might not be quite so common?

Yes, that’s what we had. No possibility of releasing greys as they’re classed as vermin, so best to kill quickly and humanely. And yes, the trap could be heard all over the house. I can’t remember how many we had.

Op, it's completely get you, I am the same. I would make a bed on the sofa for the next few nights. No point stressing yourself out.

We used to get birds in our loft and you could definitely tell it was a bird, so I am with others who say it's more likely to be a squirrel.
A former school mum living in a nearby road had squrrels which ate through electric cables, so something to be aware of.