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.

I hope your call goes well and you get support.

maybe in the meantime think of the animal or bird as a little fellow earthling just trying to survive. It’s likely scared, cold, hungry, lonely and vulnerable. It means you no harm.

Mice and rats have done a lot of good for humankind in terms of medical breakthroughs.
Rats have been trained to detect land mines and save lives. One in NZ even received a medal of honour for its service.

Not to say you should want them in your home, but they are just trying to survive, like anything else.

@CheeseIsMyIdol
Thank you, I know that whatever it is would probably run and hide if it saw me and if I saw a mouse or rat in the street it wouldn’t bother me it’s just the fact there’s one in my house as well as my anxiety that feels extremely overwhelming. Also having to listen out for it making noises and not knowing where it is or if I’ll bump into it when leaving my bedroom can be scary.

If I had support, knew there was only one and it was definitely in the attic then I would’ve gotten someone to go up and remove it from the house. But as I don’t have anyone to do so and I can’t confirm what it is, where it is, how many there are etc I’ve had to leave it to my landlord to get pest control.

I would really try and speak to your attached neighbours. You could ask if they know if the attics are blocked off. I am sure they will want to know of a potential problem for them. If you get good vibes then you could explain that you are scared (this is normal) and would they mind just checking your kitchen. I once asked a neighbour to take out a huge spider that was on my toilet. Yes I must have looked a twat, but he didn't mind!!!

So you can afford a hotel for two nights and you can afford a takeaway but you can’t afford to get pest control out to deal with the issue quicker than the council?
my sympathy just went out the window.

I would have thought rats. We got these once because no mesh on the drainpipes - good luck

Pretty sure OP said they were considering private pest control. In any case a couple of nights in a cheap hotel and a few takeaways may well be cheaper than pest control.

This was one of those "if you can't say anything helpful don't say anything at all posts"

Repetition/doing something until it feels right sounds very OCD. I'm a bit confused about the assertion that it's due to anxiety. Anxiety (and sometimes sheer terror) are pretty integral to OCD. I'm probably out of line again querying the MH team, but OCD is often misunderstood/missed. If these symptoms interfere with your life &/or take more than an hour a day they meet the threshold for an OCD diagnosis.

Hope your call went well and really hope you get helpful treatment soon.

Lots of things contributed to my 6 year wait: Covid, damaging experience with local therapy team, psychiatrist saying she would prefer to refer me out of area than back to local team, then going off long term sick etc. I know wait times are often months, but hopefully not years!

@Confessionsofa40yrold
Never said I can afford a hotel…I said I was considering it as I’d feel much better there then in my house right now and does buying one takeway really mean you’ve got money…baring in mind the one I ordered I’m trying to make last till Friday and I’m literally rationing it so it’ll last, does that really sound like someone who’s got money to throw around.

For your information I didn’t book a hotel in the end as I realised it’s a lot more expensive then a little £30 a night that I thought it may be…the private pest control man I spoke to previously said it would cost £130 but that’s per visit and not including tax all together he ended up quoting just under £500, so yeah I can’t afford to pay that and so what if I did choose to go to a hotel and have one takeaway as it wouldn’t cost anywhere near £500 so makes no sense you thinking I could afford private pest control if I was to stay in a hotel, which I haven’t ended up doing.

Im sure there’s a lot of other people in council properties who have a stable income and could afford to go private more then me, yet they probably wait for the council to get someone to come out too and instead spend their money on other things and you know what that’s fine because it’s their money to spend as they please and it’s the landlord/councils responsibility to get rid of the pest. I think you’ve got the wrong end of the stick as I really don’t have much to my name and if I could afford to pay someone private to come then I would’ve done so and saved myself the mental stress.

Probably a squirrel. Why is this stressing you out so much?
It wont hurt you

Is your loft accessible with a camera? Wondering if that would be possible if you’re too afraid to physically go up there?
It sounds like an awful time for you.

Hi all, pest control have just been today, the man looked everywhere and said he can’t see any signs in the house or attic of anything being here! There’s no droppings, smell and the insulation in the loft hasn’t moved, which it normally does if somethings been in there. I also asked if he can see an entry points in the loft to prevent whatever it is coming back and he said as my house is an end of terrace house (3 houses on the terrace) it’s hard for him to get to the eaves so he’s unable to look and seal any entrances which is frustrating, he said it’s possible it’s running between houses.

He couldn’t confirm what it is as there’s no evidence, he said the only entry points he can see from the outside of the house would be for mice, but from what I described he said it sounds too loud to be a mouse and is possibly a single rat or could be a squirrel. It’s annoying how the pest disappears as soon as pest control comes, but I guess that’s the way it works, I know I’m bound to hear it again later and wish there was at least some kind of evidence so they could 100% confirm what it is. I’m still feeling rather anxious as I know it’ll keep returning to the house for a while, man left some traps out and said to call them back in 2/3 weeks for them to check them I guess it’s just another waiting game now 🥲

@DandyPinkDuck I'm sorry you didn't get much joy. With regards to sleep have you asked at the chemist? I was given an antihistamine that helps you sleep some time ago. Just ask which one helps you sleep. Nytol does and there's others.

You can’t leave an innocent animal to die in a trap.

My pest guy said that rats are quiet and mice are louder.

Yes I do. Years ago when I lived in a house near a farm mice ended up in my kitchen. I bought humane traps and then thankfully I found their entry point and blocked it up and cured the problem.

Poisoning is cruel and kills other animals with secondary poisoning and I judge anyone who takes the step of doing so.

I would never kill a living creature whether it’s a spider or mouse. What makes you think there is a difference between a squirrel and a mouse to an animal lover? Genuinely interested…

What kind of traps?? That's horrible.

@megacat so you are a vegan I’m guessing? Fair enough.
I’ve been veggie most of my life but never made the leap to being vegan although a lot of my meals are.

I have generalised anxiety issues. Rodents that have found their way indoors is my biggest fear I think. Squirrels, rats, mice have all done so at various times. Humane traps weren’t much use but neither were the cruel ones either really. Ultimately the best solution was moving house!

@DandyPinkDuck I’ve just read your update. That’s so frustrating. I also suffer crippling anxiety to do with rodents in the house. I totally understand.

Do you know anyone who might be able to loan you a terrier, ferret or rodent t chasing cat? Even for an afternoon so it could leave its scent all over your house. That should help deter visitors.

Hi op, what happened in the end? How are you?

OP can you sleep with headphones in? If so you could listen to some white noise or music which would drown out the squirrelling sounds. 2-5 days is reasonable at this time of year but chase it if it goes over.

We once booked a b&b in wilmslow. It had bloody squirrels in the roof. The owners thought it was a selling point and proceeded to talk about how cute they were after we said we hadn’t had a wink of sleep all night! They will be squirrels.

How are thing now op?

We had squirrels in our loft a few years ago. Pest controller set traps but told us to call him as soon as we thought they had caught anything and he would come immediately to deal with it.

It's also illegal to release squirrels once they have been trapped. They have to be humanely killed.

If squirrels are inside your loft, they need to be removed as they can gnaw electrical wiring. They had actually gnawed a whole the size of a dinner plate in our soffit in order to get in and out of our house.

We had squirrels this time last year and this sounds familiar! Good luck. We called a pest controller.