There's something weird going on in my house

[horseHorseHorse]

For the last couple of weeks I've been noticing lights on when I come in when I'm 100% sure I've turned them off. Milk out on the side when I'm sure it's been put away. Stuff moved around but not in an obvious way, just a "huh, I could have sworn I left that somewhere else."

Put it down to rushed mornings and my cats playing with stuff.

Been out most of the day, just went into the upstairs bathroom for the first time since this morning and there's blood on the loo tank. Thought it could have come from a cat bringing something in but the door has been closed all day, and it's on the third floor so it's not like they could have got in and out like that. Windows have been closed too.

I have already bought carbon monoxide detectors in addition to the wired in ones. They're all over the house but haven't picked anything up.

Have a loft but the hatch is tiny and doesn't seem to have been disturbed.

Have an internal camera which shows the front door and hall - no activity though it did show my dog going bonkers barking at something outside a couple of times today (though the external camera isn't up yet so I couldn't see what)

Only direct family have keys and they wouldn't do stuff like this. Will be changing the locks tomorrow!

I'm properly creeped out ATM! Husband will be back shortly from work thank god! I'm in the bedroom with the door wedged shut for the moment!

Please someone give me a rational explanation!

Have you tried putting the dark red flakes into water and seeing if they dissolve?

We don't know for sure. Drain survey turned up nothing but we do live at the bottom of a hill so the street drains flood when there's a heavy rain and we suspect it's flushed out some vermin.

We also have a conservatory that our giant alaskan malamute sleeps in because the rest of the house gets too warm for him, so on a night when we let him out for his last wee we usually leave the door open for him to pop in and out of, and the conservatory leads into our kitchen where the monster lived somewhere under the kickboards.

There are 2 sets of doors and small steps and a huge dog that this rat would have to get through and the door to the kitchen is only ever opened momentarily when someone is walking through and most rats stay hidden when humans are about so we find it really unlikely that it came in that way. We also suspected it came up the kitchen waste water pipe because it did chew our u-bend. Further inspection to this looks like it was done after the rat had entered the house from externally to the pipe. We added a metal mesh to the end of the pipe after as a precaution.

There were also some really really narrow bits of piping that it would have had to get through. Like 2cm diameter, and I know rats can get in narrow places but if you had seen this rat you'd know it needed 2 doors. That rat wasn't squeezing down any 2cm wide pipe.

It could also have scaled the wall when we had our kitchen window open but that would have been in summer which means the rat had made itself very comfortable in our house for a long time which is plausible and very grim to think about. It definitely could have been an athletic and slender rat and lived off of months of crumbs missed by the vacuum cleaner or possibly even dog food from the dog food bin before we even noticed it. We're a family of 3 adults and 1 child so a lot of strange behaviours like the cupboard door being left open every night, tins being rearranged, milk being spilled, we all sort of just blamed it on my nan being a bit senile and nobody dared to raise it 🙈🙊 also we had a 4 year old at the time so literally anything flew.

Another theory is it came up the bathroom waste pipe and out of the toilet. I've heard stranger things have happened but let me tell you gravity would not have been on that rats side and we only have one bathroom upstairs.

The truth is we will probably never know but you better believe we locked down like a high security facility after that. All semi-done DIY got finished real quick. Not a gap or hole was left. The rechargeable cameras remain charged. Just this morning I thought I'd seen some more sawdust like the cabinets had been gnawed at but it was just oat dust from the flapjack we made yesterday and I'm still paranoid on high alert. 😳

The blood could well be from the cat. However I’d still get it checked to see if it’s animal or human.
However the cat is not taking milk out of the fridge and leaving lights on.
Its all very well having CM detectors but are they definitely in working order.

That’s the most likely explanation. The cat went in there some time between the last time the bathroom was used and the door being shut before OP went out, or the flecks were already there and just weren’t noticed in the morning. I don’t think the OP actually said she wiped the cistern that day directly before going out, Combined with someone forgetting to put the milk back some time in the last couple of weeks (whenever it happened). People thinking things have moved about or are not where they left them happens to almost everyone at some point. The dog barking at someone outside is irrelevant if there is a camera covering the only route into the house.

I've never known poltergeists interested in milk. Milk is an offering for the Fair Folk. Multiple witnesses saw an item of food lifted and thrown by 'nothing' in an old house I once lived in. Throwing things is a signature move and they like witnesses.

OP, presumably your cats don't drink milk and your sister knows not to give it to them?

I'd be unnerved and have a friend to stay for a while if you have a spare room. Ideally a no-nonsense type.

Flea dirt. Would have been tiny black specks of black, and then when they came into contact with water (from the shower etc), they turn red, as they change into blood specks.

Hi OP - is there any risk of carbon monoxide poisoning? If so please get any potential sources checked out. Can cause memory losses which would explain these issues for both you and partner.

It does sound like someone has a key and that's not nice.

nose bleed? I don’t know. I was going on the other examples too. Maybe a family member with a key needs somewhere to crash and is too embarrassed or cheeky to tell op

must say though the other stuff like
lights are different but the mess on the
toilet looks like an animal has made that

Yes. Quite possibly two different things. Someone letting themselves in and hanging out, left bathroom door open leading to cat getting into the bathroom. Or it’s the extractor fan and the wind, or spiders. The loo and the milk/doors etc might not have anything to do with the mess on the cistern.

I bloody love it when someone/OP offers up a hand-drawn diagram. 😂

Also hooked!

I googled- flea flecks on cistern- and clicked images ... and see several pics like you've got, all talking about cat fleas.

That does not, however, explain your misplaced items...

Are you or your dh under additional stress at the minute? That can be really affect memory and follow through of routines and generally make people 'scattier'?

I hate to say it but do you totally trust that your dh isn't gaslighting you? I once worked with a woman who's partner would move things around the house/ take or add things and it was all to make her doubt herself so she wouldn't feel clear that he was abusive towards her?

You have not had someone in your house. If someone had been in there then they would be very careful to not leave milk out etc. the flecks could be from an animal or from the vent. The stuff left out is just you forgetting stuff. Please don’t worry. I’m really certain nothing weird is going on.

Guess if this happens to you no need to ask for help

Now Rats CAN and do move heavy stuff.

A workshop on a farm had a whole block of butter go missing placed on a human eye level shelf - and later, rat was seen dragging it.

I had a Danish pecan pastry taken in that workshop, and chocolate powder.

Just vanished. Had been hanging up in a shopping bag.

WW1 soldiers spoke of Rats and their resourcefulness.

Have you got carbon monoxide detectors? There's a famous(ish) Reddit thread where the OP turned out to have carbon monoxide poisoning.

https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/comments/sajxyf/oop_keeps_finding_postit_notes_in_his_apartment/

Hope you resolve it OP

Sounds scary, hope you get an answer x

Cameras everywhere with no blind spots and you can link them to your phone so can watch if out. Or link it up to YouTube and let others keep an eye out for you.

If your dh thought you were moving his things then why didn't he say something?

Doubt it's rats of you have dogs and cats.

Why is your loft ladder elsewhere? Thought they were attached to the hatch?

Keep a diary of all the weird stuff, see if there is a pattern.

I had a similar experience a couple of years ago with my car.

I was convinced someone was accessing it, possibly even sleeping in it as stuff was being moved around inside the car. The glove box was opened, charging cables and a raincoat moved, a school bag that was on the floor had been moved onto the seat and emptied out. It turned out to be rats. It was all pretty big stuff and it seemed inconceivable. We hadn't seen any droppings or smelt rats, but when the car broke down and they took it apart it was no doubting it was rats.
Pretty sure rats can't turn lights on or get milk out of the fridge though!

Hi Monica! Could you pop the milk back in the fridge and turn the lights off love? Ta!