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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Slowly going insane listening to this

27 replies

Crimble123 · 20/12/2025 04:28

There are some mice and/or rats in my loft but it sounds so much louder. They are dragging stuff around. Sounds like they are going to come through the bloody walls!
The pest guy has already been out and laid bait. He said it was just mice.
Ive been lying awake for 3 hours now because they won't shut up 😫 im slowly going insane!
Anyone else had this and can sympathise?
Ive had mice in the past but it has never ever been this loud

OP posts:
CombatBarbie · 20/12/2025 04:30

Sure theres not squirrels up there too? We have mice and can hear them in the walls so sympathise! Our house is rural and over 200yrs old so pretty much expected.

BretonStripe · 20/12/2025 04:33

Ahhh, OP, I have definitely had this before and it is HORRIBLE, I agree. Your imagination goes into overdrive.

They will most likely be mice but my god they make a racket. Can you listen to calming music on ear buds? Do some breathing techniques for anxiety? Fingers crossed this is the worst night and they'll all be gone tomorrow.

Sending an Un Mumsnetty hug.

Original poster
Crimble123 · 20/12/2025 04:42

BretonStripe · 20/12/2025 04:33

Ahhh, OP, I have definitely had this before and it is HORRIBLE, I agree. Your imagination goes into overdrive.

They will most likely be mice but my god they make a racket. Can you listen to calming music on ear buds? Do some breathing techniques for anxiety? Fingers crossed this is the worst night and they'll all be gone tomorrow.

Sending an Un Mumsnetty hug.

Edited

I currently have white noise playing but its still not loud enough when they come above my bedroom. Im paranoid they are doing alot of damage up there! I think thats what is bothering me most

OP posts:
Original poster
Crimble123 · 20/12/2025 04:43

CombatBarbie · 20/12/2025 04:30

Sure theres not squirrels up there too? We have mice and can hear them in the walls so sympathise! Our house is rural and over 200yrs old so pretty much expected.

I have no clue but its so loud! I dont think its just mice. Im quite rural too. Lots of fields around me

OP posts:
CombatBarbie · 20/12/2025 04:51

Squirrels can make a hell of a racket and fits with what you are experiencing. Mice are a pain too though.

Coffeesoon · 20/12/2025 05:54

Mice can sound loud in a loft, sounds like they will come through the ceiling! . More a scratching noise than big thunps though, if its a crashing sound could be something else

Original poster
Crimble123 · 20/12/2025 07:25

Coffeesoon · 20/12/2025 05:54

Mice can sound loud in a loft, sounds like they will come through the ceiling! . More a scratching noise than big thunps though, if its a crashing sound could be something else

Yea im thinking something else too because ive had the loud scurrying before and that annoying but this was on another level and definitely sounded like it was something larger.
I am so tired today! Managed to fall asleep for a little bit.
Don't know if any pest control places will come out now as they are probably booked up in the christmas period.

Im a single mum so dont have a partner to ask to do it

OP posts:
Barney16 · 20/12/2025 07:35

Squirrels are like mice wearing Doc Martens. But the pest man would know what was in there. I would sleep downstairs if you have a comfy sofa.

Original poster
Crimble123 · 20/12/2025 07:41

Barney16 · 20/12/2025 07:35

Squirrels are like mice wearing Doc Martens. But the pest man would know what was in there. I would sleep downstairs if you have a comfy sofa.

I live in a bungalow so cant escape it 😫 thats why I feel like im going insane. Sorry should have mentioned that

OP posts:
YesItsMe44 · 20/12/2025 07:44

We had roof squirrels and we'd joke that they must be rearranging the furniture again. Had an exterminator come and he set a trap at the entry point (they're quite clever once they find a tiny place to enter). It took about 2 days, and they relocated them (I didn't ask specifics). He did say that he takes them out in the country as otherwise they'll go house to house to find another shelter.

Pinkberriesblue · 20/12/2025 07:45

We had this a few years ago in the end we had to get metal snap traps and glue traps as poison bait didn’t work and they were chewing the electrics

HedgeWitchOfTheWest · 20/12/2025 07:49

We had a mouse in the loft/walls - it would chew on the wooden frame of the house at night and it would resonate so loudly.

we had all manner of traps and eventually poison, and eventually it departed (nothing in traps, no smell, we don’t know if it left or died somewhere).

It was so infuriating while it was there. It was in the house about 4 months.

Good luck OP

Applecup · 20/12/2025 07:53

Crimble123 · 20/12/2025 07:41

I live in a bungalow so cant escape it 😫 thats why I feel like im going insane. Sorry should have mentioned that

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We had this problem and bought some plug in pest repellers that send a vibration or something up into the ceiling. Seemed to work. You can probably get them on Amazon.

Original poster
Crimble123 · 20/12/2025 07:56

Applecup · 20/12/2025 07:53

We had this problem and bought some plug in pest repellers that send a vibration or something up into the ceiling. Seemed to work. You can probably get them on Amazon.

Show quote history

Ohh this sounds good. I have had little sleep over the past few nights so willing to try anything!

OP posts:
Cosyblankets · 20/12/2025 07:58

Crimble123 · 20/12/2025 07:56

Ohh this sounds good. I have had little sleep over the past few nights so willing to try anything!

Show quote history

We have this too
They're very effective

Barney16 · 20/12/2025 08:23

Crimble123 · 20/12/2025 07:41

I live in a bungalow so cant escape it 😫 thats why I feel like im going insane. Sorry should have mentioned that

Show quote history

Oh no, that must be like being tortured. Have you looked in the loft?

Catwalking · 20/12/2025 08:26

Try a plugin repeller. We’ve had to have 1 as cannot put down poison or owls & cats die from eating the poisoned but not yet dead vermin. Ours has kept mice & rats away from our home for about 25yrs now! You have to keep on permanently tho.
Importantly make sure it has Electromagnetic repelling. Often there’s an ultrasonic option but I’ve had that switched off & know the mice are still being repelled, as the cat catches them in the garden!
If you feed birds take in the feeders in the evening, hiding in old version metal dustbin is easiest/best.

Original poster
Crimble123 · 20/12/2025 08:39

Catwalking · 20/12/2025 08:26

Try a plugin repeller. We’ve had to have 1 as cannot put down poison or owls & cats die from eating the poisoned but not yet dead vermin. Ours has kept mice & rats away from our home for about 25yrs now! You have to keep on permanently tho.
Importantly make sure it has Electromagnetic repelling. Often there’s an ultrasonic option but I’ve had that switched off & know the mice are still being repelled, as the cat catches them in the garden!
If you feed birds take in the feeders in the evening, hiding in old version metal dustbin is easiest/best.

Would electromagnetic be damaging for us being around it alot?

OP posts:
LakieLady · 20/12/2025 08:44

YANBU, OP.

We had a rat in the loft and could hear the fucker gnawing at the joists. Thankfully, we were able to get a pest control company out fairly quickly. They not only set a trap for the bugger but showed us how it had got in, where a bit of mortar was missing from the brickwork. We got that fixed straight away.

Original poster
Crimble123 · 20/12/2025 09:16

LakieLady · 20/12/2025 08:44

YANBU, OP.

We had a rat in the loft and could hear the fucker gnawing at the joists. Thankfully, we were able to get a pest control company out fairly quickly. They not only set a trap for the bugger but showed us how it had got in, where a bit of mortar was missing from the brickwork. We got that fixed straight away.

I rent my property and they have maintenance people so ive got to wait until the 2nd until they can get vents covered with mesh etc and ive also raised there are some rotten fascias. We had a huge wasp nest in there last year 😫
Its just a nightmare!

OP posts:
balticeiderdown1 · 20/12/2025 09:35

How long ago did the pest guy lay the bait? I had mice last year in my loft. It took them a couple of nights to come in (they only came in at night), eat the bait and leave - to go and outside to die. They were extremely noisy and it sounded as though they were eating everything and moving everything about. Like you, I couldn’t sleep and found it very stressful but after 2 nights I never heard from them again. When I eventually ventured back into the loft weeks later I was really surprised to find very little sign of them. I’ve left the bait bags where my pest guy left them and so far no mice, or anything else, this winter! Hope yours leave you alone soon too!!

unsync · 20/12/2025 10:16

Squirrels are noisy bastards. If it sounds like something is tap dancing up there, it'll be that. They bugger off when it gets warmer.

ShiftingSand · 20/12/2025 10:25

Had mice in my previous house. One night I was so fed up with the racket I climbed the ladder to the loft hatch, stuck my head through the hatch (open of course) and yelled “shut up” plus a few swear words. It did the trick for a few nights as they must have been scared to come back. After the bait was eaten that the pest controller had left, I kept re-ordering from Amazon and it did work. The problem was that we couldn’t work out how they were getting in. I wonder if the latest owners had the same problem 😂

CombatBarbie · 20/12/2025 14:32

Have to ask are you in a red or grey squirrel area?

BurntBroccoli · 20/12/2025 14:34

For such teeny tiny things they sound very loud! It’s because the sound reverberates from the beams etc that they run along.