Knocking in my loft at night...

[sarah189]

Help! There’s something alive in my attic at night! Over the last few weeks I’ve heard a tapping/knocking sound in the ceiling above my bed that starts at around 10pm-midnight and continues on and off until 4-6am. It’ll be a few continuous knocks, then silence for a few minutes, then it’ll start again. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly where the sound comes from - sometimes seems more like the top of one of the walls than the ceiling. Sometimes a few hours (or even days) can go by without me hearing it but when it does happen it’s always the same sort of sound. I don’t really hear scampering or rustling, or any vocals. Sometimes there’s a bit of scraping as if whatever it is is dragging something through the attic - but that was only once or twice. It keeps me wide awake at night as the knocking is very loud in the silence of night time (I live on a very quiet residential road). So I’ve been sleeping terribly recently. I feel like mice and rats don’t really knock, a bird I would expect to make a flapping/vocal sound, and squirrels aren’t active at night I don’t think? I don’t know though. I’m not sure what other animals are common in lofts/walls in the UK, especially in this boiling hot summer. Thanks for any suggestions! I’ve recorded the sound below:

1- imgur.com/lp7TnV0 (you'll need to flick sound on in the corner)
2- clyp.it/ntj40pmb
3- clyp.it/hcmzwuee

I had similar in my attic and it turned out to be a house marten. They are active at night and hunt for birds and other small animals. Check if there are any bird feathers or animal parts around in the attic.

Monceros
Our marten (and partner and DC if it is the season) make incredibly loud noises. They live in the space between ceiling and roof, nobody has found the place they enter. It sounds like sb doing DIY while drunk and wearing clogs.
Plus the fights, the amorous squeels and the not quite dead food they drag across my bedroom ceiling to get at their main nest at four in the morning.
They do not make such civilised knocking noises - but perhaps that's just them.

Monoceros I think you mean a Pine Marten ?

So interested to find this thread I've joined Mumsnet! We have this exact same problem. Knocking from 10pm to 8am virtually all night, every night.

We've had pest control people in and they put traps down for squirrels and rats (nothing), and bait for mice (nothing). What's bizarre is that my OH can't hear a thing.

Sometimes sounds like someone plucking a bass guitar. We're going to get the drains checked by CCTV as rats can get from sewer into cavity wall if there's a crack in the sewer pipe. Also thinking about an IR camera to film activity inside and out (so that's a thought for you). We do have squirrel activity with them jumping from trees to roof - and the neighbours are going to cut the trees back to prevent that, which might get rid of it. Otherwise, I'm just going MAAAD!

To the OP:

Can you tell exactly where it's coming from? I can't.
Is there any sense of movement (i.e. does it move across the ceiling)? - ours doesn't.
Can you hear it outside the house? I can - just.
Does the sound change during the night? Here it is sometimes like a plucked bass guitar, sometimes a knock, sometimes an aggressive 'attacking' noise.

Other thoughts we've had - there's a sewage pumping station nearby - but then neighbours don't hear it. Also, there's a street light right outside - could it be that ??? Our C/H is only for HW at the moment twice a day, and I've heard 'the noise' with that off - and no noise from the water tanking the attic, so don't think it's the plumbing.

I have exactly the same problem at the moment, only the noise is happening during the day. It starts early morning and on and off all day. It could be going on at night too but I'm just not hearing it. I thought birds. Now I'm really hoping it's not wasps or rats!

I'm umming and ahhing about whether to let my landlord know, as I can't actually see anything. And It's possibly coming from next door which is usually empty.

So I'd love to know if you find out the cause OP!

Any news, OP?

We had our boiler serviced on Monday and it took me 2 nights to realise that I hadn't heard 'The Noise'.... except 10 mins later I did (is it all in my head.....). The engineer suggested I switch of the mains water at the stop-cock and see if that makes a difference. Then switch the boiler off completely. 'The Noise' does seem too regular in it's note to be an animal. Much of the time it's like someone plucking 2 strings (i.e. diff notes) on a bass guitar - the same 2 notes alternating......

@sarah189 have you been eaten by whatever’s in the loft? I need to know, did you find out what it is?

Did you find out what it was? We have something similar that started last night

I’m reviving this thread in the hope that the OP may still be out there and can tell us what it was as we’re experiencing something similar! Or failing that if anyone else has had this and can tell us what it was. I think it’s birds nesting but I can’t see anything obvious and I’m scared to go up and investigate in case it’s rats

In my case (27/8/20) it has virtually disappeared. We still have starlings nesting in the eaves. I could never pinpoint where it was coming from - the noise was just 'there'. If it is rats, I think you'd hear them scurrying around and scratching.

We have the same thing. I just posted on quora. There are loads of wasps around the house and neighborhood too. The neighbours told us they had one built between a wall in their garage. I'm too scared to go up..my kids are super freaked. Don't know what to do! I've heard a dragging sounds and then clanging which sounds like something metal or glass.. its directly above the attic door opening in my bedroom 😬