Ticking noise in loft

[maryanncontrary]

I've been hearing a ticking noise coming from a part of the loft (but only from a small area above one of the corners in a room). It sounds like a clock ticking very fast. It happens on and off all day and all night. I live in a bungalow next to fields used for sheep and cattle grazing. Have lived here for a long time and have had problems in the past with mice and squirrels getting into the loft but it's been pest-free for the last few years since various repairs were done. I'll have to call an exterminator eventually because I can't get up to the loft myself.

Has anyone come across anything similar? I've gone through YT videos listening to insect sounds and haven't found anything like it. Just can’t think what it could be...

Death watch beetle ? Have a listen on YouTube.
A dripping pipe ?

Woodworm?

Guttering warming and cooling?

Deathwatch beetle. We had it when we had a leak and some wood got wet and started to rot. Soon stopped when we had it fixed.

I was just about to say Death Watch Beetle. Look for signs of fine sawdust where they are boring holes in wooden beams. They make a tapping noise when they're making the holes.

Or it could be a wasps nest. We have one under the eaves. When it first started it sounded quite loud in the room below, like a scraping, tapping sound.

I had listened to the Death Watch Beetle sound on YT but thought that the sound I was hearing was slower. The tapping sound that @CalamityK8 mentioned is interesting...

@Saisong there have been wasps nests on and off in the past but I haven’t heard that sound before.

Looks like I’ll be calling the exterminator soon…thanks all.

I remember that ticking noise coming from my grandma’s wooden furniture. In her case it was woodworm. It’s the worms calling to each other so they can meet up and mate ( sorry if TMI)!. In furniture it can be treated. It’s probably advisable to get a professional to advise.

Batteries can also tick sometimes.

If it is death watch beetle it probably means there's some leak or damp in the loft so worth investigating.

Any chance it could be water dripping into a tank? Have you got a water tank up there in the loft, because if a ballcock is stuck then the water may constantly be trickling in (which can sound a lot like ticking). Any sign of overflow action from any pipes outside?

Yes there is a water tank in the loft but it’s at the opposite end of the house from where the ticking’s coming from.

Now I need to go and find out more about how woodworms mate 😆

Jumanji, quick move house

@maryanncontrary we had similar but it ended up being a bird and I believe they're gone now as the ticking stopped. It started exactly 6.30 am for about an hour

@Lemonbalm8 we had a squirrel take up residence a few years ago after mating season - fortunately we got that sorted before any little ones appeared so she had to find another home.

We had that and it turned out to be mice, couldn't hear any scratching or anything because of the type of insulation we have.

This comes up every now and again. It could be a carbon monoxide detector left in the loft needing new batteries, a dead body with a pacemaker needing new batteries, a smoke detector needing new batteries, squirrels, something trying to get out of the vent for the bathroom extractor fan, wind catching the outside of the vent for the the extractor fan, rats, mice, birds.

Woodworms are beetle larvae so don't do any mating...

Battery low warnings tend to be more regular though and constant. So maybe a beep every 3 minutes.

Gosh that’s true. I’ve been misnaming the creature. But if it’s the deathwatch beetle, the adults do make a sound to attract a mate, and the larvae do the damage by eating into the wood.

We heard ticking in one of our bedrooms, turned out to be a wasps nest in the loft.

Same in floor in our bedroom. It’s the central heating or hot water cranking up or down.

We had wasps in between the roofing in my office kitchen. Flat roof with a sort of mdf internal ceiling and felt and bitumen outside and for the seal.

They'd got in at the back where we couldn't see and were wandering around inbetween the two.

The exterminator came this morning. Everyone who thought it would be wasps - you were spot on! Problem dealt with and peace expected to be restored in about 24 hours.