There's an animal (I think) in my walls! (roof, heat, bathtub)

[DonnaReed]

Yesterday, my upstairs tenant's daughter told me that she hears something in the upstairs walls like gnawing and tapping.

Then later, her father comes down and confirms, says there's something in there...that it may be a squirrel who came in through the crawl space (I don't have an attic) or maybe there's an opening somewhere in the back of the house. He said he already looked at the front...said they've been hearing it for a few days and are surprised I haven't heard it.

I'm hoping they're crazy.

Just the same, this evening, I'm lying watching television and listening to every little noise I normally don't pay attention to. And I hear a noise across from me in the walls thinking but that's the heat coming up. I heard it a couple of nights ago and thought it was kind of loud, but thought it was the heat or something just the same.

I turn down the televison, listen, it stops, I turn it back up. I did this about three times. I get up to find the noise, can't lie back down. Did that about three times.

Next time I get up, I, finally, trace the noise. It's coming from the living room wall adjacent to where I'm lying on the couch. It sounds like tapping, knocking, like somebody's on the other side tapping the wall with a stick or something.

But now, listen to this, as I'm standing there I notice that my picture on the wall seems to be protruding.
(It's at the end of the wall, right before the bedroom.)

So I'm looking and inspecting and inspecting and examining...and WTF?!

The WALL is protruding...protrudes out like a wave, right where the noise is!
What in the world is that?

So for the past hour I've been reading about squirrels, rats, animals in the walls and how they eat wires and urinate on the insulation and eat it and all. I'm so pissed off and afraid. I've lived in houses all my life and have owned several...Never knew about any mess like this.

I don't think its a rat or rats (I pray!) because don't I hear scurrying, squeaking or rustling, it's more like a tapping, knocking sound.

If it's a squirrel, can it eat through the sheet rock?

Can it bust through the wall?

Anybody know who I can call?

I'm afraid of whatever it is getting into my house.

I'm afraid of what it will cost me to cure this problem as well.

Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[ali&ajsmom]

I live out in the country in an old farm house and I get mice in my walls and what seems to help us is I went out and bought something that you plug into an electric outlet and it emits a frequency that rodents can not stand. It only took a few days for me to stop hearing the scratching in the ceiling and in the walls. now if I could just keep them out of the house in the winter that would be even better. I have cats, dogs and mouse traps. I did think about getting a ferret because they are supposed to be better mousers than cats but then I would have to get rid of my thing that I plug into the wall. GOOD LUCK!

[Threerun]

When I was a kid we lived in an apt for a short time and we had squirrels in the walls. They'd run back and forth, back and forth..

They (the maintenance guys) had to shoot them with a pellet gun when they came out from under the eaves to get rid of them.

[mawipafl]

If the sheetrock is protruding, it might be a squirrel who's brought in so much nesting material that the pressure of it is pushing against the wall. Or it could be a raccoon.

The only solution I can think of is a messy one: take the sheetrock down and be prepared for what's behind it.

[jm24]

We fought this problem for years (we live in an older house in the city). In our case it was rats tapping, chewing, and scratching behind the walls, leaving droppings in the attic. It was disturbing our sleep and driving us nuts. We tried numerous exterminators, traps, sticky traps, the electric device that emits a sound and a flash, bait stations, and all were a waste of money. I finally got desperate and called the city to find out what they could do to help (I know this is a problem in cities, and I figured I couldn't be the only one having this problem). They were surprisingly very helpful, told me what to do and what to get.

We now go to the co-op about once a year to buy a box of these little bags of pellets (active ingredient is brodifacoum, though there are others; and the brand name is different each time we buy it). You toss them in the attic OUT OF REACH OF PETS & CHILDREN (you don't open the bags or touch the poison) and let the pests chew into the bags and get at the poison. If it is rats, she also told us to keep standing water to a minimum, no birdfeeders, pick up dog poop regularly (we have 3 dogs and pick it up several times a day), among other things. I am happy to report that the combination of all of the above works great for us.

You might also try googling 'how to get rid of rats' (or squirrels); you'll find plenty of info. I hope this helps.

[nanannie]

We had racoons. We thought it was "a" squirrel and called wildlife rescue. They set a trap, and one at a time for a week ,four huge 'coons were trapped leaving the roof area from a very small opening they had made. Upon inspection they discovered not much damage/droppings , so a major cleanup,removal of insulation,repairs ($$) etc was not needed. They told us often,if their escape route is closed off and they cant get out, they will knaw/claw right through your ceiling to get out. It was about 75$ per animal.

[Padgett2]

Sounds familiar to me. We had moved into this old house and we would hear banging and other noises at night in one bedroom. After months of not being able to find the source, we decided that maybe it was something to the Haunted House theory.

One day, I pulled off the panel in the closet that allowed access to the plumbing to the bathtub, there to my surprise, were a pair of shiny eyes. An opossum had crawled up the pipes and made a good sized home between the tub and the bathroom/bedroom wall. We waited until dark when he went out to feed, and closed off the opening to the crawl space. That ended that!

Anywhere there is a small opening, some four legged critter will find it and decide that it will make a dandy nest site.

[Hayato]

could be bees

[TFW46]

Hayatop might be right. I had that same problem (noises and bulging of the wall) with my bedroom wall, which was on an outside wall. I had to have a major portion of the rear of my house removed and several huge hives removed.

There's quite an interesting discussion on the eBay Home and Garden forum about a critter that was living in the attic/walls of a house. It ate the squirrels in the attic and the owner almost adopted it. It was a great source of entertainment for everyone reading that thread:
eBay Forums: I have a problem,does anyone know what ...

[GregW]

That e-bay post was a riot. For awhile I was wondering if she had a bear in the attic. Once upon a time we had a really big male house cat that would kill squirrels and rabbits and bring them back to the rest of the pride to be eaten.