Strange Animal Sounds - Sounds Like They are Working with Tools! (mice, noise)

[nobodysbusiness]

Every night, recently, I have been awoken by what sounds like someone "working" under my house. It sounds like *whatever* is using some kind of tools . . . they are repetitive sounds - can't really describe them - sounds like they are banging plastic on other plastic - over and over again. It's really weird.

I found a couple of places where there is access to under the house where I put lemons (read that most "pests" do not like lemons. Well, these pests do like them - because the lemon slices are gone).

I suspect the critters are rats - the thing is that I can't imagine WHAT exactly they are doing at night with those plastic on plastic thumping, "working" sounds.

The way I have been able to get them to stop is by slamming my inside doors REALLY LOUD - this must scare them and they stop.

I wish I knew what they are doing.

I do have cameras that I guess I could rig to view them but I am not sure I could capture small black rats in the dark.

Any ideas?

[Charlie&Rose]

Maybe it would help to know what part of the country you live in. Different places have different critters,

[pikabike]

As marcandme said, we need more info.

What area of the country, and what kind of environment is the house in (forest, prairie, desert, shoreside, etc)?

Also, have you noticed any smells? Skunks can leave a scent even without spraying. Other animals collect food that might be rotting. Urine smells might offer a clue as to which species it is.

Does the house have a basement, slab, or crawl space?

Have you looked for holes or other entryways? Mice need barely any opening to get in.

Have you seen animal tracks around the house?

I once kept hearing sounds in a place we rented while having a house built. The first one was large and growling inside the wall after I kept banging on it—Packrat. Later on, I heard faint high-pitches squeaking and found droppings inside—Mice. Still later, I heard occasional noise inside a different wall and the sound of something running from there close to the pellet stove. Upon examining the outer perimeter of the house there, I noticed an opening in the foundation, plus a ventilation or other pipe practically lying on the dirt. I knew a cat had been hanging around that side and figured a chipmunk had run into the pipe and from there into the wall. I plugged both the foundation opening and screened the pipe end. No more noise.

I do not know where the packrat went, only that it didn’t come back. But something had previously died either in that wall, or in the crawlspace. The stench was extremely strong.

The mice probably did die in the wall sometimes, but I also trapped a couple of them with Victor snap traps.

The chipmunk apparently only ran into the house to get away from the cat, and it must have run back out when I banged on wall and pipe, so I never heard it in there again.

[pikabike]

Carpenter ants, haha!

[nobodysbusiness]

Live on a creek on the West Coast.

The house has a basement.

There is not a perimeter foundation all the way around. Some areas have post and pier.

I have those criss-cross white plastic "things" (not sure what they are called, but I am using them to block off a section of the post and pier area) - so, in essence, animals can get under certain sections of the house.

I believe it is rats - I actually saw a rat scampering under another section not long ago.

The weird, weird thing is the sounds - it sounds like you would imagine Santa Claus' elfs cobbling - sounds like repetitive hammering of some kind - and it is non-stop.

There are no droppings or odors . . .

I don't know how I could effectively block them from getting into wherever they are "working," so I am hoping to find a natural repellent of some kind to keep them away. They respond well to slamming doors, but I don't want to get in the habit of doing that every night - and I also don't know if they are damaging something with their "work."

[petsandgardens]

Bats can actually run into things.

Squirrels will jump all around and may make the sound you're hearing.

Would a low light under your house dissuade the critters?

[pikabike]

Put a game camera near the area to see what is in there. That might help you figure out how to get rid of whatever the animal is.

Hate to say this, but we once owned a house that the previous owner/builder had put a secret underground room in (the building was built into a steep slope). We did not know about the secret room until I came home one day and found that part of the steep driveway next to it had caved in like a sinkhole. When I peered in, I saw pieces of lumber with expanding foam and electrical wiring. It was a pot growing room.

That explained the knocking sounds, growling, and eventually the skunk spray that had happened previously, fumigating the part of the building above it. There must have been two skunks fighting over turf. And they had been doing *something* with the wood to make the knocking sounds. I had gotten rid of them by loading up the place with mothballs, but at that time the room “timbers” had not yet collapsed.

[writerwife]

I'd say find out quickly because whatever is going on.. it's probably not good and some damage is being done somewhere.

[kitty61]

Originally Posted by nobodysbusiness

Every night, recently, I have been awoken by what sounds like someone "working" under my house. It sounds like *whatever* is using some kind of tools . . . they are repetitive sounds - can't really describe them - sounds like they are banging plastic on other plastic - over and over again. It's really weird.

I found a couple of places where there is access to under the house where I put lemons (read that most "pests" do not like lemons. Well, these pests do like them - because the lemon slices are gone).

I suspect the critters are rats - the thing is that I can't imagine WHAT exactly they are doing at night with those plastic on plastic thumping, "working" sounds.

The way I have been able to get them to stop is by slamming my inside doors REALLY LOUD - this must scare them and they stop.

I wish I knew what they are doing.

I do have cameras that I guess I could rig to view them but I am not sure I could capture small black rats in the dark.

Any ideas?

Haunting?

Instead of trying to remedy this your self why not call an exterminator to investigate this before you call a ghost hunter?

[nobodysbusiness]

Don't think I said anything about a "ghost hunter."

I just prefer natural solutions to repel the critters - don't want to hurt them. Not into killing.