Something's in the Crawl Space...or the Wall... (Salem: houses, school)

[lottamoxie]

Thanks RaleighLass!

I just got off the phone with Trapper Dan's Wildlife & Pest Control (out of Apex). He said it could be a squirrel but upon inspection of outside, crawl space, attic, etc. they'll be able to better identify what's going on.

I made an appt for Monday. He assured me that whatever the critter is, it probably is not going to get in the house. Last night is the first time my cat ever heard something like that (and then I as well).

[lovebrentwood]

I had a squirrel get into our upstairs once. It ran downstairs and scared the kids and me, all of us half-dressed, into the driveway, one cold Saturday morning.

The exterminator came, inspected, and said that there was no squirrel in the house, and it must have entered where it came in -- a pipe that the previous owner had left open. I didn't think a squirrel would go back up the stairs and figured the squirrel was in the basement.

The exterminator said, no, there was absolutely no sound in the basement, and "Squirrels aren't that smart" that they could be so quiet when someone was looking for them.

I insisted he leave a trap in the basement. The next day, there was a very large and angry daddy squirrel in the trap.

Lesson learned: Squirrels are smarter than you think! They CAN hide when they want to hide!

But I think you have mice.

[RaleighLass]

Originally Posted by lottamoxie

Thanks RaleighLass!

I just got off the phone with Trapper Dan's Wildlife & Pest Control (out of Apex). He said it could be a squirrel but upon inspection of outside, crawl space, attic, etc. they'll be able to better identify what's going on.

I made an appt for Monday. He assured me that whatever the critter is, it probably is not going to get in the house. Last night is the first time my cat ever heard something like that (and then I as well).

Great! Sounds like he's got you covered! Good luck!

[LivoniaMi]

This reminds me of a place my fathers friend had in Michigans upper peninsula. It was a weekend type place, small and really old. Dirt basement. You could hear the mice running around up in the attic, in the walls and under your bed at night. Even had them run across your neck and blankets occasionally......lol.

[no kudzu]

we've had alot of bats in attics in my neighborhood lately. Don't know if they make noise but how else would you know they were there?

[lottamoxie]

I assume one would see animal droppings as a clue of critters in the attic.

[lovebrentwood]

I wouldn't want to pay someone or look myself for bat droppings in my attic.

These are bat droppings:

http://batnic.tripod.com/guano95w.jpg

They look a lot like mice and squirrel droppings. In the image below, on the left is mice and on the right is squirrels.

http://store.doyourownpestcontrol.com/images/uploads/tips/droppings.jpg (broken link)

Originally Posted by lottamoxie

I assume one would see animal droppings as a clue of critters in the attic.

[Nativechief]

Could be a mouse. I caught one one time in one of those new glue traps. When the mouse saw me coming after he got caught in the trap he TRIED TO IMPRESS ME BY DOING PUSH UPS.. I think did toomany and died of a heart ATTACK

[lottamoxie]

I will be listening for those sounds this evening. I've heard nothing today (and neither has my cat, whose hearing is more attuned).

[quietstormnc]

We had the same problem. I heard noises in the wall in my living room where the stairs are. We called the pest control service we use. They went into the crawl space under the house and said there was evidence of a mouse making a nest and they put poison down there. A few days later I had mice in my house, found one hiding behind my television one morning at 5 AM! We put regular mouse traps under the sink in the kitchen where we also found droppings. Then I heard noises in our 1/2 bath downstairs so hubby put a trap under the sink. We also saw a few baby meecies around too. Well we caught mama in the bathroom and after that the problem was gone and done with.