Noises In The Attic – The Most Common Types Guide

If at night you notice some noises in the attic, there is a possibility that some wild animals may have invaded your house. If you learn some typical sounds of animals, you will be able to define which possible animals have become your neighbors. This will help you to understand what dangers these animals possess and how you can get rid of them.

Noises in the attic at night sometimes are not produced by animals: there can be noises of ventilation or some other household features. But still, we should be careful and check whether some animal is living in your attic. The sooner you notice the problem, the easier you will be able to deal with them. Thus, you will face fewer problems.

An animal in the attic, in fact, can’t be a good neighbor – they carry diseases, spoil food and water, destroy the property of homeowners, and can cause huge repair works. Animals in the attic can also hurt people physically if they think that there is some danger to themselves. Their bites can be rather dangerous and even cause allergic reactions.

Therefore, we would like to advise all the homeowners to study the question of what sounds can be produced by critters in the attic and to be ready to deal with the appearing problem.

Types Of Possible Noises

•       Thumping

Such noises can show you that animals in your attic are rather big, such as raccoons or opossums. They usually move a lot, shove and damage things and drag some heavy furniture or stuff. Other smaller animals also produce thumping sounds, but they are lower and more difficult to notice.

•       Scratching

Scratching is one of the most common noises. It can be produced by a large number of animals: raccoons, mice and rats as well as squirrels. These animals scratch for burying food or creating nests. You won’t be able to guess the size of the animal since the noise depends on many factors, for instance, the quantity of animals or the place where this scratching happens.

•       Rolling ball noises

The sound doesn’t appear often, but it can be produced if such animals as rats or squirrels roll nuts in the attic. These animals enjoy eating nuts, therefore, try to store them in big quantities and can put them from one place to another by rolling.

•       Vocal Noises

This type of sound is typical only for raccoons. Other animals and rodents in the attic including rats and opossums, don’t produce vocal sounds. Therefore, if you hear this sound, you can easily understand that there is a raccoon or even a whole family of them living in your house.

VIDEO THAT WILL HELP YOU: Noises In The Attic

If you want to know who makes noises in the attic and how to recognize the animal by noises that they are making in the attic, then watch this video.

Raccoon Noises

When you know what sounds are produced by different animals, you will be able to define which one has come to your attic. Raccoons happen to be the biggest animals that can invade your house so their noises in the attic are usually heavy and close to walking or thumping.

You also should remember that raccoons are mostly active at night, so the sound is easily noticed when it’s dark outside, but it also can be heard during the day. In addition to this, raccoons happen to be very vocal and like to produce a lot of sounds such as growls, cries, chirps, and many other types.

The sounds which are produced by small or even baby raccoons are very different and include chitters, vibrations, warbles and screeches. If you hear such sounds, you can be sure that raccoons have their nest in your attic. Try to remember the exact place where such noise is heard.

Rat Noises

Rats in walls and attics produce lower sounds than raccoons do, and their noises are typical for other types of rodents who can invade your house. The most common sounds produced by rats in-wall and attics are hissing, chattering, and squeaking. If you hear an animal in the attic scratching at night, it might also be a rat.

If you want to listen to the possible rat sounds, you can search in the Internet for “What do rats sound like?” or “What do rats in the attic sound like?” You will be able to find some records of rat noises.

You should always remember that rats in the attic can be rather dangerous for homeowners as well as their property. Roof rats in attic often happen to be disease carriers and spread diseases through touching water and food which is later consumed by homeowners.

Therefore, if you notice rats in the ceiling, walls or attic, you should, you should think of a way to get rid of them immediately.

Here we also want to answer the common question, “Do rats leave the attic during the day?” The answer is that rats are usually nocturnal, but sometimes they do leave the attic if they need to find food and water sources, especially if there are baby rats in their nests.

Another popular question is “How do rats get in the attic?” The answer is rather simple – rats use vent holes most often in order to enter a house. Rats are, actually, good climbers and can go through tree branches and come to the roof or the attic of your house. To read more, go to the post How to Spot Rodent Entry Points.

Rats also like to move inside house walls if there is such an opportunity since they can do it quickly and they won’t be noticed.

As for me, I have never met rats or other animals in my attic and I wouldn’t like to have any other invaders in my house since they cause a lot of issues for me and my property as well. I decided to prevent their coming to my house and have called for a specialist pest control company who has offered some preventive actions.

The snake will have a different sound, how to identify the sound of a snake, and how to deal with snake in attic you may not know.

This doesn’t guarantee for 100% that they won’t come but at least there are fewer possibilities.

Mice Sounds

What does a mouse sound like? We are almost sure that almost every homeowner has asked this question at least once or twice. Typical mice sounds include scratching, squeaking, scrambling, bumping, thumping and scraping.

Mice sometimes remind of rats in house walls, but they climb less quickly and have a smaller size, and leave smaller traces. However, they also can carry diseases and contaminate food and water also used by homeowners.

Mice enjoy living in attics since this place is rather quiet and isn’t often visited by homeowners. In addition to this, there are usually a lot of materials such as paper in attics, and mice use them to create their nests. They also like to use boxes in different ways.

An attic is also one of the warmest places for mice as well as any other animals, especially in winter. Attics are also rather convenient since rodents and other invaders can easily get to any spot of the house from it or go outside if they need.

How Else You Can Notice Animals In Your Attic

Of course, noises aren’t the only signs that animals have invaded your attic. They can be the following:

• Droppings – of course, any animal leaves them. The size depends on the animal itself. Usually, animals choose a special area in the attic for their excrement, or they leave them on their regular paths to food and water sources;
• A specific smell – if animals stay for some time in your attic, the smell of their urine can be easily noticed since it isn’t washed away by anything;
• Running tracks – usually, rodents and other animals choose typical ways and go through them regularly. There they can leave footprints and tail marks;
• Damages – animals can destroy furniture, insulation, papers, and cardboard. They also break electrical wires sometimes. Even small animals can leave noticeable tooth imprints on different stuff in your house;
• Of course, you can just notice an animal itself if it goes through its usual way without making sure that there is nobody around its root.

In Closing

So, we can definitely state that if you know how different animals sound like, you will be able to define which animal exactly has come to your attic. You should definitely understand it since the way you will deal with them depends on it. For instance, scratching in the attic is more typical for rodents such as rats or mice than for any other animals.

However, for most animals that could have invaded your house, there is a common plan to get rid of them. First of all, you have to find all the holes and cracks where animals can get to your house and seal them, then you catch all the animals and clean all the dirt left by the animals.

Of course, not all noises in the attic are produced by animals. but if you hear something, we recommend that you don’t hesitate to check and do everything necessary to deal with the possible problem.

If you have to deal with any animals in the attic, you can do it yourself in many cases depending on the type of animal. On our website, you can also find information on how to get rid of some animals in the attic.

If you are afraid or don’t want to do it yourself, you can call any professional company that will hold an animal removal from your attic. Just make sure that the company has all the needed certificates and licenses.

 We hope that this article has given you all the needed information, and if you hear some scratching noise in the ceiling at night, you won’t hesitate to call the critter removal service from your attic!