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How can you tell if it's squirrels or raccoons invading your attic?
My attic | 1/26/19 | Me, Myself, & I

Posted on 01/26/2019 7:07:07 PM PST by EinNYC

For the past few weeks, usually in the middle of the night, I have been hearing some kind of animal running around, scratching, etc. in my attic. I asked the maintenance guys to go up into the attic to have a look for damage, points of entry, etc. They went up there and reported no holes. They had put a small Havahart trap up there baited with peanut butter, but nothing was caught in there. I told them to remove that, as I didn't want anything getting trapped and then starving. I threw a bunch of bags of mothballs up there when they left.

This afternoon, at 5 p.m., I was sitting in my living room when my Maine Coon cat alerted. She jumped up onto the top shelf of her cat tower and then stood on her hind legs, allowing her to dab her paws against the ceiling. She heard something! A moment later, I heard a big THUNK! and then the sound of an animal dropping to the floor, in the attic. I banged around everywhere with the end of a broom handle, and then I didn't hear it any more.

Is this a raccoon or a squirrel? I have written emails to the management, urging them to get professional wildlife removal, but so far, they have not acted. I certainly don't want this thing having a litter of babies up there, as I know breeding season is just about here. A look around while standing on the ground has not revealed any holes, but there are solar panels all over the roof, and if the animal has chewed an entry hole under those, you wouldn't be able to see them just walking around outside.


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: attic; raccoons; squirrels; vanityepidemic
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To: Blue House Sue
Same with Dhimmicrats but they don't need to pee to make a mess! 😂
21 posted on 01/26/2019 7:18:55 PM PST by A Formerly Proud Canadian (I once was blind but now I see...)
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To: Ken H

I’ll bet the Dogs thought it was The Best Night Ever...


22 posted on 01/26/2019 7:19:56 PM PST by Paladin2
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To: marktwain; EinNYC
marktwain :" Could be an Opossum, I suppose. "

Oposums are nocturnal, and like meat (carnivors)
Squirrels nest with nuts (Herbavores)
Raccoons have invaded urban areas (omnivores)
Or possibly rats (omnivores)

The best tale-tell is by fecal droppings
An acquaintance of mine had similar circumstance in Texas,
and found the problem was 'roof rats'.
If so, it's exterminator time...

23 posted on 01/26/2019 7:20:29 PM PST by Tilted Irish Kilt
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To: Tax-chick

I can’t get up there myself. There is no stair that folds down. There is just a square opening in the hall ceiling, with a piece of painted plywood resting in the opening. To get up there, you need a full sized ladder, which I don’t have. I asked my very large, karate instructor neighbor to go up there and check it out, but he was afraid to do it! He helped me toss the bags of mothballs up there, but he would only move the plywood an inch or so to admit his hand before tossing the bag.


24 posted on 01/26/2019 7:21:25 PM PST by EinNYC (-)
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To: EinNYC
Throw your Maine Coon up there.

This is his job.

If he brings you a rat or squirrel, that is what is was.

If your Maine is killed, then it was a coon.

25 posted on 01/26/2019 7:21:55 PM PST by Deaf Smith (When a Texan takes his chances, chances will be taken that's fore sure)
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To: EinNYC
I told them to remove that, as I didn't want anything getting trapped and then starving.

Put the traps back and check them a couple times a day if you are worried about starvation.

26 posted on 01/26/2019 7:22:13 PM PST by KarlInOhio (Leave the job, leave the clearance. It should be the same rule for the Swamp as for everyone else.)
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To: EinNYC

Throw the cat up in the attic for a few hours. If you find a dead squirrel then you know. If you find a dead cat then you will know too.


27 posted on 01/26/2019 7:22:31 PM PST by Revel
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To: Ouchthatonehurt

There was a guy I know that had a guy living in his attic for some time. The entrance was in the garage...guy was helping himself to food stored out there.


28 posted on 01/26/2019 7:22:54 PM PST by gundog ( Hail to the Chief, bitches!)
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To: Larry Lucido

BADA-BOOM!


29 posted on 01/26/2019 7:22:59 PM PST by Ken H (2019 => The House of Representin')
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To: EinNYC

Game cameras.


30 posted on 01/26/2019 7:24:05 PM PST by gundog ( Hail to the Chief, bitches!)
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To: EinNYC

Had a squirrel problem in an attic apartment once, many years ago, with them nesting under the floor boards in a closet. The squirrels made the first horrible sound in this video over and over again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6y3moxAtXQ


31 posted on 01/26/2019 7:24:09 PM PST by Tired of Taxes (All CovCath Video Evidence: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3721590/posts?page=1)
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To: EinNYC

Do you think that maybe borrowing a hound dog for the task might yield an answer?


32 posted on 01/26/2019 7:24:52 PM PST by familyop ("Welcome to Costco. I love you." - -Costco greeter in the movie, "Idiocracy")
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To: EinNYC

Being NYC I am assuming you are in some kind of multi family
type structure. If so has others heard anything?


33 posted on 01/26/2019 7:25:22 PM PST by deport
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To: Pearls Before Swine

When I’ve heard this animal at 3 a.m., I heard it scurrying around and scratching. It sounded cat sized. It didn’t sound like a mouse. And the animal that went THUNK as it came through the exterior opening (wherever that is) and then dropped down to the floor was no mouse. That was a considerable THUNK. Considering it was 5 p.m. tonight and already dark, does that help with the I.D.? The maintenance men said they didn’t see any poop. I think they just didn’t want to be bothered, that’s what I think. So they were telling me whatever it took to fob me off. All they wanted to do was put that squirrel sized Havahart trap with the peanut butter in there and leave. After a week, nothing was caught in that trap, so I’d just as soon not have something go into it and then starve. That’s why I insisted they remove it. They didn’t want to, but I put on quite a demonstration of “I don’t want that thing up there!” and they finally relented.


34 posted on 01/26/2019 7:25:35 PM PST by EinNYC (-)
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To: Pearls Before Swine
First guess is squirrel. There’s a difference between the thump of an 8 ounce squirrel and a 20 pound raccoon. Also, quick scratching, running sounds are rodent like. Mice are a possibility, too—you’ll notice them more when the house is quiet.

yep

35 posted on 01/26/2019 7:25:51 PM PST by kjam22
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To: Deaf Smith

I dunno. I had a chance to get a Maine Coon one time. Owners were getting rid of it because it killed the neighbor’s dog. Didn’t think my cat would appreciate it, though.


36 posted on 01/26/2019 7:26:18 PM PST by gundog ( Hail to the Chief, bitches!)
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To: EinNYC

What a wimp. Rent a feral cat, put him up there, problem gone in a day. A friend did this in his business and solved the problem. They are nasty critters, spit in your face when approached. Just a thought but there are many other approaches.


37 posted on 01/26/2019 7:26:44 PM PST by Fungi
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To: EinNYC

Coons ramble at night and squirrels don’t.


38 posted on 01/26/2019 7:26:57 PM PST by deport
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To: EinNYC

Borrowing a hound dog to visit the attack would yield some entertainment, too, if there’s a critter up there. Just be sure to turn the breakers off before letting it up there (because, wires and the like).


39 posted on 01/26/2019 7:27:02 PM PST by familyop ("Welcome to Costco. I love you." - -Costco greeter in the movie, "Idiocracy")
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To: marktwain; EinNYC

IIRC, she lives in Queens.
I’ve lived rural in WV now for 17 years and although I’ve seen plenty as road kill, I tell ya I’ve seen more ‘possum in the wild in Queens than I’ve seen here in WV.

EinNYC...Pls excuse the sentence composition. I’m not as sharp after sundown.


40 posted on 01/26/2019 7:27:22 PM PST by Roccus (When you talk to a politician...ANY politician...always say, "Remember Ceausescu")
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