Thread: Animals Inside Your Walls!

So, perhaps close to a week ago I started hearing a scratching/scraping noise. I didn't think much of it since my landlord had recently informed me that some construction workers were going to do some work on the building exterior at some point. But this continued intermittently for days. I've never had a rodent problem before. Every now and then I've had to deal with bugs, but nothing like this. And I've gotta be honest, it's starting to freak me the fuck out after noticing a few lumps on the wall the noise is coming from (sometimes it sounded like it was coming from the ceiling, but it's hard to tell since I have a large workstation in front of that wall) and seeing videos like these:






Holy FUCK!!

I swear to god, if I see one of those rat/mouse heads poking through my wall, I'm gonna thwack it with my hammer as hard as I can, hopefully granting it a quick death. I'm not sure what I'd do if a squirrel starts coming out. All my life I've found those little buggers so cute, but nevertheless, all rodents can carry nasty diseases so I wouldn't let one jump down from my wall and leave it to my cat who could also catch a disease.

I know I'm probably overreacting a bit, but I've always had something of a pest phobia, not a big one but it's there. So this is really distracting me at the moment.

That's my venting done.

I guess this was more of a rant thread than anything as I've bottled up this matter for some days now, but it's also for sharing your experiences if you've ever faced a similar problem.

Watching these kinds of videos of the worst case scenarios of rodent problems won`t help you. You're lucky to have a cat because rodents tend to stay away if you have a cat and/or dog in your home. Probably why it's staying in the walls for now. I do have a few suggestions to help you in this.

First, I suggest not using the poison at all for the safety of your pet.

Second, I personally use kill traps when I find a mouse in my house, but they do have non-kill traps that work too. However, that means you have to get rid of live rodents yourself.

Third, this one is an old farmers trick my grandfather taught me is to use cheap bubble gum and let them eat it. Mice and rats tend to gorge themselves when they eat and the bubble gum won't break down in their stomachs and it also expands to burst their insides.

Worst that could happen is that your landlord needs an exterminator, but I doubt it will go that far.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, those are some good tips. Yeah, for my cat's sake I'd definitely avoid rat poison. After reading up on the topic I also read that a rodent can eat the rat poison, then eventually scurry off and die and decompose somewhere unreachable, and quite literally is supposed to smell very strongly of death. (And if it's a big rat the smell will travel further and will take longer to stop.) Rotten meat's bad enough.

I think the same problem might occur if I gave a rodent food that will soon kill it since it's already in the walls. I can't even get a trap or food to it since it's inside there and I'm not sure how to go about getting it out. I did make some calls a few hours back however and my landlord will cover the costs of an exterminator. That's good news. It may well be a squirrel. It's been a really late night for me (in less than an hour it'll be sunrise) and I just started hearing the noise again before going to bed, so yeah, guessing it's a squirrel.

I don't think there's any way to go about it other than an exterminator if the body would need removing.

Yuck, I hope everything works out for ya. I've never had a rodent issue but when I was moving out of one of my past apartments years ago, I did see a few bugs. I had been gone on vacation for a month and arrived to move out of my place, I think they moved in due to the room being vacant. A lot of activity tends to keep critters away. Needless to say, I was happy to be moving OUT as I found the bugs and not moving IN.

Most homes and apartments have mice and or rats. Even the cleanest people. They often live inside the walls to keep warm but end up frying in the hotter months. I have them tunneled around the outside of my house. My cat can hear them in the basement moving against the bricks. Some have come in but only stick to the basement.

Originally Posted by KorinKitty

Most homes and apartments have mice and or rats. Even the cleanest people. They often live inside the walls to keep warm but end up frying in the hotter months. I have them tunneled around the outside of my house. My cat can hear them in the basement moving against the bricks. Some have come in but only stick to the basement.

In your case, I think it's because most houses in the USA are made of wood, whereas most here are made of brick, or sometimes concrete. Wooden homes are unheard of here, which is funny given our lack of storms/hurricanes. Surprisingly, rodents can get through brick or concrete.

Pest control visited a few hours ago and the results were unexpected. I was told that there weren't any rodents but there was an opening that was being used by a bird. Apparently there was a pile of twigs near the opening in the loft space. That would be right above where I'm sitting now. The conclusion was that a bird has been visiting every day to build a nest for her young. The noises will have been from the bird's claws that she scrapes while building the nest. Those must be some pretty big claws as it's bloody loud.

I'm cool with a bird hanging out for a while and protecting her eggs during these cold months. I just hope she (and her chicks) doesn't make too much of a noise once her nest is built! I'm much more relieved with this result than if there was a rodent problem.

Originally Posted by Mantis

In your case, I think it's because most houses in the USA are made of wood, whereas most here are made of brick, or sometimes concrete. Wooden homes are unheard of here, which is funny given our lack of storms/hurricanes. Surprisingly, rodents can get through brick or concrete.

Pest control visited a few hours ago and the results were unexpected. I was told that there weren't any rodents but there was an opening that was being used by a bird. Apparently there was a pile of twigs near the opening in the loft space. That would be right above where I'm sitting now. The conclusion was that a bird has been visiting every day to build a nest for her young. The noises will have been from the bird's claws that she scrapes while building the nest. Those must be some pretty big claws as it's bloody loud.

I'm cool with a bird hanging out for a while and protecting her eggs during these cold months. I just hope she (and her chicks) doesn't make too much of a noise once her nest is built! I'm much more relieved with this result than if there was a rodent problem.

Yeah over by you, older homes are preserved really well. I would much rather be in a brick home myself instead of a metal panel homes with wood. I live in an area that gets flooded a lot so that can be a reason mice hang out near the houses. That and there are farm fields within walking distances and half my backyard is wooded. We get a lot of critters like fox, coyotes, deer, raccoons, skunks, bears, etc. Would love to see some bobcats hangout here but they are rarely sited in this area.

Originally Posted by KorinKitty

Yeah over by you, older homes are preserved really well. I would much rather be in a brick home myself instead of a metal panel homes with wood. I live in an area that gets flooded a lot so that can be a reason mice hang out near the houses. That and there are farm fields within walking distances and half my backyard is wooded. We get a lot of critters like fox, coyotes, deer, raccoons, skunks, bears, etc. Would love to see some bobcats hangout here but they are rarely sited in this area.

I'm out in VERY rural Texas at the moment ( hence the inactivity on the forums. No internet). I just heard a coyote howl outside as i was reading your post!


I'm drinking a Lone Star right now and i tried to attach an image but it wouldn't let me on mobile.