<p>We’ve been hearing noises in our attic. We set a squirrel trap with some dog food as bait. Today we found the dog food gone, but the the trap hadn’t sprung. Does that indicate we need a smaller trap? I just don’t think it’s a mouse because of all the noise. H is trying peanut butter, thinking the “stickiness” will keep the critter in the trap longer, increasing the chances of it being caught. I think we need help.</p>
<p>toledo, mice can create a lot of noise. It could also be a rat. Peanut butter should do the trick, but make sure that the mesh on the squirrel trap will not let the critters escape through the sides.</p>
<p>Yes, you need a smaller trap. Try rat poison if you think that it’s a rodent (so long as it is unaccessable to pets & children). Otherwise what will you do with a trapped rat ?</p>
<p>Yes, mice/rats can make a lot of nice, particularly in the ceiling. We had one mouse, and I thought it was a monkey up there racing around. You could hear it crunching on things.</p>
<p>A few years back I heard noise above when I went to bed at night. H insisted it was squirrels running on the roof. I had my doubts, since it didn’t sound like squirrels running on the roof, and it was confined to a certain location/time of day.</p>
<p>We called a “critter” company, and they came out with a trap and used oatmeal cookies for bait. Came out of the attic with a very large raccoon who was too big for the trap/cage. They also sealed the place in the chimney where it was coming in/out every day.</p>
<p>I’m really glad it didn’t come crashing down through the ceiling into our bedroom!</p>
<p>If it is a squirrel, installing a one way door and sealing all entry points once it is gone is the way to go. You may need a professional to do this…</p>
<p>The two times I have had a problem with animals running around in the attic and walls, a professional animal person was very helpful, as they know the habits, the issues, etc. and how to keep them out for good.</p>
<p>Oh I know all about squirrels in the attic. I felt like Bill Murray in a prolonged battle to get rid of them.</p>
<p>There are two kinds. Little “flying squirrels” are about the size of mice. They are active at night, so if you hear little mouse-like noises in the middle of the night when the house is quiet, that’s a good bet. </p>
<p>The bigger gray squirrels keep normal business hours. They pack up and leave in the morning and then return to the nest around dusk. They are much bigger and much noisier. So, if you are hearing noise at 6 - 9 am, bet on the gray squirrels.</p>
<p>Getting rid of them is the same. First, you have to go completely around the house, identify, and repair/plug/cover all possible entry points. Very popular points are any screens over gable vents and places where boards meet on the gables. Hardware stores sell “rat wire”, which is like chicken wire with smaller openings. Very useful for covering holes, gable vents, etc.</p>
<p>Once you’ve got all the holes plugged. The exterminator rigs a one way trap door on the final opening with traps outside on the roof. The idea is to get the squirrels to go OUT and then, once they can’t get back in, seal up the hole after three or four days.</p>
<p>If you’ve got squirrels, there will probably be evidence of them having torn away fiberglass insulation in your attic. They use it to build nests.</p>
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<p>I would be wary of doing this because the animal could eat the poison and then go off and die in an inaccessible place (behind the wallboards in the attic, for example). You would smell the dead animal eventually, but you might have great difficulty finding it.</p>
<p>A glue trap might work. The problem is that you have a live trapped animal that you want dead. If that happens, I recommend a garbage can and a large chunk of dry ice; the CO2 will suffocate the animal painlessly. Freezing also works but who has a freezer that large?</p>
<p>Mice and squirrels, I can handle. If it’s anything bigger, I’m calling an exterminator. We had problems with racoons around our garage. Those things are really nasty, even when caged. I couldn’t imagine anything worse in the attic.</p>
<p>Glue traps are an incredibly cruel way to go. Animals often chew off their feet to get out, and even if they don’t, it’s a prolonged, horrifying death. </p>
<p>I live in NYC, so I have had to deal with all kinds of critters. There are live traps available - you just have to look - where the critter goes in a one-way door and stays in a little house with food. Then, you just take them outside and release them. Why kill an animal when you really don’t have to? </p>
<p>If hiring someone is an option financially, I bet there are companies/individuals who can trap the critter without killing it too.</p>
<p>P.S. Suffocation is NOT painless, which is why there is such an issue with it being used in euthanasia.</p>
<p>@Marian: Place the rat poison in a small cage trap.</p>
<p>I am also going to suggest a live trap. Please be kind to this critter.</p>
<p>A better idea is often this: get a company that finds the hole and puts a one way wire enclosure over it. The animal goes out but can’t get back in. After a while, you can take down the wire and cover the hole. No trapped animal.</p>
<p>This is often a very good thing to do not only for the animal but for you: imagine the animal is a skunk. You don’t want it spraying inside the house. </p>
<p>A problem with live traps is they will attract animals like skunks. Not such a problem in your house if the animal inside isn’t a skunk, but I’ve had to let a skunk out of a trap. Very carefully. I waited until he/she was asleep.</p>
<p>We called a pest control expert specializing in wild animals. He placed a trap outside the house in the path of the critters. We caught several this way.</p>
<p>If you’re trapping and removing animals in your attic, make sure you aren’t violating any laws—some communities have all sorts of crazy rules.</p>
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<p>No matter what you do you need to find the spot they are getting in, otherwise you’ll get get rid of one or two and more will find their way in. If you have a chimney, don’t forget about that. Going down the chimney is pretty easy if you don’t have a cap for it. Keeping tree limbs away from your roof is good for your roof and also good for keeping animals from using it as a staging area.</p>
<p>I had a great adventure with a critter in my attic last winter. At first I thought it was a squirrel on the roof (playing basketball, perhaps), but as time went on, I began to realize the sound was coming from the attic. It was entering through an air vent on the roof right above my bed and I also feared it might fall through the ceiling some night! I went several days without hearing it and called a roofer to replace the vent. The roofer removed it and could see where a critter had made a nest in the attic. He waited a while to give it time to get out, if it was still in the attic. I put a live trap on the ground outside, hoping to catch it if it came back and tried to get in the new vent. I did not hear any noises in the attic (nor did I catch anything in the trap) for a couple of days. I thought my problem was solved. Then I started hearing it again, usually at 1 or 2 in the morning. I put the live trap in the attic baited with peanut butter first, and then cat food. The creature refused to take the bait, but I could hear him every night. It was trapped up there for a week with no food or water. Finally one night, it was very active much earlier than usual, obviously trying desperately to get out. My attic opening is in the garage so I moved the car out, pulled down the ladder and left the garage door open about 6 inches. I spread flour on the garage floor under the ladder. The next morning, I saw the footprints leading out of the garage. Whew. No problems since. The footprints confirmed it was a raccoon.</p>
<p>Had a similar problem several years ago, it turned out to be raccoons who lifted up the edge of a soffit where it met the roofline. Had pros take care of the problem- crittters, contractor to repair/critter proof and renew insulation. Our homeowner’s insurance covered it. First heard noises in winter, thought it was on the roof, but waited until summer (instead of freezing it was HOT). Found out from the pro that raccoons dislike wasp/hornet spray- which he used as a deterrent around potential openings just in case they were tempted to try to reenter.</p>
<p>I recommend having pros take care of the problem unless there is an easy reason and fix.</p>