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noises in the roof space.


maude

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Hi Folks hope someone may shed some light on this.We have for the past 2 weeks only or so had some scratching and claw noises coming form the almost non accessible roof space above our bedroom.Dont know whether something is returning after the night shift or going out for breakfast!Only hear the noises at dawn just before daybreak-the neighbours cockerel wakes us at this time anyway.Tried knocking on the roof boards just to disturb "it" but nothing helps.At first suspected lizards-the bigger bright green jobs but have changed my mind about this.Cannot see anything  due to the loose lay insulation and cannot see any bats-another suspicion.Would like them to move on,so would apreciate any suggestions and /or possible solutions.I cannot see any obvious places of entry.

       Maude

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Could be a Loir, what we would call the large grey edible dormouse. Big bushy tail, nocturnal and eats nuts and fruit and looks a bit like a small squirrel. I have two humane traps baited with halved apple and have never been able to get rid of them completely. Each Loir caught gets a free half apple and a car ride to the woods a few k's away. I don't use poison as Owls etc feed on loir and could be killed as well, not to mention the risk to cats including ours. Ultra-sound puts them off but not to the extent that they all go and so do strong oily smells but again they don't all pack all their bags. Have caught up to 30 in a "good" year but only two and a rat so far this year so my blocking holes etc has had some effect. A lot of folk would be very pleased to know something that really works in getting them to go and live somewhere else.................JR
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It may well be the bane of our lives - a lerot.   We get them stomping about in between our ceiling and the floor of the upper bedroom sounding like they have army boots on, crashing about like you would think there were elephants up there instead of a little mousey thing.   We bought a humane trap and have nabbed two of the little bug***s since February using camembert and peanuts as bait, then they get a car ride to an abandoned barn several ks from here.   Be warned though - lerot are a protected species so I guess we ought to consider ourselves highly honoured they select our place to vandalise.   Pretty little things though for all the nuisance value!

 

this is the little devil himself.        [IMG]http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t285/moya011/IMG_1205.jpg[/IMG]                             

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We used to have noises in our loft from some creature, either a loir or a marten.  We were never quite sure but someone told me to chuck lots of mothballs in the loft as the smell put them off.  Actually that did work for about six months, then we had to chuck another lot in.  It's funny but when you see a loir it is quite small but when it is in the loft it sounds like a elephant on a pogo stick !
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We had a fouine (not sure I have spelt it correctly) similar to a maten. We never actually saw it heard it a lot and saw all the insulation it displaced around the outside of the house. As we do not live there permenantly it seemed quite happy to share the home with us. However last year we sealed the ouside eves off with wood and the builder worked constantly for 3/4 weeks on the outside walls of our house. Sinece then no sign of him/her.

It is possible it may have died and now 'lies' in our roof space but no smells so far.

I suspect it has just b**ged off for a quieter life.

John

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  • 2 months later...
If you type the word fouine into the Search box you will find a wealth of information on these attractive but annoying pests, including photos of their distinctive poo. Our loft was full of the stuff, together with hens' egg-shells and the remains of creatures brought back for consumption in our "fouine dining room/latrine".
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