Beastie in the loft

[Mishtoon]

Hi,

We live in a rural area and have a 'beastie in the loft'.  We are trying to work out what it is.  We saw it run up a vertical outside wall, so must have sticky feet!  It was squirrel like, about the size of a squirrel, a bushy type of tail, greyish in colour and it moved really fast, up the wall and under the roof tiles.  We have heard it clomping about in the middle of the night.  Someone suggested it might be a pine martin but I thought they were bigger?  Any advice would be appreciated as we need to decide how to tackle our new lodger!

Many thanks,

Mel

[Betmont]

It's an edible dormouse. They need dealing with but are protected. there's lots of stuff on here already about them

[Jackie]

Lots of posts about this on LF and Total France sites. See Glis glis and Loir for your search.

They are a pain with their nocturnal runnings about and can damage insulation and wiring. I have caught 35 in rat traps over the last two years and they are still in residence. We don't harm them and take the traps to some woods a few kilometres away for release. Nothing I have tried so far deters them. Still experimenting with nasty niffs in the wall spaces, oils of various types, mothballs ineffective as are ultrasonic  boxes. They get on your nerves after a bit with their scratchings etc and if needs must poisons are available for Loir in many supermarkets despite any law about this. Don't want to go that route as the owls that prey on them would be at risk as well as domestic cats should they catch one.

If you find a solution please let us all know, you are not alone.........................John not Jackie

[Simon]

How to rid yourself of edible doormice? The clue is in the question.

Regards

Simon

[Ron Avery]

Jackie

They are not protected as such in France, even in the UK, you only have to have a permit to shoot them. However, I am not in favoutr of killing them, there are better ways, apart from them bring in your loft, they are quite harmless.

One cure I recommended when this was discussed before, had worked for a friend, and that is to give them their own medicine. They are nocturnal, so make as much noise as you can during the day, all day to keep them awake, bang on the ceiling, bang the roof, anything to annoy them, you will find after a few sleepless days they will soon seek a new quieter home. You should also try and block up where they get in after they go.

[Logan]

The best solution is to seal your loft. It can be done simply even in very old properties. Buy a roll of fine chicken wire and lay it around inside the loft under the roof eves. Tack it to the beams leaving no gaps or openings. That prevents the Loir entering or more importantly going out to feed at night. You only then need deal with the existing population in your loft. I tried all methods until finally poison rid us of the pesky vermin. You have to check occasionally and remove their corpse.  They are vermin, they leave their droppings in your roof, eat the wiring, insulation and even the wood joists. They also breed several litters a year. We now have peaceful nights.

[Mishtoon]

To everyone for your replies - thank you!  Very useful stuff especially advice re. chicken wire.  You live and learn, eh?!!

[Tony Moore]

Just caught up with this thread. I thought it sounded like a loir which is a squirrel-like animal that frequents the lofts of houses (we had one in our rented place a couple of years ago). They make an awful amount of noise and particularly like playing with the rest of the loir family at 2am!!

[Mishtoon]

Hi there,

Yes, now I have had more opportunity to watch them running up and down the walls, the tail is longer and thinner than I first thought and slightly fluffy at the end.  It has a white tummy.  Have looked at other websites on the subject of vermin in France and have narrowed it down to the loir.  Whatever it is, although it is pretty and cute it won't be staying in our roof permanently.  It's not so much the noise, rather the damage that concerns me.

Many thanks!

Mel