Hearing noises coming from your attic at night?
Unfortunately, in Chicagoland, it’s not an uncommon thing. The extremes of weather here, especially during winter months will send a lot of animals searching for shelter. They might just decide your attic is the perfect place to settle down to keep warm or raise a family
In this post, we’ll cover some basics on how to try and identify what that animal in your attic is.
Identifying animal sounds in the attic
Most common animals in attic
The two most common kinds of animals that will enter your attic are raccoons and squirrels. This is a good place to start because most of the time that sound is going to be one of these two critters.
Related: Common animal entry points
Raccoon sounds
If you are hearing animal sounds in your attic at night, it is most commonly a raccoon because they are nocturnal animals and thus most active at night.
Raccoons are often the loudest sound you will hear in your attic. They are the largest animal that will enter your home. It will make heavy, thudding, dragging, slower moving sounds. They will sound more like footsteps than any other animal, which can be frightening sometimes.
Related: Preventing Raccoons from Moving into Your Home
Squirrel sounds
If you are hearing sounds in your attic during the day, it’s probably a squirrel. They are typically only active during daylight hours.
Squirrels will make more erratic kinds of sounds. They ar lighter and will scurry and move around faster than a raccoon. Squirrels will usually stick to a schedule and so you’ll hear them moving around at the same time every day, usually around dawn and dusk.
If you hear one in the wall near you and bang on the wall, unlike some animals you’ll hear the squirrel run away from you.
Related: How to get rid of squirrels
Mice sounds
Being the smallest animal, mice will be much harder to hear. The saying “quiet as a mouse” exists for a reason. But it is possible you may hear them moving around at night. It might sound like a light scratching or chewing sound.
If you hear a mouse in the wall and bang on the wall, unlike a squirrel, it won’t run away. It will remain perfectly still for at least a minute, waiting to move again.
Related: The Differences Between Rats and Mice
Bats
You usually won’t hear a bat at night. They are in places where they’re not likely to be heard unless they are trying to crawl through your wall. In most cases you’ll see a bat in your house before you hear it.
Related: Bats in the attic during winter months
For professional animal removal services or attic cleanup and repair in Chicagoland call Attic Solutions (847) 464-1861
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