Critter trapped in the walls

[AncientHouse]

Hi there,

Since it's starting to get cold we went around the exterior of the house and spray foamed any holes. On the 2nd floor there was a fair sized hole that we filled. Unfortunately, we must have trapped something inside. Now on the 2nd floor in between the floor and the 1st floor ceiling there is a scratching at night. It's always in the same place (near the linen closet). It's been over a week. I would have thought it was too long for it to be trapped and still live. We have bats in the eaves and outer part of the attic but this noise is different. More of a scratching and much louder that it wakes you from a deep sleep.

Any ideas or has anyone else trapped a critter in. We figure it is probably a squirrel or a mouse because sometimes we'll hear it run but it always ends up at the same place scratching.

[img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[egon]

Chances are when the scratching stops you will have an obnoxious odour permeate one or more rooms!

Egon

[AncientHouse]

That's what I'm afraid of. There is actually an opening on the other side of the attic where the bats get out but it would have to find it's way there. The only other way would be to cut a part of the drywall in my kitchen ceiling but I don't think my husband likes the idea of having to patch it especially because the critter will probably run to another area. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[NSbound]

I had a similar situation and it ended up being squirrels. I called in a critter removal specialist and he re-opened the hole we surmised they were using and installed a "one-way" doorway-gate thing. It was made out of a wire mesh that would allow the squirrel to squeeze out but going in, it would poke him and he wouldn't go in. A few days later we re-sealed the hole and he was gone! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Finally, was able to sleep through without the middle-of-the-night scratching!! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[rozett]

We have a 200 year-old house and we have this problem every winter. I'm sure these critters have been coming into the house for many generations. I have caught them a few times. I occasionally catch a mouse, but it's been mostly Eastern Flying Squirrels. I catch them in a wire trap and take them about a mile away and let them go.

[AncientHouse]

I put spray foam inside the opening. Would I use a drill to make the hole again through the foam or scrap it? I've always put foam in, haven't had to remove it. But I would definitely rather have it leave instead of have it die. It took long enough to get on the roof to seal now having to undo. Darn critters [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

[MarineJAG]

Since it's now the cold season... he (it) may not want to leave if you re-open the hole... in fact he may invite his friends!

[egon]

Think I'd open the access hole till the scratching stops.

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Before I retired I spent a couple years in a building that was built as a temporary structure during WW II. ONe day when I went in to our office complex I noticed considerable general messiness. Blinds of one of the tech writers were all akimbo and askew. Various folks had their desktops mussed. I figured it out.

The network guys were stringing cables in the overhead above 2x4 foot drop ceiling tiles. They left one partilly open where they were working on a Friday afternoon. We discoverd the mess on Monday morning. I found coon tracks in my office up a wall where Mr. Coon was exploring for an exit. Seems the coon had a hole in the wall out back where he came and went at will. Apparently he was walking around on top of the ceiling tiles and when he came to the partially open one it tilted and deposited him on the floor of our area.

I plugged the hole, and that as they say was that. The CO (Navy captain, equivalent of an army colonel) was amused when I showed him the paw prints on my wall.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Bird]

For a number of years my parents spent the summers in Ardmore, OK, in a house that was built in the early '20s, and spent the winters at Port Aransas, TX. Each Fall they simply locked up the house in Ardmore. The only attic vent for the house was an approx. 2' x 3' door or window on each end of the house. Dad always left those open in the summer and closed them before going south for the winter. But one Fall he forgot to close them. When they returned in the Spring, they found a squirrel had gnawed through a ceiling tile, fallen into the house, and obviously died of starvation.