We have heard something digging/scratching in our bedroom wall at night. I expect it's a rat.

Any suggestions on how to deal with this pest?

Not with poison, don't want it dying in your bedroom wall. I'd set out some rat traps under the house.

What kind of roof?

And if you set traps in the heating ducts tie em off with a piece of wire so you can reel em in.
My neighbor learned that the hard way.

Edit.....he's disabled so his wife actually learned that the hard way.
He said she wasn't the least bit happy when she came up out of that crawl space.

Shotgun...

Possibly a mouse trapped in the wall. If so, the scratching soon stops and the smell begins. It goes away after a couple of weeks.

Yes. A tethered trap. If one is in pack rat country, they are husky enough to cover some ground when they get bitten by one of the Victor snap traps. They're also large enough that the decaying stink can hang in for some time.

Good luck.

Almost surely a rodent. If you can locate the EXACT place where the scratching is happening and REALLY want it over with, and if the material is drywall, you can carefully cut a hole large enough to insert a well-baited trap (peanut butter is good) and tape the cutout section back into place until you catch the critter. Should not take even 24 hours. As someone said, be sure to attach a tether to the trap. When the deed is done and trap/rodent removed, you can glue a splint to the back of the cutout, glue the splint to the inside of the wall, and refinish the cutout spot.

Ya, peanut butter if its a bush rat, smart little buggers, I took out 2 of them, one I trapped with one of those giant mouse traps. The other I waited in ambush till I heard him moving around then poked the pellet gun in a crack in the door,, and lung shot him...
177cal pellet...range...10ft...ran 2ft and piled up.

Probably a colony of carpenter ants on the move.

A mouse got in and can't get out. Had one keep me up all night scratching a couple weeks ago.

Our 'pet' woodpecker suddenly doesn't sound so bad...

If they are in the wall or ceiling it's unlikely they got lost. Likely nesting or fixing to. Probably entering through roof vent. Set traps on roof if you don't want to cut drywall. They generally go out and forage each day or every other day....

I hear that! Had one at our camp one year a big bastard that just loved to hammer on the tin roof at 5 am! Same with an old girlfriends house, little bastards had me replacing cedar shakes for weeks..

what? no trophy pics?

Most likely a mouse or rat doing what mice and rats do but birds can get trapped inside of attics, basements and wind up inside of interior walls where they can't get out too. Sometimes other critters such as bats have been known to too.

If the 'digging/scratching' only happen at night my guess is what ever it is isn't 'trapped' there.

I believe I would start out with setting a few ordinary rodent traps around in some areas where they would likely be traveling to feed and give it a week or so.

If there is an electrical wall outlet in or near where the scratching is coming from you might could put a small mouse trap inside the wall through there and hopefully avoid having to cut a hole through your drywall.

If its a mouse or rat it may already have or preparing to have a litter. If it already has a litter inside the wall you may have to cut an access hole to remove them anyway.

Consult with an exorcist. Sounds like you have an oppressive demonic spirit lurking in there.

Neighbor with a Go pro?

Did he leave a good blood trail ?

Google roof rats. That's what you got, since it's moving (and nesting) at night.
Google roof rat prevention. Seal off every part of your house, they only need a 1/4 inch space to get in. Make sure your gutter spouts have the hardware cloth type insert (Home Depot or Lowes) so they can't crawl up and into your gutters and chews through your facia board.

Once they leave a trail (they piss and crap non stop as they go) they keep coming back.

Good luck, you're gonna need it.

No kidding I had this happen in the insulation above my bedroom. I almost asphyxiated my self trying to get rid of them......

If you have or have access to a fiber optic work or bore scope you might could drill a small easily repaired hole in the wall where the noises are coming from and actually see exactly what what you're dealing with and go from there.

Flying squirrels were our 'inside the wall problems' in Florida. Not sure if you have them there.

His walls will be insulated and good luck seeing anything if this is the first sound he's heard...

Let the critter do their thing and get them when they do...

I'd bet on it being a bat. Amazing the small space they can squeeze through.

I guess if the noises are coming from an exterior wall or if their bedroom was added on it probably would be insulated but if the wall is an original interior wall between rooms they usually won't have insulation.

Yes - I made an erroneous assumption about where most bedrooms are located (like my bed!). You are obviously correct.

I want to know if it over-penetrated!

Ed

Yup! Freakin' squirrels keep me busy. I've caught a couple with a roof trap and have yet another chewing on something.

Think this one is on the chimmney wall right beside my upstairs bed. Freaks me out about 5 in the morning. I know that little chyt is chewing on the wires. Hope he fries!!

You need at least a .300 WSM with a 6' twist and it better shoot 1/4" groups at 200 yards or you need to get a better rifle. I would load no less than a 220 grain bullet. Don't pay attention to published data, keep adding powder until the bolt sticks and has to be pounded open, then back off 0.5 grain.

No exit wound=no blood trail...I wouldn't go any heavier than 177cal as it could get messy and nobody needs that. No pics but it was a cranker, it had fruit, small apples and plums stored everywhere so I had to find the stashes and get rid of them as they were ruining stuff. The other bush rats must of seen what I done as they have moved over to the neighbors 3 doors down, they dont wanna phuock with me.

Critter sounds like the Greater California Chupacabra, not particularly related to our Arizona variety. Walk out on the back porch and fire off two rounds from your shotgun, that will scare him away.

Seriously, I had a real pack rat problem last summer, tried all kinds of traps and poison, no joy, finally used a Havahart live trap baited with some dried fruit, caught him in less than 12 hours.

lol I too loved the pic he painted with words


Goin mouse hunting? Use enough gun !

I rented a 130 yr old house in college with a bunch of guys. One of the guys kept a snake which promptly escaped. Boa constrictor iirc. We found it alive in a stud wall two years later...it was well fed.

Our problem here is damn chipmunks. I've declared an all out war...ROE have been suspended. They undermined my 7 step, 8' wide cement porch. Damn thing fell 2". Needed the cement company to inject cement hydraulically underneath to jack it up. $1200 pissed away on the little bastards. They chewed my garage door seal as well. Replaced it and put on some cayenne pepper impregnated silicone. Found a bunch of dog food stashed in my dress shoes. We don't have a dog. Spent an afternoon with a couple cans of spray foam and steel wool filling every hole I could find on the exterior and basement. So far, so good..fingers crossed. I will escalate hostilities without compunction.

http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/GQUAAOSw4DJYmSYA/s-l225.jpg

We have a few at our hunting cabin, though not many.
The guys got pretty good with these, and treat any mouse appearance as impromptu target practice. There are several of these weapons scattered around, and very few escape.

Where I've been, for goin' on 25 years now, a protracted battle with small mice, Packrats, and the Az. Ground Squirrel, are to be pretty much assumed, and arming up / learning to participate is just part of living well here.
Won't go into invertebrates with exoskeletons,...that's for some different thread.
We're more than ever before, "A mobile society".
A friend and neighbor operates a small and very successful second gen. mom and pop towing company,.... everything from a big recovery truck to little wheel lifts. His "Roll Back" moves a lot of these "pods" to their final spots, after the long haulers drop them at the depots along I-10.Part of the delivery protocol is asking the recipient to break the seal and verify content ....
I was asking him whether he and his family were seeing something I had never had a problem with before ,.....Brown Roof Rats, and Norway rats. He perked up and related several different instances of seeing these "pods' opened and having a fat rat jump out and beat feet into the nearest cover,....Cockroaches, too. In the case of the Norways, the exponents of multiplication from ONE pregnant female are staggering, and hard to believe.

I think Greg W's advice about working that roof for starters is a good one,....get the bastids before they get a foothold.

A SOLID rodenticide program, once in place will let you back away from trapping, at least that's been the case here.

GTC

Conrad,

I grew up in Monte Sereno, and went to Los Gatos High. What you most probably have a problem with is "Wood Rats". They are very common in that area. Outdoors they create a house for themselves by making a pile of small sticks, maybe three feet wide and two feet tall. You may have seen these stick piles. They are also happy to move indoors into walls and attics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushy-tailed_woodrat,

The pest control outfits in your area deal with these everyday. I don't know for sure, but I bet they put out bait boxes.

Another possibility is squirrels. If they can get into your attic they will try to fill it with acorns if you have oak trees. From living in your area, those are my best guesses. Good luck.

We have two owls on the payroll now. I think they ate the cats as they went missing. Rats and mice have all but disappeared here now...

I vote for flying squirrels. At least one species of flying squirrel is very small, and can get in surprisingly small holes. We had mystery animals in the attic of a house surrounded by trees years ago. I went around and around with binoculars looking for where something could get in. the soffit vents and gable vents were screened, but I finally saw a hole in the corner of every gable vent about the size of a quarter. I put heavier screen over them that they couldn't chew through, but we were still hearing them.

I went up on the roof and found that a section of ridge vent had come loose and had a gap of just about a half inch they could get under. Screwed it down tight and we never heard any more varmints in the attic.

Thanks - forgot about those ever-prevalent Chupacabras. Probably the culprits.

I know a guy who had red squirrels get in his deer camp, said they love to chew wires, etc.

A former coworker's wife was laid-up with medical issues and couldn't drive her almost new sedan most of that winter so it stayed parked in their garage. Come spring she had pretty much recovered and was allowed to drive again so she tried starting her car but no luck. Her husband popped the hood and found mouse and/or rat nests, insulation chewed off wires, with some chewed completely through, inside the engine compartment and through into the dashboard. Wound up having to be towed to a dealership and get some of the wire harnesses replaced.

And Im sure the insurance company wouldnt cover the damage...

Buddy had that happen on his GMC Acadia. Seems the varmits chewed through $1750 worth of electrical systems. He said GM uses peanut oil to lube the wiring. Smart.

I don't remember if he ever said their insurance covered anything on getting it repaired or not. IIRC, her car was either a early '90s Crown Victoria or Mercury Grand Marquis and was pretty close to new at the time.

Burn the place down and collect the insurance. 🐀🐀🐀

Wood shingles.

Recently had the same problem....little SOB....

was in an interior bedroom wall...most active at night..of course

tried drilling a 1/4" hole in sheet rock above the noise...then

sprayed a can of rodent foam insulation in the wall cavity...the

noise stopped...then filled the hole with a self tapping sheet

rock anchor screw...also set a trap in the attic access...used

peanut butter..caught one mouse.....set some Tom Cat

bait..they have been chewing on it..walls have been quiet...

Knock on wood.............

It's in an original interior wall that I expect doesn't have insulation.

Burn house down. You get him for sure.

We've been in this house for 21 years. On 2 occasions, we've had a mouse inside a bathroom vent fan. I have yet to figure out how they got in there as it's just a pipe from the fan to the roof. Everything's metal and I can't find any holes. I've wondered if they got on the roof and climbed in the roof vent.

"I've wondered if they got on the roof and climbed in the roof vent."
They will do this - and will find it easier if a low hanging tree branch is touching the roof.