Scratching or Scurrying Sounds in the Attic at Night
Tools: flashlight, binoculars, ladder, gloves and a dust mask, phone camera · Materials: galvanised hardware cloth (6 mm / ¼-inch mesh), sheet-metal flashing and screws, expanding foam rated for pest exclusion, a one-way exclusion door sized for the animal
Steps
- Time and describe the noise: light scurrying at dusk and dawn is squirrels or rats; heavy thumps and slow movement at night is a raccoon; fluttering and squeaks at dusk are bats.
- In daylight, check the attic with a flashlight for droppings, tunnels in the insulation and daylight at the eaves, then walk the outside with binoculars for chewed fascia, lifted vent screens and gaps at the roofline.
- Do not seal anything yet: an animal shut inside chews out through the roof or dies in a wall. Sprinkle flour at the suspected hole and check for tracks to confirm which one is in use.
- Fit a one-way door over the active hole so the animal leaves and cannot return, and wait a week until the noise stops and no fresh tracks appear.
- Seal every other gap with hardware cloth and flashing screwed down — not foam alone, which rodents chew — and trim branches that reach within 2 m (6 feet) of the roof.
- Remove the door, seal that hole the same way, and bag soiled insulation wearing a mask and gloves.
Stop and call a pro if
- you suspect bats — they are protected in most places, have breeding seasons when exclusion is illegal, and their droppings need respirator-grade cleanup
- a raccoon has babies in the attic (spring), or the animal shows no fear of people
- the entry is on a steep or high roof, or the attic has chewed wiring
- there are droppings throughout the insulation — that is a decontamination job
Rules in the US: Bats and many birds are federally or state protected; exclusion is only allowed outside the maternity season and by permitted operators in some states.
Rules in the Netherlands: Vleermuizen en de meeste vogels zijn beschermd onder de Omgevingswet (natuur); afsluiten van een verblijfplaats zonder ontheffing is strafbaar.
What a pro does that you can't
A wildlife-removal technician identifies the species, evicts it legally and humanely, seals the entire roofline, and cleans and replaces contaminated insulation; an electrician checks any chewed wiring.
DIY cost: $30–90 in mesh, flashing and a one-way door