What do RATS in an attic sound like?

Disturbed by strange noises coming from your attic? Those scratching, scurrying sounds are unlikely to be a ghostly visitor from another realm, but are often the first sign of a rodent infestation.

Rats are attracted to attics as they offer warmth and shelter. A well-insulated loft not only keeps your home cosy but provides a warm haven for rodents. Rats are skilled climbers and can scale outside walls to reach the top of your house.

Once in the attic, rats will happily chew their way through cardboard boxes, bags of clothes, loft insulation and other stored items to set up a nest while chewing their way through cables and pipework. This in itself can present a fire hazard and prove damaging to water pipes and fittings.

Rats will navigate around the house by way of wall cavities, wall vents and sewage pipes. Not only do they cause damage, but rats carry diseases harmful to humans, deposit droppings and attract insects.

Listen up – What noises do rats make in an attic?

Rats are largely nocturnal animals and are often most active at night.

During the stillness of the early hours, the scurrying and scratching sounds made by rats can be quite unsettling. A rat infestation in the attic can make quite loud noises and be enough to keep you awake at night.

Rats will gnaw more loudly than other visitors such as mice. Rats’ teeth never stop growing so they chew incessantly to file down their gnashers.

TOP TIP!! If you hear what you think is a rat in your attic, simply tap on the ceiling in the vicinity from which you can hear noises, a rat will usually go quiet and head for refuge elsewhere in the attic until it feels safe enough to surface again.

Could the noise be something else?

You probably won’t hear rats chirping, squeaking or chattering as most of their vocalisations are at frequencies that the human ear cannot pick up.

Could it be another type of visitor?

Typically, the louder the noise coming from your loft space, the larger the animal who has made their home up there.

In the UK, it’s also common for mice and squirrels to move into an attic as well as other unwelcome visitors such as birds, bats and wasps.

You can rule these out fairly easily.

Birds and bats will flap
wasps buzz
squirrels scratch and make vocal noises
mice will typically make lighter scratching and nibbling sounds than rats

As rats can be extremely damaging, both to your home and health, it’s important to identify an infestation as soon as possible. Listen out for the tell-tale noises that rats make high up in our homes and take action as quickly as possible.