Your attic is warm, cozy, and safe: it’s the perfect home for many animals. In fact, there are many types of animals that could be living in your ceiling.
Most commonly, homeowners and cottage owners will become aware of a potential critter in the attic from hearing noises above the ceiling. If you’re hearing digging, walking, thumping, scratching, gnawing, or vocal cries, chances are you have an intruder in your home.
Here are the most common animals that could be living in your ceiling and how to identify them.
1. Squirrels
Squirrels are the most common critters to invade attics. They chew their way in and then keep chewing once they get in, making a lot of damage along the way. Most often, if you have squirrels in your ceiling, it’s a mother who needs a safe place to give birth and raise her babies.
Squirrels are diurnal—they’re active during the day. So if you’re hearing noises in your ceiling during the day, particularly in the morning or evening, it could be a squirrel. But squirrels aren’t heavy, so instead of thumping, they’ll usually quickly scamper.
Though noises can come from any part of the attic, squirrels tend to stay near the edge of the roof, so that’s where you’re most likely to hear them. However, you might also hear them scurrying up and down your walls, too.
Squirrels give birth in late January and raise their young until about March, and then again in early August, in which you’ll hear the young running around until September.
2. Raccoons
Raccoons are also very common attic dwellers. They’re agile climbers and they’re also very smart and curious, so they’ll get into your home if they’re determined to. Just like with squirrels, it’s usually female raccoons that make their way indoors in order to birth their young and seek out a safe place from their babies.
Raccoons are nocturnal, so you’ll hear them at night—soon after the sun sets or right before it rises. Because raccoons are large—they can weigh over 40 pounds—their noises will sound heavier than the light scampering of squirrels. Raccoons also make a lot of vocal noises, like chattering and growling. Raccoons are animals that could be living in your ceiling at any time of the year, but the most common time of year is spring.
3. Rats and Mice
Mice and rats are commensal rodents—they associate with people instead of the wild. So it’s quite common for them to live inside buildings, like in your ceiling.
Light but fast scurrying noises in your attic or walls could indicate you have rats or mice living in there. Mice and rats are a big problem for homeowners, and unfortunately, you can expect them to be inside your home 24/7/365.
4. Bats
Bat colonies want to roost in a safe, dark place. If a cave isn’t available, your attic will do just fine. Bats like to stay in the same place year-round if possible, and they live a long time. Sometimes, they’ll migrate and return in the spring or summer.
If you only have a small number of bats in your attic, then they’ll be relatively quiet—so you might not notice any noise at all. However, if the colony has grown over time and you have a swarm of thousands of bats in your home, expect to hear a ruckus. You could hear them crawling, flying, and squeaking.
5. Opossum
Though opossums might not be your first thought when you hear something in your attic, they’re definitely included in the list of animals that could be living in your ceiling. They’re great climbers and have opposable thumbs, making it easy for them to get in. Again, it’s most likely a female opossum and her young that you’re hearing in your ceiling, though some adults will den together as a group in the winter.
Opossums are slow, so their noises will sound like a slow, heavy animal walking around. However, they’re actually relatively quiet. The most common times of year for these critters to enter your home are May and June, and December and January.