While many common pests that make noise in your ceiling, attic and walls are nocturnal, some are diurnal, meaning they’re active during the day. When diurnal pests are active in your home, you might hear scratching in walls during the day or at dusk or dawn.
It’s important to know what to do if you hear scratching noises in your home during the day, and we’ve created this guide to help.
Why Do I Have Pests?
You may be wondering why your house has pests. Why did they target your home in particular and not your neighbors? There are several things that can attract pests to your home, such as:
- Bird Seed and Other Feeders: Food left out in the open attract unintended pests that can smell the food around your home.
- Garbage: Unsecured filled-up trash bags are a magnet for some pests.
- Overgrown garden: An overgrown lawn is an open invitation to pests that might then move from your garden into your house.
- Clogged gutters: Make sure to maintain your gutters. A clogged gutter attracts mice, birds, ants, spiders and squirrels.
- Gaps, cracks and openings in your wall: These are easy entry points for pests.
- Pet food: The smell of pet food is irresistible to many pests.
Identifying the Pests in Your Home
If you hear scratching noises in the attic during the day, your first step involves trying to identify the source of the noises if you can. The following list of pests and the associated noises they might make can help you determine what animal is making noise in your home in the daytime.
Birds
Birds can be pervasive pests that cause property damage. Bird droppings are corrosive and can leave permanent marks on your wall and damage your paint. Birds and bird droppings can also clog pipes and drains, damage your landscaping, make loud noises all day and otherwise disrupt your daily life.
To identify a bird infestation, listen for these sounds:
- Sign of nesting: If a bird is nesting in your home, you might hear chirping from chicks. You might also hear bird calls from the parents.
- Sign of movement: The sound of flapping wings inside your home can indicate the presence of a bird.
- Sign of damage: Birds caught inside your home might peck at walls. You may also hear the scratching sounds of birds attempting to escape.
Squirrels
The Eastern Grey squirrel and the Fox squirrel are two common and troublesome pests in the West South Central region. Fox squirrels are active during the day, while Eastern Grey squirrels are most active at dawn and dusk. If you hear scratching in your ceiling during the day or hear skittering noises, you may be dealing with squirrels in your home.
The tell-tale signs of a squirrel infestation in your home include:
- Scampering and scurrying sounds in the attic.
- Scratching noises in the walls and ceilings.
- The sound of rolling acorns and nuts in your attic.
- Grinding and gnawing noises.
Bats
Bats are nocturnal creatures, but you might hear them at dusk and dawn. Bats hunt at night and roost in your home during the day, so they will be the noisiest when they leave at dusk and return at dawn. Bats can make their homes in eaves, soffits, behind siding, chimneys, silos and barns and can cause a fair bit of trouble.
Bats carry diseases like rabies and tend to be unsanitary. They also leave a lot of droppings — called guano — behind. Dozens of diseases can be found on guano, including histoplasmosis, a fungal respiratory disease. If left for too long, guano can pile up to the point where your ceiling starts to sag, and you might start to smell it over time.
You can identify bats in your home by these sounds:
- Flapping and fluttering noises as they fly in and out of your home
- High-pitched squeaking sounds
- Stifled scratching noises
- A persistent smell of ammonia
Rats and Mice
Mice often take up residence in your home during the winter months. Rats can also squeeze through small holes and make their way into your home. While mice and rats are primarily nocturnal, you may also hear them during the daytime near their nesting site. Listen for scratching or skittering sounds in your ceiling. If you hear scratching sounds in your walls, knock on the area and listen. If the scratches stop for a few minutes before resuming, you may be dealing with rats in your walls.
Raccoons
Raccoons are also nocturnal, but you may hear them during the day if they are on the lookout for food. Mother raccoons are particularly active during the day in the summer or spring in order to keep up milk production for their kits. Raccoons may make many noises in addition to scratching sounds, including screams, snorts, purs and snarls. If you have raccoons in your home, you’ll likely hear them make slow and heavy movements or thumping sounds. Baby raccoons, or kits, often make high-pitched noises that sound similar to birds or kittens.
The Benefits of Calling an Experienced Wildlife Removal Company
When you feel confident that an animal is making noise in your home during the daytime, it’s best to call a pest removal service. You might think you can chase the birds out or get rid of a squirrel infestation on your own, but this is not advisable. When animals feel cornered or when they want to protect their young, they can get aggressive, which puts you at risk of injury or illness.
Leave wildlife removal to the professionals. A wildlife removal company has the tools and equipment to remove the creatures living in your home. Some are also fully insured, meaning they can even get into hard-to-reach places to follow the animals. Employees will have had special training that allows them to handle animal removal in a way that prevents future issues. While the removal process may take a few weeks, you can rest assured that the results will last.
Calling a trustworthy and qualified wildlife removal company will help alleviate the stress of animals in your home and provide a long-term solution that keeps you and your family safe.
Contact Urban Jungle Wildlife Removal
Now that you know what to look for and why these pests are harmful to your health and home, you can call Urban Jungle Wildlife Removal. Everyone we employ is college-educated and has a bachelor’s degree or higher in Biology or a related field. We offer the following services:
- Trapping
- Removal
- Wildlife management
- Cleaning and sanitation treatments
- Dead animal removals
- Insulation repair
- Removal of damaged insulation
We have the solution to your pest problems, and we make sure that our services are not a temporary fix but a long-term solution. Contact us anytime to find out how we can help you with wildlife removal services.