Scratching in cavity walls - who should I contact first?

[pcdj]

We've recently heard a lot of scratching happening on our exterior walls which I thought at first might have been coming from outside, but I now think may be from inside the wall cavity.

Assuming my hunch is correct and we have rats, should I be going to an exterminator, a builder, or perhaps a drain specialist to get some CCTV down there and check for entry points first?

Unfortunately in their infinite wisdom the previous occupants built over the man-hole covers in my house so I'm not even sure where the drain access might be - possibly under the floor boards where the rear extension now sits - I certainly can't see any man-hole covers neither at the rear or front of my property. That's assuming they're coming in through the drains.

Last thing I want is for these to die inside the cavity wall and stink the place out so I think I'll need to establish where they're coming in rather than just lay poison.

 

[foxhole]

Could be squirrels? most likely entry path is from roof.

 

[pcdj]

Good point. It could be. I've certainly seen some coming and going around the garden, but not many.

Question is what should one do in this situation? If it's rats then I may have a potential fire/building hazard on my hands, but if it's squirrels perhaps less so.

 

[KenGMac]

pcdj, good evening.

Can I suggest the following??

1/. Get into the loft. look for daylight [switch off the lights first??]
if it is Squirrels they will need a hole in or around the roof to get in.
As an aside, Red Squirrels are "Protected" and cannot be harmed. grey Squirrels are considered as "Vermin" and can bt treated accordingly.

2/. If you know a friend or someone with a dog, especially a Terrier type [Jack Russel's ??] that are / were Ratters and as such on a walk around the garden the dog may??? become interested in some areas, they will be worth a second look as a possible "Rat Run" that may point you to an entry point for Rats.

Do you live in a rural or Semi-Rural location?

Ken.

 

[Tigercubrider]

Squirrels chew cables as well

 

[KenGMac]

I have seen it a couple of times where Rats or Mice eat the PVC outer covering on a cable.

Then they chew the insulation around the cables themselves, But they remove the insulation on opposite sides of the two cables. It is almost as if they knew that there was something there?? 240 volts ??

Ken.

 

[whall3y]

We've recently heard a lot of scratching happening on our exterior walls which I thought at first might have been coming from outside, but I now think may be from inside the wall cavity.

I'd think about moving house ...

 

[foxhole]

Mouse chewed thru my boiler cable once, required a rewire.

 

[mrrusty]

Scratching in cavity walls - who should I contact first?

...Ghostbusters!!

I'll get my coat

 

[bernardgreen]

Mouse chewed thru my boiler cable once, required a rewire.

 

[conny]

Just do what I did, when I damaged my mouse cable a few years ago, and buy a wireless mouse.