# Attic has alot of droppings



## wedge22

So I went up into the attic at the weekend and there were alot of small black droppinfs up there, I am guessing rats or squirrels. I was helping my mate install a ceiling fan for the bathroom and when we raised the insulation there were alot of droppings underneath. Is there anyway to know if they are coming back for the winter and if so whats the best way to deter them?


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## dac122

If the droppings were the size of mouse droppings like fat grains of rice, they crushed to powder unlike mouse droppings (note: wash hands afterwards), and there are shiny bits in the droppings, you are dealing with bats. The shiny bits are bug wings. 

Exclusion and/or removal are your only options for bats.


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## ocoee

If it were bats there would be a very distinct, foul strong and pungent odor that is unmistakable and the droppings would most likely not be under the insulation at the very least there would be piles on top of the insulation and the bats will stay close to their entry exit point

Rat poop is larger than rice and will be pinched at one end and will most likely have hair in it almost like a miniature dog turd but not much longer than it is wide
Mouse droppings are miniature rat droppings

They could well be large roach droppings like from an American or Australian roach
They will be about as big as mouse droppings but will be almost football shaped with rounded ends and ridges lengthwise
They look like a seed used in spices but i can't remember which one

Rat sized droppings that turn to powder when crushed could and most likely would be lizard but I doubt there would be so many

If you live in a rodent prone area in a house that has had rodent issues before and have done nothing to stop them from reentering
They WILL be back, there is no doubt about that

Use 1/4 in hardware cloth and foam and seal every crack and crevice larger than a dime, install door sweeps, seal attic vents with the mesh, seal all eave gaps, AC chase ways, electrical penetrations and ridge vent end plugs if the house has ridge vents

A typical house will take me up to 20 hours to complete and will cost between $800 and $1200 some have been as much as $3900 but that one took over a week


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## Wendelin

Wondered whether you figured out what the droppings were because I just encountered the same problem in my attic while trying to install a ceiling fan?


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## sssalas

*Get cats*

Get a house cat or two, that stay inside the house and are trained to use the kitty litter box and not in the attic!


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## dac122

sssalas said:


> Get a house cat or two, that stay inside the house and are trained to use the kitty litter box and not in the attic!


Controlling a bat problem with cats is very risky. Bats are common carriers of rabies and can easily infect cats. Most likely you would not know if a cat was infected because the bit marks are so small. 

Animals infected with rabies are very unpredictable. There is no cure for rabies if you yourself are infected by a rabid animal and not treated in time.


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## sssalas

dac122 said:


> Controlling a bat problem with cats is very risky. Bats are common carriers of rabies and can easily infect cats. Most likely you would not know if a cat was infected because the bit marks are so small.
> 
> Animals infected with rabies are very unpredictable. There is no cure for rabies if you yourself are infected by a rabid animal and not treated in time.


As mentioned by a previous poster bat dropping would not be found under the insulation. They hang upside-down and the droppings would fall on top of the isulation. So it's more than likely a rat or mouse problem. Even with mice, it's alaways a good idea to have all animals in the home vaccinated against rabies and other diseases.


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## Bugzilla

Could be squirrels or rats. If they were under the insulation, I would guess rats, because they like to nest in insulation. Place half-a-dozen baited snap traps around your attic and check them daily when you get home from work. Also, inspect for any openings where rodents could be entering.


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## pest control

without seeing the droppings its difficult to ID them as someone said before bat dropping will contain bits of insect difficult to see though without a microscope an easy test is to rub the droppings between your finger a bat dropping will turn to dust a mouse dropping will not mouse droppings are the size on a grain of rice. squirrel droppings are much larger and have a more rounded appearance. hope you get the problem sorted


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## mirrorball

*I also have alot of droppings in the attic*

Hello all,

I've been hearing some squeaking every so often, so I decided to check out the attic and I found a load of droppings. So this has brought be here to look for some answers. I've kinda assumed it's either bats or rats. With a strong leaning towards bats since I've seen bats fly out from neighboring homes.

Anyways, So this is the first thread I saw that was related so I figure I'll post and see if there are photo references which I can compare my situation to others. I've taken a photo, but it might not be detailed enough. I've read that bat droppings usually pile near the entry way and this was near the venting which I would assume is the most likely entry way. So here it is...
http://www.geocities.com/mflomirrorball/IMG_2661.jpg

Thanks in Advance,
Doug


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## jogr

mirrorball said:


> Hello all,
> 
> I've been hearing some squeaking every so often, so I decided to check out the attic and I found a load of droppings. So this has brought be here to look for some answers. I've kinda assumed it's either bats or rats. With a strong leaning towards bats since I've seen bats fly out from neighboring homes.
> 
> Anyways, So this is the first thread I saw that was related so I figure I'll post and see if there are photo references which I can compare my situation to others. I've taken a photo, but it might not be detailed enough. I've read that bat droppings usually pile near the entry way and this was near the venting which I would assume is the most likely entry way. So here it is...
> http://www.geocities.com/mflomirrorball/IMG_2661.jpg
> 
> Thanks in Advance,
> Doug


Mouse or rat droppings would not be concentrated in one place like that. I think you are right about the bats.


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## ocoee

That looks like bat to me
look up there should be some hanging 
Also there will be a lot of dirty smudges at the entry point

Rats are incontinent
They just poop 
It would be piled up at feeding stations or where they stop for awhile but it would mostly be along their runways


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## steve1234

so how do you rid the house of bats....the correct way? 

I found a big nest of bats in my house during a remodel. I pulled some siding off the house, exposed their hideout, then blasted them with a pellet gun and a full auto air soft gun. Got 12 or so, but a couple escaped from the kill zone. Sealed the house back up, and I haven't seen any since. 

Ripping the siding off the house probably isn't the most efficient method, unless the siding was coming off anyway.


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## dac122

steve1234 said:


> so how do you rid the house of bats....the correct way?
> 
> I found a big nest of bats in my house during a remodel. I pulled some siding off the house, exposed their hideout, then blasted them with a pellet gun and a full auto air soft gun. Got 12 or so, but a couple escaped from the kill zone. Sealed the house back up, and I haven't seen any since.
> 
> Ripping the siding off the house probably isn't the most efficient method, unless the siding was coming off anyway.


Exclusion is the only way to rid yourself of bats. Find where they are getting in, put in a one-way exit, and seal up in a few day. Excessive excrement indoors can be a health hazard.

In some locales bat are protected. Doing what you can to rid yourself of them in the most humane way benefits everyone.


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## SamA

hello
I see that this is an old thread but after hearing noises in the attic and checking it out, i fould lots of droppings. i took pictures and have posted them online and you could view them using this link:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v476/MrWolfboy/Attic/

i have written some comments for some of the pictures.

i am not sure what i am dealing with here
in the picture you could see some holes in the dry wall which seems to me as they have been punched from outside and the drywall was hanging from the skin. but the hole was not through all and there was a sheet right behind it .. so it is not making any sense to me at all.
there is a duct (you could see in the picture) that ends at the wall and there is no opening. however it is obvious that the dry wall around it is moldy and falling apart.
this is a fairly new house -- less than 10 years old.
i would appreciate any help or insight.

thank you
sam


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## boman47k

Sam, is the insulation piled up at the edge where the rafters go up? Small hole burrowed out in the pile. If so, may be squirrels nesting. I am having to deal with that now, and it about time for the little ones to be born. Some of those holes look like where the squirrels have been gnawing through my ceiling in the washroom.

I left some soffit open when I started siding my house. I am trying to figure what to do about this. Thinking of closing the soffitt with one escape area and rigging a one-way door trap. From what I have read, these things give birth twice a year. Early Feb being one of the times.

They can be very stubborn from what I read about reentering a nesting place.

I did wrap some used cat litter in some foil and toss the balls in the attic. Thought I had them gone for a couple of days. Not!

So I am here seeing what others have done in the same or similiar situation.

Kind of concerning when you think about the possibilty of coming in contact with a bare spot on a hot wire they have gnawed on.

I have had to replace a hose going to the pressure switch on the hvac once because they had gnawed on it. I have also seen gnawed on wiring. Squirrels, from what I have read, cause a lot of house fires.


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