How to Tell If You Have Squirrels in Your Loft (Not Rats)
If you’ve heard scratching, scampering, or rolling noises coming from your loft space, it’s easy to assume rats. But across Newmarket and the surrounding Suffolk villages, grey squirrels are just as likely to be the culprit, especially once the weather turns cooler in September and October and they start looking for a warm, dry place to nest for winter.
Telling the two apart matters, because the entry points, the damage caused, and the safest way to deal with them are all different. Here’s how to tell which one you’re dealing with.
Listen to the Timing and the Sound
Squirrels are daytime creatures. If the noise stops as soon as it gets dark and starts again at first light, squirrels are far more likely than rats, which are largely nocturnal and tend to be most active from dusk onwards. Squirrels also move in short, heavy bursts, a scrabble, a pause, then another scrabble, as they carry nesting material or bound across joists. Rats tend to produce a steadier, lighter scratching and gnawing sound.
Check the Entry Point
Squirrels need very little room to get in. A gap as small as 4-5cm at a damaged fascia, a missing roof tile, or where a soil pipe passes through the eaves is enough. They’re confident climbers and will use overhanging branches or drainpipes to reach the roofline. Rats, by contrast, more often come up through gaps at ground level, cavity walls, or missing airbricks before working their way into a loft from below.
Look at What’s Been Left Behind
Squirrels build large, obvious nests known as dreys out of insulation, twigs, and shredded material, and they’re prolific chewers of timber and electrical cabling, often leaving damage that looks far more severe than a rodent problem of the same size. Rat droppings are smaller and more numerous, spindle-shaped, and tend to turn up along a regular travel route rather than clustered around a nest. Grey squirrels are also a non-native, invasive species in the UK, and government guidance sets out how they should be managed to limit the damage they cause to trees and property.
- Squirrels: daytime activity, entry high up near the roofline, a bulky nest of shredded insulation, heavy gnaw marks on joists and cables
- Rats: activity from dusk into the night, entry from ground level or cavity walls, smaller droppings along a set route, gnawing focused on skirting boards and stored items
Not Sure Which One You’ve Got? We’ll Tell You for Free
Guessing wrong can mean blocking an entry point that a squirrel simply chews straight back through, or missing a second access point altogether. Our technicians carry out a full loft inspection, confirm whether you’re dealing with squirrels or rats (see our guide on spotting the difference between rat and squirrel noise), and recommend the right fix, with no call-out charge either way. Get in touch with our team today to book an inspection.