I heard a rustling?

[Salsa]

I was woken during the night by a rustling noise. It was in the area where we have a ducted heat vent. The vent is also right beside a wardrobe which was open last night and there are a load of large bags of clothes sitting right by the vent too.
My first thought was rat or mouse. This morning I have looked and cannot see any sign of droppings. Im guessing and hoping its a mouse, and not a rat! I figure a mouse could fit through the vent? But I have heard stories of rats coming up from toilets .DH jokes that it could be a big Huntsman Its a good condition house, no holes in walls etc. We do not have a garage etc... what do you think?

[nickle730]

A possum?? They can squeeze through tiny spaces and are nocturnal...

[Salsa]

A possum?? They can squeeze through tiny spaces and are nocturnal...

How tiny a space ? You know the vents (its the only place I can think of something getting in via) are quite small?We do have some ringtails that hang outside our bedroom playing on the roof, powerline and fence. I would have freaked if I saw a possum in my room last night!!! Though still rather that than a rat!

[~me~]

Do you have a tile roof? If the tiles move a cat can get through them easily.
Happend to us, we have cat curfews but not everyone abides by them

[briggsy's girl]

mice make a surprising amount of noise on plastic - so it's most likely a mouse. i would set traps near where you heard the noises. rats make a much larger amount of noise. i doubt it would be a possum to be honest - they are more likely in your roof. we live in the country and get rodents fairly regularly. i can tell the difference between a rat and a mouse in the shed by the sounds they make. rats are much heavier (unless it's an immature rat) and make noise to match.

we set rat traps when we hear noise - they will catch mice as well - mouse traps are useless on rats. we've had a problem with both in this area lately - the house across the road that had been vacant (apart from mice rats and possums) for zix years has finally been cleaned up to sell so the critters are migrating. thankfully, our cat is trying to help control the problem...

[thepixie]

Salsa I can sympathise - SOMETHING keeps taking big bites out of our bread - making a hole in the packaging and tearing off about a quarter of two slices!! I can't see any mouse/rat/possum droppings and I have no idea how it is getting in there... we have put the bread in a big stockpot now but far out! what is it? how is it getting in there? it's freaking me out.

[Nelle]

Mice are insane. You don't have the heating on do you? I wondered if maybe someone was trying to stay warm? Otherwise, I think that the sound would probably echo down the vents, so if a mouse was rustling against the outside of the ducting pipes, it's be pretty noisy.

We've used poison before...I try my hardest not to think of mice with personalities...darn all these children's movies that make me wonder what wifey mouse is going through...what Mr. Roadkill fox will do on his own....ah me.

[entreat]

I vote mice too.

I finally got DH to use bait after I found droppings on the window sill of the nursery. They are very fond of eating moths.

As for the bread - I'm certain they chew a little hole & then make an edible bed for the night!!