Very loud, an animal?

[Lou1234]

On random nights I can hear a loud banging noise on the roof, yet I have never seen an animal and our bin bags are never opened. It seems to go up the wall and can sound scratchy. I live in a city. What animal could this be?

[tomd]

Could be a pigeon, they sometimes sit behind the chimney on my roof and always scrabble against the slates.

[natalie_1982]

That thing from Jeepers Creepers.

[New Forester]

Where are you? If in UK, I'd go for squirrels. If elsewhere, could be anything.

[undercovers]

BATS ! maybe

[Funsize]

Could be a mouse or a rat living in your wall cavity / loft. Always at night time when it's quiet, the mouse/rat will run up & down the wall because it is hunting for food then bringing it back to feed or make it's bed . The "bumps in the night on the roof" will be the creature(S) moving about. If the problem is internal to your home then you will find dropping in the loft insulation. You can buy a special plug which emits random frequencies to annoy the creature(s) & make it leave. It's pet friendly too!

[Lurker]

A job for 'Ghostbusters'. Seriously though, it does sound like rats. They can often get in between tiles and roofing felt to prey on unsuspecting roosting birds. When they jump, they sound like elephants! Both they and mice make scratching noises but mice don't often make loud banging noises.

[New Forester]

Undercovers - Bats may make small scratching and squeaking noises, but are far too small to make bangs. The largest UK bat weighs about 30 g, and the commonest about 5 g -- that's about the same size as a house mouse and a pigmy shrew respectively. Most people I talk to who have bats in their loft have never heard them.

[New Forester]

PS - if it was bats, disturbing them in the UK would be illegal. If you suspect bats, contact English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage, Countryside Council for Wales or the Department for the Environment, as appropriate. Similar laws elsewhere in the EU.

[Lou1234]

It is way too loud to be a bat, a large rat maybe but it sounds more the size of a person! Do live in the UK, but the confusing thing is that our bin bags are never touched. Surely the rat would get to that, it is only on the floor and the rat must go near it as security light is always set off. Thinking about contacting pest control, but is hard to as we don't know what it is!

[TommyC]

Why not wait until it happens again, then step outside with a strong torch...?

[pda]

check your neighbour out!

[Lil-Ol-Me]

I'm also having the same problem with a banging noise at night! The problem is I can't figure out exactly where the banging is coming from. I thought it was in my loft but when I got up there to take a look I couldn't see anything and when the banging started again it wasn't in the loft.

We do have a problem with squirrels where I live, and I had mice a few weeks ago which have now gone... no droppings to be found anymore!

Could it be the central heating system or water pipes? My boiler keeps going on lock out, but then the banging only seems to occur at night and early hours of the morning?? Next door has been empty for a while and the banging started when workmen started repairing it... my new nieghbours are due to move in any time now and I don't want them to think its me banging about!

Can anyone advise??