I agree with Nate mice. Not only tunneling in the insulation they usually have trails in the insulation that run like the blood vessels in the back of your hand..right on top of the insulation.

Well I pulled the camera yesterday and had zero pictures. I had one when i set it up and one when I pulled it. I agree with yall, got to be mice. So this morning I gave them the exclusion package and report. So now its a waiting game to see if they want me to do the exclusions and trapping. one thing i know if they choose to do the exclusions, they have their hands full.

It's bats...kinda explains the no photos....scratching...

Post a photo of the droppings, so we can can see the evidence.

Not all trail cams are created equal, nor are cam setups. Do you have enough distance from your target spot to your camera?

I only ask because while most cams pick up tons of small critters even insects if you don't have a fast enough trigger, or enough field of view
with your setup, you won't get anything.

Spent a lot of time figuring this out for many years, the best camera can't beat a bad setup, just want to be sure you are thinking through
the distance from camera to your target critter, also if they are under insulation (mice or bats) you won't be triggering of course, so if they
hear scratching that is behind these other materials, won't help.

I'm with the folks saying lets see the guano, or better yet, did you (I'll say with a gloved hand just to be pc) crush any of the guano? If it turns
to ashy powder with a bit of pressure more likely bats, versus hard. (not to say some guano/droppings don't break the rule, but it helps.)

Justin

Be careful on your sealing. If there is a chance for Bats, I would put an excluder on the corner, and leave it until Bat's are active. I use a metal tube. If you use a plastic one, and it gets chewed thru, you can replace it with metal. Even if you don't find Bat guano, I would approach this as Bat's, I have had Bat's scratching. Just my 2 cent's.

Exactly. If you sell it as a mouse job....and the scratching continues...how are you going to handle it?

There is no guano in that attic that I can find. The only droppings I have found is from mice. Around the opening in the plywood, there are no signs of grease or stains like bats typically leave behind. There is just no sign of anything but mice.

I didn't think to take a picture of the droppings in the attic, but they were the size of small grain of rice. Colors were anywhere from black to turning brown. All the same size. I have pulled pictures of mice droppings off of the internet and compared to what I seen, it's mice droppings.

The camera I had setup about 10 feet from the corner where the hole is. It was pointing down the gutter, so anything that came out of the corner or down that gutter should have triggered the camera. That is if the camera is any good for that kind of critter.

Do bats slow down activity in your area?

Cannon, thanks for the description, I want to be sure I read you right, the camera was on the outside of the house on the gutter, looking toward that spot with the gaps? If that is the case are you getting any empty shots on the camera where it went off but no pics of critters, or just no pictures whatsoever?

I have actually put scoutguard (very fast trigger for as cheap as they are) right under bat roosts and watched the bats come out before and got nothing but 2 or 3 blank shots even though 300+ left the roost, from 6-8 feet away.

I know from folks in GA on another forum that while the bats slowed down with a peak about a month ago in no activity, they are now getting whole groups of 2-300 showing up in their bat houses for periods of 70+ degree weather.

Also, I have had two colonies on brick homes that left no body oil appearance whatsoever, not saying its bats, but while this indicator can be good, I've found it not as strong as others including odor.

How about underneath in the grass right below the exit area? Any guano in the grass, or droppings?

By the way, I'd agree your pics show you are really looking at this from all angles!

Thanks for sharing,

Justin

The only reason there isn't any bats in there is because they haven't found it yet, but its just a matter of time. That is if they don't fix the problems. It's only a matter of time before they have squirrels in the attic, she told me yesterday that she had one digging in the gutters. They have oak trees close by and with a tin roof, the acorns hit it and rolled down into the gutters. Now that all of the acorns are gone on the ground they are up there gathering the ones in the gutters. Suprises me that they haven't already found themselves a new home in the attic.

I've looked everywhere around that house and can find nothing as far as droppings on the outside of the house or the ground. The interior of the attic you have no smell what so ever, beside just a attic smell.

I have looked at every angle trying to make sure it isn't bats but there just isn't any sign of bats. Like I said earlier the only sign I see is from mice.

I appreciate yall taking the time to help me figure this one out.

Well I got the exculsion finished the other day, I wound up sealing off two of place the animals could be getting in and left the one major one open with a exclusion tube in place. I did this just to be sure I didn't close off anything in the attic. This evening I went and setup some mice traps in the attic. The more I crawled around in the tight places the more mice tunnels I found. Hopefully I can catch these rascals pretty fast, so I can seal up the last hole.

You forgot 3 things that could be vital... You said in your report that you found a lot of small droppings. did you sqeeze them to see if they turned to powder and had wing flecks that glistened.?? Mouse droppings don't do either, they are hard or squishy like play dough.

Two/you didn't get pictures for Us of those droppings Three/, mice don't scratch and make noise only in one spot.