Squirrel control › Framlingham
Both are rodents, both gnaw daily, and both leave marks on the same materials. They do not look the same, and the difference is legible in a photograph taken from the loft hatch.
The measurement that does the work
Incisor width. A grey squirrel's upper incisors leave paired grooves roughly 3 to 4mm across. A brown rat's are smaller, around 2 to 2.5mm. A mouse's are smaller again, around 1mm and often barely visible as separate marks.
You do not need to measure precisely. Photograph the marks with a coin or a ruler beside them and the scale answers itself.
Squirrel gnawing
- Coarse and broad. Wide paired grooves, often clearly parallel
- Excavated rather than nibbled. Material is removed in quantity, leaving a shallow scooped hollow
- Untidy edges, with splintering on timber
- Anywhere at height — rafters, battens, joist tops, boarding edges, and at the entry point itself
- Large debris. Slivers and chips rather than dust
Rat gnawing
- Finer and neater. Narrower grooves, more regular
- Persistent in one spot. Rats work at a specific point to open a route, so the damage is often a defined hole rather than a scooped area
- Cleaner edges, with less splintering
- Along runs and at low level as well as in the roof — skirting, boxing, the bases of doors, pipe boxing
- Fine debris. Sawdust-like rather than chips
The pattern is as informative as the size. A scooped, splintered area along the top of a joist is squirrel work. A neat hole through a board at one point, with fine dust below it, is a rat making a doorway.
On cable, specifically
Squirrel damage to cable tends to be a stripped section — sheathing removed over a length, with the inner cores exposed but often intact. Rat damage is more often a bite through at a point. Either is dangerous and either needs an electrician; the difference is only useful for identification.
Old marks and new
Fresh gnawing on timber is pale, sharp-edged and stands out clearly against the weathered or dusty surface around it. Old marks grey over, collect dust and lose their edges. In a Framlingham roof with generations of history in it, that distinction matters — a great many old buildings carry marks from episodes decades ago.
Photograph from the hatch rather than climbing about. Old roof spaces are frequently unboarded, poorly lit and full of things to put a foot through.
Questions
How do I photograph marks in a dark loft?
Torch from the side rather than straight on — raking light shows the grooves. Put a coin in the frame for scale.
Could both be present?
It happens in older properties. Two distinct sizes of gnawing in the same roof is worth mentioning when you call.
Are the marks always obvious?
Not always, particularly on painted or dirty timber. Absence of visible gnawing does not rule anything out.
Squirrel Control Framlingham
Squirrel control in Framlingham is £280 fixed cost. Proofing work, where it is needed afterwards, is £180. Call 01502 630 122 and tell us what you have heard or seen.
For squirrel control in Framlingham, call 01502 630 122, or read the Framlingham squirrel control page.