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#1
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
Hi
I have noticed a strange noise in my bedroom recently. Its like a very faint tapping noise - its fairly random and very quiet. I have ruled out any noises coming from my PC or anything else in my room OR anything coming from surrounding rooms. I can't see it being from otuside as the sound doesn't seem to be coming from near the window and its happening really late like 5am when its pretty much dead around here. It seems to be coming from the attic and someone suggested Deathwatch Beetles!! Anyone had any experience of this? What is the noise ment to be like? I stuck my head into the attic - it has that insulation stuff all over it - I coudlnt ehar anything but the problem is that its really cold up there and you can sort of hear the outside as well so I would think the noise I can hearin my room would not be audible from sticking my head in. Any ideas on what I can do? Are there any tools I can buy on the cheap that can detect sound? i.e the clsoer I move it the brighter an LED light will get or something - bearing in mind the nosie is VERY faint! If not then how I DIY a way of gettin rid of any possible infestation? I don;t get where these things would randoly come from - I am in Hampshire and reading onlien suggests they do pop up in the SOuth! Thanks |
#2
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
mo wrote in message ... Hi I have noticed a strange noise in my bedroom recently. Its like a very faint tapping noise - its fairly random and very quiet. I have ruled out any noises coming from my PC or anything else in my room OR anything coming from surrounding rooms. I can't see it being from otuside as the sound doesn't seem to be coming from near the window and its happening really late like 5am when its pretty much dead around here. It seems to be coming from the attic and someone suggested Deathwatch Beetles!! Anyone had any experience of this? What is the noise ment to be like? I stuck my head into the attic - it has that insulation stuff all over it - I coudlnt ehar anything but the problem is that its really cold up there and you can sort of hear the outside as well so I would think the noise I can hearin my room would not be audible from sticking my head in. Any ideas on what I can do? Are there any tools I can buy on the cheap that can detect sound? i.e the clsoer I move it the brighter an LED light will get or something - bearing in mind the nosie is VERY faint! If not then how I DIY a way of gettin rid of any possible infestation? I don;t get where these things would randoly come from - I am in Hampshire and reading onlien suggests they do pop up in the SOuth! Thanks Make a stethoscope! I thought I heard deathwatch beetle once when staying in an old farmhouse, but couldn't be sure. I advise you to Google for their lifecycle and habits as it might rule them out as the culprits in your attic. Andy. |
#3
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
mo wrote: Hi I have noticed a strange noise in my bedroom recently. Its like a very faint tapping noise - its fairly random and very quiet. I have ruled out any noises coming from my PC or anything else in my room OR anything coming from surrounding rooms. I can't see it being from outside as the sound doesn't seem to be coming from near the window and its happening really late like 5am when its pretty much dead around here. It seems to be coming from the attic and someone suggested Deathwatch Beetles!! Anyone had any experience of this? What is the noise meant to be like? I stuck my head into the attic - it has that insulation stuff all over it - I couldn't hear anything but the problem is that its really cold up there and you can sort of hear the outside as well so I would think the noise I can hear in my room would not be audible from sticking my head in. Any ideas on what I can do? I've never hear beetles but mice seem like scraping when gnawing and the sound of them running is quite distinctive. What plumbing is there in the attic? Also, it could be a bird roosting or even something flapping in the guttering. Is the loft door secure? That might rattle in a draught. Put a brick on top of the door and that should change it if not cure it. The birds need to be discouraged if it is them by blocking any access points that will have been caused originally by weathering and rot. If you have bats though you will have environmental protection issues. Whichever, if either; you need to make sure the attic is empty before closing any holes. |
#4
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
In message , mo
writes Hi I have noticed a strange noise in my bedroom recently. Its like a very faint tapping noise - its fairly random and very quiet. It's ghosts - get yourself exorcised -- geoff |
#5
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
mo wrote in message ... Hi I have noticed a strange noise in my bedroom recently. Its like a very faint tapping noise - its fairly random and very quiet. I have ruled out any noises coming from my PC or anything else in my room OR anything coming from surrounding rooms. I can't see it being from otuside as the sound doesn't seem to be coming from near the window and its happening really late like 5am when its pretty much dead around here. It seems to be coming from the attic and someone suggested Deathwatch Beetles!! Anyone had any experience of this? What is the noise ment to be like? If the noise is faint, it won't be deathwatch beetle. They make a surprisingly loud noise with their head banging - you can hear it over a normal TV. Colin Bignell |
#6
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
nightjar wrote: mo wrote in message ... Hi I have noticed a strange noise in my bedroom recently. Its like a very faint tapping noise - its fairly random and very quiet. I have ruled out any noises coming from my PC or anything else in my room OR anything coming from surrounding rooms. I can't see it being from outside as the sound doesn't seem to be coming from near the window and its happening really late like 5am when its pretty much dead around here. It seems to be coming from the attic and someone suggested Deathwatch Beetles!! Anyone had any experience of this? What is the noise meant to be like? If the noise is faint, it won't be deathwatch beetle. They make a surprisingly loud noise with their head banging - you can hear it over a normal TV. What are you doing up so late? Don't you have a bed to go to? |
#7
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
"Weatherlawyer" wrote in message ps.com... nightjar wrote: mo wrote in message ... Hi I have noticed a strange noise in my bedroom recently. Its like a very faint tapping noise - its fairly random and very quiet. I have ruled out any noises coming from my PC or anything else in my room OR anything coming from surrounding rooms. I can't see it being from outside as the sound doesn't seem to be coming from near the window and its happening really late like 5am when its pretty much dead around here. It seems to be coming from the attic and someone suggested Deathwatch Beetles!! Anyone had any experience of this? What is the noise meant to be like? If the noise is faint, it won't be deathwatch beetle. They make a surprisingly loud noise with their head banging - you can hear it over a normal TV. What are you doing up so late? Don't you have a bed to go to? Nightjars are a creatures of the night - and their singing voice isn't that great. Colin Bignell |
#8
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 16:48:36 -0600, mo mo wrote:
Hi I have noticed a strange noise in my bedroom recently. Its like a very faint tapping noise - its fairly random and very quiet. I have ruled out any noises coming from my PC or anything else in my room OR anything coming from surrounding rooms. I can't see it being from otuside as the sound doesn't seem to be coming from near the window and its happening really late like 5am when its pretty much dead around here. It seems to be coming from the attic and someone suggested Deathwatch Beetles!! If your house is old and has old oak timbers you could have death watch beetle. If it was midsummer the noise could be deathwatch beetle, It's much more likely to be mice. Bill |
#9
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
raden wrote: In message , mo writes Hi I have noticed a strange noise in my bedroom recently. Its like a very faint tapping noise - its fairly random and very quiet. It's ghosts - get yourself exorcised -- geoff Whats running got to do with ghosts !!!!!!!!!! ;-) |
#10
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
In article ,
Bill Taylor wrote: It's much more likely to be mice. Mice do come in from the cold this time of year. Our Big Nipper rat trap has already caught two mice. -- Tony Williams. |
#11
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
In article ,
Huge wrote: Two? We've had 31 so far this year. Wish I knew how the little b*st*rds are getting in. (Thanks, but I already know all the stuff about what tiny gaps they can get through!) All right then. It's rats atm for us. A family of probably 5, two big parents and three youngsters, (although the youngsters don't stay small for long). I've shot the big male for certain, probably one other, possibly another, and the Big Nipper has caught a little one. One, maybe two, to go. I keep missing the small ones though. The air rifle has been zero'd in and I can do a 1 inch group on a target at 20 foot or so. The conclusion I've come to is that the reflexes of the younsters are so quick that they can hear the start of the air gun mechanism and will have jumped away before the slug has got there. That's my excuse anyway. -- Tony Williams. |
#12
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 23:15:46 +0000, Owain
wrote: |mo wrote: | I have noticed a strange noise in my bedroom recently. Its like a very | faint tapping noise - its fairly random and very quiet. | It seems to be coming from the attic and someone suggested Deathwatch | Beetles!! | Are there any tools I can buy on the cheap that can detect sound? | |A stethoscope? A piece of dowel is cheaper. -- Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk Google Groups is IME the *worst* method of accessing usenet. GG subscribers would be well advised get a newsreader, say Agent, and a newsserver, say news.individual.net. These will allow them: to see only *new* posts, a killfile, and other goodies. |
#13
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
On 29 Nov 2006 11:39:28 GMT, Huge wrote:
|On 2006-11-29, Tony Williams wrote: | In article , | Bill Taylor wrote: | | It's much more likely to be mice. | | Mice do come in from the cold this time of | year. Our Big Nipper rat trap has already | caught two mice. | |Two? We've had 31 so far this year. | |Wish I knew how the little b*st*rds are getting in. | |(Thanks, but I already know all the stuff about what tiny |gaps they can get through!) They are breeding, you have to get the last female. :-( -- Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk Google Groups is IME the *worst* method of accessing usenet. GG subscribers would be well advised get a newsreader, say Agent, and a newsserver, say news.individual.net. These will allow them: to see only *new* posts, a killfile, and other goodies. |
#14
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
mo wrote:
Hi I have noticed a strange noise in my bedroom recently. Its like a very faint tapping noise - its fairly random and very quiet. I have ruled out any noises coming from my PC or anything else in my room OR anything coming from surrounding rooms. I can't see it being from otuside as the sound doesn't seem to be coming from near the window and its happening really late like 5am when its pretty much dead around here. It seems to be coming from the attic and someone suggested Deathwatch Beetles!! We have the same. I left the loft hatch open last night, and while I was sitting on the bog, a wren flew in, took one look at me and flew out.. Opened a window and its gone for now. Could swear I had it all rodent proofed to the hilt too.. |
#15
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
The Natural Philosopher wrote: We have the same. I left the loft hatch open last night, and while I was sitting on the bog, a wren flew in, took one look at me and flew out.. Opened a window and its gone for now. Could swear I had it all rodent proofed to the hilt too.. Well there's your problem. You rodent proofed it to the hilt, but completely forgot about the hazards of wrens, completely different kettle of fish/animal/bird Velvet |
#16
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
Tony Williams wrote: In article , Huge wrote: Two? We've had 31 so far this year. Wish I knew how the little b*st*rds are getting in. (Thanks, but I already know all the stuff about what tiny gaps they can get through!) All right then. It's rats atm for us. A family of probably 5, two big parents and three youngsters, (although the youngsters don't stay small for long). I've shot the big male for certain, probably one other, possibly another, and the Big Nipper has caught a little one. One, maybe two, to go. I keep missing the small ones though. The air rifle has been zero'd in and I can do a 1 inch group on a target at 20 foot or so. The conclusion I've come to is that the reflexes of the younsters are so quick that they can hear the start of the air gun mechanism and will have jumped away before the slug has got there. That's my excuse anyway. -- Tony Williams. good excuse to buy a compound bow :-) |
#17
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
On Tue, 28 Nov 2006 16:48:36 -0600, mo mo wrote:
Hi I have noticed a strange noise in my bedroom recently. Its like a very faint tapping noise - its fairly random and very quiet. I have ruled out any noises coming from my PC or anything else in my room OR anything coming from surrounding rooms. I can't see it being from otuside as the sound doesn't seem to be coming from near the window and its happening really late like 5am when its pretty much dead around here. It seems to be coming from the attic and someone suggested Deathwatch Beetles!! Anyone had any experience of this? What is the noise ment to be like? I stuck my head into the attic - it has that insulation stuff all over it - I coudlnt ehar anything but the problem is that its really cold up there and you can sort of hear the outside as well so I would think the noise I can hearin my room would not be audible from sticking my head in. Any ideas on what I can do? Are there any tools I can buy on the cheap that can detect sound? i.e the clsoer I move it the brighter an LED light will get or something - bearing in mind the nosie is VERY faint! If not then how I DIY a way of gettin rid of any possible infestation? I don;t get where these things would randoly come from - I am in Hampshire and reading onlien suggests they do pop up in the SOuth! Thanks Hi, Probably 'book lice': http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=book+lice&btnG=Search&meta = cheers, Pete. |
#18
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
In message .com,
Staffbull writes raden wrote: In message , mo writes Hi I have noticed a strange noise in my bedroom recently. Its like a very faint tapping noise - its fairly random and very quiet. It's ghosts - get yourself exorcised -- geoff Whats running got to do with ghosts !!!!!!!!!! ;-) What's running got to do with anything ? The line above my reply says "Its like a very faint tapping noise" Supernatural presence if I ever heard of one -- geoff |
#19
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
Hello all, thanks for the replies
Right - I don't think its any sort of CREATURE because the noise is now pretty much constant AND It is only audible from my room and not any of the others around I am feeling then that it must he something in the attic moving around or most likely the plumbing or something...the odd thing is when I went up there (stuck my head in) i couldnt hear the sound - partly because if was prob drown out by all the other nosie of the roads etc) |
#20
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
mo mo wrote in :
Hello all, thanks for the replies Right - I don't think its any sort of CREATURE because the noise is now pretty much constant AND It is only audible from my room and not any of the others around I am feeling then that it must he something in the attic moving around or most likely the plumbing or something...the odd thing is when I went up there (stuck my head in) i couldnt hear the sound - partly because if was prob drown out by all the other nosie of the roads etc) with regards to the actual noise Basically I have a fairly small room - I have my pc desk near the middle - i can hear the faint noise from there. If I mvoe around the room i don't really get any closer - even if i stand high up i can't tell if its coming from above the ceiling for sure but it def seems that way because i thin kit owuld be more obvious if it was coming fro mthe side. so i cant use a stethoscope - i suppose what i need a a metal dectector for sound - somehting that will pick up very faint sound and then give me a visual indication of when that sound is increasing! |
#21
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
In article ,
Huge wrote: On 2006-11-29, Staffbull wrote: good excuse to buy a compound bow :-) I used a .410 shotgun on our rats. Worked a treat. You couldn't use a shotgun around here. The dysfunctional little scrote just down the road would be phoning the police, the council, and probably his MP. -- Tony Williams. |
#22
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
mo wrote: mo mo wrote in : Hello all, thanks for the replies Right - I don't think its any sort of CREATURE because the noise is now pretty much constant AND It is only audible from my room and not any of the others around I am feeling then that it must he something in the attic moving around or most likely the plumbing or something...the odd thing is when I went up there (stuck my head in) i couldnt hear the sound - partly because if was prob drown out by all the other nosie of the roads etc) with regards to the actual noise Basically I have a fairly small room - I have my pc desk near the middle - i can hear the faint noise from there. If I mvoe around the room i don't really get any closer - even if i stand high up i can't tell if its coming from above the ceiling for sure but it def seems that way because i thin kit owuld be more obvious if it was coming fro mthe side. so i cant use a stethoscope - i suppose what i need a a metal dectector for sound - somehting that will pick up very faint sound and then give me a visual indication of when that sound is increasing! If it's rodents (which can make tapping noises) then it may have been when you stuck your head up in the loft, they froze, it all went silent. I'd suggest putting a *small* bit of fruit and nut chocolate just inside the loft, but on a saucer or something, so it can't be disturbed. Leave it overnight, check the next day, and see if it's gone. If not, leave it a few days - if it's still not gone then it's unlikely to be rodents. If, however, it's vanished, then you've found your likely culprit. Velvet |
#23
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
mo wrote:
Right - I don't think its any sort of CREATURE because the noise is now pretty much constant AND It is only audible from my room and not any of the others around How far apart are the taps? I have an odd tapping noise that comes from the roof around much of the house. I discovered that it was dew dropping from the roof on to the roof below. I haven't got around to putting the spouting up yet |
#24
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
In article , mo mo wrote:
Hello all, thanks for the replies Right - I don't think its any sort of CREATURE because the noise is now pretty much constant AND It is only audible from my room and not any of the others around I am feeling then that it must he something in the attic moving around or most likely the plumbing or something...the odd thing is when I went up there (stuck my head in) i couldnt hear the sound - partly because if was prob drown out by all the other nosie of the roads etc) What about Central Heating? We get ticking noises (some loud, some faint) around our house, as the pipes first expand and later contract, as the CH goes on and off. John |
#25
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
John wrote: In article , mo mo wrote: Hello all, thanks for the replies Right - I don't think its any sort of CREATURE because the noise is now pretty much constant AND It is only audible from my room and not any of the others around I am feeling then that it must he something in the attic moving around or most likely the plumbing or something...the odd thing is when I went up there (stuck my head in) i couldnt hear the sound - partly because if was prob drown out by all the other nosie of the roads etc) What about Central Heating? We get ticking noises (some loud, some faint) around our house, as the pipes first expand and later contract, as the CH goes on and off. You can get that with plastic guttering too in sunny weather it expands and contracts when it cools. But it is happening on cue at around 5 pm IIRC, so it must be plumbing as was said early on in the thread. |
#26
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
In article ,
Owain wrote: Couldn't you take out the phone with the first barrel, and the scrote with the second? Actually a few tradesman have remarked that the scrotess is the really anal one... "I'll never do a job there again, ever". -- Tony Williams. |
#27
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
"Weatherlawyer" wrote in
ups.com: John wrote: In article , mo mo wrote: Hello all, thanks for the replies Right - I don't think its any sort of CREATURE because the noise is now pretty much constant AND It is only audible from my room and not any of the others around I am feeling then that it must he something in the attic moving around or most likely the plumbing or something...the odd thing is when I went up there (stuck my head in) i couldnt hear the sound - partly because if was prob drown out by all the other nosie of the roads etc) What about Central Heating? We get ticking noises (some loud, some faint) around our house, as the pipes first expand and later contract, as the CH goes on and off. You can get that with plastic guttering too in sunny weather it expands and contracts when it cools. But it is happening on cue at around 5 pm IIRC, so it must be plumbing as was said early on in the thread. the odd thing is that this noise is very recent and its all day now i fear it might be rats - yuk! tho how the **** did they get into the roof?!?! |
#28
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
In article , mo mo wrote:
the odd thing is that this noise is very recent and its all day now i fear it might be rats - yuk! If you think it's rats, all you have to phone is "phone the council" -- I think all councils are still dead good at this sort of thing (pest control), and they'll be straight round. This will at least put your mind at rest, if it's not rats. John |
#29
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 15:44:03 -0600, mo mo wrote:
the odd thing is that this noise is very recent and its all day now Does it sound a little like a mechanical wrist watch, and very feint? cheers, Pete. |
#30
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
Pete C wrote in
: On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 15:44:03 -0600, mo mo wrote: the odd thing is that this noise is very recent and its all day now Squirrals perhaps? Chris |
#31
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Strange noise - deathwatch beetles?
In message , Chris
writes Pete C wrote in : On Thu, 30 Nov 2006 15:44:03 -0600, mo mo wrote: the odd thing is that this noise is very recent and its all day now Squirrals perhaps? My parents had an old cottage with death watch beetles. You only get them in really old timber, and they're only noisy in the mating season, which is late spring to early summer, so it's not them. As this is uk.d-i-y I think Mo should rig an infrared webcam in his roof to see if he can see anything. IME (and my experience is considerable) the smaller the wildlife in your roof/walls the noisier it is. Or if we're going to guess, he should at least say how old his house is and what sort of area it's in. -- Sue ] |
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