Bonfire Night has been and gone, the clocks have changed, and the cold mornings are finally biting across Nottingham. For homes and businesses in Wollaton, Bilborough, Aspley, Beeston, Chilwell and Stapleford, that means one thing in the pest control world: house mice and grey squirrels are both actively looking for a warm, dry way indoors right now.
We cover this whole stretch of the NG8 and NG9 postcodes regularly, and the calls we get in early-to-mid November follow a very predictable pattern. Here’s what we’re seeing on the ground, and what to do about it.
House mice: the quiet early-winter invader
Mice don’t wait for it to get properly cold before they move in — once overnight temperatures start dropping below double figures, they’re already testing gaps around doors, pipework and airbricks. In Bilborough, the 1930s-to-1960s semis around Bilborough College and the Strelley Road corridor are particularly exposed, because decades of settling brickwork has opened up small gaps at ground level that a mouse barely needs to squeeze through — a house mouse can get through a gap the width of a pencil.
In Aspley, we see a lot of mouse activity linked to the allotments off Aspley Lane and the rears of the ex-council terraces nearby — sheds and compost areas make an easy stepping stone into adjoining kitchens and utility rooms once the weather turns. Over in Beeston, the mix of older terraced streets near the tram and rail interchange and the student lets around the University of Nottingham’s Jubilee Campus gives mice plenty of cover and, often, easy access to food waste left in communal bin areas. Chilwell‘s retail park loading bays and Stapleford‘s canal-side terraces along the Erewash Canal see the same story: wherever there’s stored cardboard, loose brickwork or an unsealed gap behind kitchen units, mice will find it.
Signs to look out for: small dark droppings (about the size of a grain of rice) along skirting boards or in cupboards, a stale, slightly musky smell in enclosed spaces, scratching noises inside walls or ceilings at night, and gnaw marks on food packaging or cardboard.
Grey squirrels: moving from the trees into the loft
While mice are working their way in at ground level, grey squirrels are doing the same thing several feet higher up. Wollaton is the obvious hotspot here — the mature woodland around Wollaton Hall’s deer park and the tree-lined streets backing onto Wollaton Park golf course give squirrels a direct route from the branches onto nearby roofs. Once a squirrel finds a weak point in a roofline, a loose ridge tile, a gap where a soffit has come away, or an old vent that’s never been capped, it will happily chew the opening bigger to get through.
Further along in Beeston and Chilwell, the wooded corridor around Attenborough Nature Reserve plays the same role, pushing squirrels into the gardens and lofts of the leafier streets nearby as the trees thin out for winter and natural food becomes harder to find. Once inside a loft, squirrels will strip insulation, chew through electrical cabling (a genuine fire risk, not just a nuisance), and in many cases bring in nesting material that attracts other pests behind it.
Signs to look out for: scratching, scrabbling or thumping noises in the loft, particularly around dawn and dusk when squirrels are most active; chewed loft insulation or cabling; and visible gaps or damage around roof edges, soffits and ridge tiles.
Mice vs squirrels: telling the signs apart
Because both are active at once this time of year, it’s worth knowing the difference. Mouse activity is almost always low down — skirting boards, under units, along the bottoms of walls — and the droppings are tiny. Squirrel activity is almost always up in the loft or roof space, the noises are heavier and more deliberate, and the damage tends to be structural (chewed timber, torn insulation, enlarged entry holes) rather than just mess left behind. If you’re hearing noise overhead rather than underfoot, you’re almost certainly dealing with squirrels, not mice.
Why it’s worth sorting properly, not just blocking a hole
With both mice and squirrels, the mistake we see most often is someone blocking the one gap they’ve found and assuming the job’s done. Mice breed fast enough that a small problem in November can be a real infestation by Christmas if an entry point is missed, and a squirrel that’s already nesting in a loft won’t simply leave because one route in has been sealed — it needs to be dealt with properly, then the whole roofline checked for other weak spots.
That’s exactly what a professional survey gives you: a proper check of the property for every realistic entry point, safe and humane removal where there’s already an infestation, and proofing work that actually holds up rather than a quick, temporary fix.
Get it looked at before it gets worse
If you’re in Wollaton, Bilborough, Aspley, Beeston, Chilwell, Stapleford or anywhere else across Nottingham and you’re hearing movement in the walls or the loft, don’t wait for it to get worse over winter. NestBusters covers the whole of Nottingham, and for business and commercial premises we also offer ongoing monthly inspection contracts with call-outs included if something turns up between visits.
Call us on 0742 984 9483 or visit nottinghampest.co.uk to book a survey.
