Marten on and possibly already in the roof

Hello everyone,

I am a bit unsettled right now. I have a marten on the roof. We live in a terraced house and it is known that there are martens here. So far, I have occasionally heard that it ran across the roof. That wouldn’t be so bad. But now, for the first time, I had the feeling that it is also coming inside. I heard quite clearly that there was a noise in the sloping roof above me, and I also heard rustling. Besides that, there was a clattering (roof tiles?).
I get pretty panicked about things like this. Especially the thought that the animal might damage the roof. My question now is, what would be the steps here? Unfortunately, I can’t get onto the roof. We are on a slope and it drops down about 8 or 9 meters. That is too dangerous for me. Do I have to call an exterminator or a roofer? Or should I contact the building insurance (I don’t even know if martens are covered). I just want to get rid of the animal as quickly as possible and I hope that they don’t have to open up the roof. That definitely doesn’t fit into my budget right now. We moved in only about nine months ago.

Hello questioner. I am certainly not the right contact person for small game hunting. But which facts can you point to so far? Actually none. They are all assumptions. To be able to choose a clear direction for the future, a visit to the attic is probably necessary. And as far as I know - at least not as a rule - it is not accessible via the roof tiles, but by a ladder through the interior. An inquiry with the insurance is also like searching with a beanpole in the fog. What damages do you want to address with them? So far, damages are only pure assumptions. Apart from that, from practical experience, I am not aware of any damages caused by martens to the property, but only (understandably) a form of odor nuisance (caused by brought-in prey) and, of course, the unpleasant noise of movement. However: nothing replaces an inspection tour of the attic! Regards: KlaRa

And to my knowledge - at least not as a rule - it cannot be reached over the roof tiles, but rather by a ladder through the interior area.

Thanks KlaRa for your detailed response and sorry that I am only getting back to it now. We had an exterminator here at the beginning of February and he said that blocking the exits only helps to a limited extent. I had identified a possible opening. He said the only thing that helps is to block the access to the roof. The neighbors were very cooperative and he attached thorn-like things similar to pigeon netting at the relevant spots. Then it was almost quiet for nearly two months. Unfortunately, I heard the marten again a week ago and this morning also in the roof. So between the tiles and the drywall panels. I have now tried again to stuff the holes together with rabbit wire. He tried once to lift the tile. I heard that. I also set up a wildlife camera on the balcony. Let's see where he comes onto the roof. It is definitely a total nuisance and I am simply afraid that it will cause me significant economic damage. I have already described this in another forum, but I just hope that there is someone who has experienced something similar and might be able to solve it.

If it reassures you, martens have been living in the roof of my parents' (old farmhouse) for decades. As a child, I already heard them running above the rooms in the attic, sometimes more, sometimes less. Since the new roof, it has become rarer, but from time to time one is there. So far, there has never been any damage because of it, even if it sometimes sounds like a circus is going on up there. I don't want to romanticize martens in the roof ;) , but it is not necessarily the case that it will now tear your roof apart.

The tenant in the attic (does not have to be a marten, raccoons or dormice also like to move in).

Anyway: nothing beats a control walk in the attic!
Regards: KlaRa

What do you want to see there? Probably - exactly nothing. It won’t wave at you. If you are "lucky," you’ll see droppings or a feeding spot with possibly food remains.

We had an exterminator at the beginning of February and he said that blocking the exits only works to a limited extent. I had identified a possible opening. He said the only thing that helps is to block the access to the roof.

Indeed, it usually has one entrance and one exit. But you don’t know which is which. And since the animal usually sleeps upstairs during the day, you trap it if you close holes. And it comes out again, and that’s exactly when damage occurs. It works until it is outside again. In this respect, I agree with the exterminator, you can only make it unpleasant for it at your home. Chicken wire also helps well here; it doesn’t like to go over it. Downpipes are often used as climbing aids, so what you did is good. You can also look for scratch marks on the downpipes. However, this alone will not be enough; it will find a new way. Possibly also the neighbors’ downpipes; they like to jump a few meters from roof to roof.

Make it uncomfortable for it – it wants to sleep quietly at your place and then goes hunting at night (and you hear that): play music during the day in the attic. Turn the light on and off upstairs via a timer.

What else? Luck and patience....

Good luck.

Good evening,

we also had a marten problem. What helped was screwing down every second tile (so the marten could no longer lift the tiles) and laying rabbit wire under the ridge (or Fürsten). For this, we removed the top row of bricks and stapled the wire to the roof battens ...
Time required - 4 hours with 2 men ... Quiet for almost a year!