Scary event

That did make me laugh, SueDonim. My DS would have slept through the owl visitation as well.

I think DH and I would have had to get DDIL over to get rid of Wol as well. She’s very intrepid and we’re a couple of wusses.

A friend had an owl in her house one night. It came down the chimney. The doors were all open so she didn't know quite where it was but the sooty black marks in walls showed it was probably upstairs.

She went into her teenager's bedroom and found the owl staring at her from its perch on her son in his bed. Not only that, but her son was still fast asleep!

As yet no explanation, but tomorrow before we return to the UK we will go and search the loft and lay mouse and rat poison and see what we find on our return.

The trouble is when things like this happen when you are on the edge between waking and sleeping you are not that sure what is happening.

Sorry, I re-read it and you have no chimney.
Perhaps

Something running up and down a cavity if you have one

Or something trapped in the gap between the floor and the ceiling of the room below

Do you have a cat which may have brought something in

Or perhaps it was a dream as that time when you are nearly asleep can produce some vivid dreams which seem like reality.

I hope you solve the mystery soon, M0nica.

We had a bat in our kitchen last year. No idea how it got in, but fortunately our DDIL was here to usher it back out the front door while DH and I hid behind the front room door calling out encouragement. I had a good search round the house afterwards to see if any of its friends were lurking anywhere, but I think it must have just come in the same way it went out.

Ps have you got curtains in that room? Have you checked to see if a bat is hanging on the inside of the curtains?

Do you have bats in the cavity? Or in the chimney if you don't have a cavity?
They can be surprisingly noisy; we had them in one house, they started making a noise at night as they presumably went in and out through a hole at the top, but were quiet in the day.

We also had a bird nesting in the chimney, this was very many years ago but just the other week a desiccated nest fell down into the hearth. The bird used to fall down the chimney sometimes and we would put it outside, presumably it then went back to its nest only to fall down again.

MOnica could it be a squirrel? We used to have an 18th century coach house and after a few nearly sleepless nights discovered it was a squirrel, after my husband met him in the attic one day.

We named him Bob.

I do not think we have enough woodland around us for pine martens.

Oh, I have just checked a distribution map online and they are found in this area. We will go into the loft with caution tomorrow. Can they climb stone walls? the house is built of stone, and the only way they could get in is if they scaled the stone walls to reach the loft.

Pine martens get into the roof space in France MOnica they make a fair bit of noise.

Carillion01 Thank you so much. We are in our French holiday home at the moment (in Normandy) and I think on balance, it is something in the loft. I thought I heard a few scratchings in the roof when I was in main bedroom with DH a few nights ago, but but the sound was faint and lasted less than a minute. It was also a very windy night. But this morning it wasn't windy.

We have looked round the house and the bedroom concerned and can see no sign of droppings, mouse or rat, which were the great giveaway when we did have a mice infestation.

I think the problem was the noise happened when I was on the cusp of sleep and jerked me awake heart hammering. I usually take these things in my stride. we have three times rescued owls from the chimney, now wired off, but that happened in day time when I was fully alert

Now that's an experience letting a full sized young owl out of the kitchen chimney, wing span 2 foot or more and watching as it flies in circles the kitchen within fractions of an inch of an open dresser loaded with plates etc in a panic until it finds the kitchen door and exits.

I have birds in my eaves and they wear hob nailed boots

* MOnica* please try not to get too frightened. I felt exactly the same with a similar experience and would hope to reassure you. When we moved into our house in Brittany the lovely attached old barn was beautiful but scary!

Sleeping in an adjoining bedroom made me feel much as you described. It sounded like a large rodent was up in the attic, jumping off a suitcase and running around the floor...having a bit of fun!

It turned out to be very small birds that had nested in the eaves. It's amazing how the sound of any birds can be distorted and always much worse at night so please don't worry and sleep tight. Best wishes x

We once had a squirrel running round the outside walls of our house and it sounded just like that. We were having lunch and there was a loud noise followed by a tapping of little feet. We had no idea what it could possibly be. I then had to take my daughter to nursery and when I went outside, there was a squirrel, running back and forth across the front of the house at first floor level!