www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall HELP!! Poltergeist or animals

You all are knowledgeable in alot of areas, so I am hoping for some input:

On two occassions, when the guys of the family have been away, mom and I have heard strange noises from an interior wall. First it started in the finished basement (which is a dummy wall), and then it sounded like it was in the ceiling over it, which is the floor of my dining room. The noises sounded like animals having a party, and we even heard bangs on some brass planter that I have in the corner of that area.

I went upstairs to my bedroom which is above this space, and heard faint noises in the wall there too, but nothing like the rustling loud noises of downstairs. It was evening, and was coincidentally the same time as Forgiveness Vespers would have been had Father had them this year. I was also to start a full, strict fast the next day (for the first time) on Clean Monday.

Mom and I both were scared, and independently said Akathists, without knowing the other was doing this. A calm took over both of us after we finished our prayers and the noises which were going on for about forty minutes, ceased.

I called my exterminator who thought I was wierd. I also called a trapper who also thought I was wierd and told me to wait another day, because he was busy, and call him if the noises continued. They did not, so I didn't.

Fast forward thirty-seven days (nothing until then) to last night at 1:30 in the morning. Again the guys are away, so it is just me and mom, who thankfully, lives with me now. I was awakened from my sleep by sounds in the wall (same general area of finished basement, dining room) near my bed...like a large animal. It sounded even larger and more intense in my bathroom in the interior shower wall, which is close, but is a different wall! This really scared me and made my heart race for the rest of the night.

Mom and I kneeled infront of the wall area, at the edge of my bed, and I read a compline which I had handy on my night table, and she read a paraclisis she carries with her in her robe pocket. The noises continued during our prayers, but shortly after we finished they again subsided for good. Again, they lasted for a half an hour.

Needless to say, I had a terrible and short amount of sleep, which I desperately needed because I am a bit ill right now, and I didn't go to Compline service last night, which I always attend, so that I could rest up!!! (So much for that!)

I don't have access to my attic by stairs, but the noises are not from the attic.

Is this a case of poltergeist/demonic activity, and should I call my priest to do an exorcism in the house, or should I call a trapper service. I found a nationwide one online and they charge almost two hundred dollars for an initial visit! It is alot of money, but it may be worth being able to rule that out to proceed with plan B: my priest.

The first floor dining room (where noises wall/walls are situated) is the place where Father always has the blessing service, and we have even had a full Evhalaio service done for us in that room as well.

Any enlightened thoughts are welcome. Remember-- we are city folk!

Thanks, and prayers are also welcome!

Alice

Alice,
I had a similar situation some 30 yers ago while still living at home. I repeatedly told my parents of noises in my bedroom ceiling...it turned out to be a family of mice.
Some of the framing techniques used on older homes easily allow small animals to travel from floor to floor or from room to room.
My guess would be a squirel or chip-monk has found a way into your home. If you have access into your attic try setting a few traps.
Tim

Alice,

WOW...I think your strategy of the trapper service is the best approach...first.

Plan B may need to happen if nothing ends up being trapped.

My wife's family had a similar situation which turned out to be spiritual. Lots of noise, light switches going on and off, washing machine doors slamming shut...you know, typical stuff. A priest was called in to bless the house and everything STOPPED. Period.

Not to add to the creepiness of the whole thing, but I have personally witnessed a ghost flying over my bed while visiting my parent's house in Norfolk a number of years ago. It was a woman in a dress, and when I woke up, I told her to go away and she did. A week or so later, my mother was talking to me about some visitor my sister and brother were having in their room. I said, "Is it a lady in a white dress?" My mother went silent for a moment. "Yes...how did you know?"

A priest friend also told me a story about an exorcism that was done at a woman's house where the ghost kept appearing doing housework. The woman of the house almost hated to have her leave!

Prayers!

Gordo

OOOOOOOH - not fun Alice.

One nasty thought - can you be sure they are squirrels ?

I remember when my Sister-in-law had foxes under her floorboards - a young vixen and her 3 infant offspring. It took a long time to get them out all because of a stupid neighbour in the town who thought it fun to feed them and encourage urban foxes . The exterminator haad to take up floorboards in every one of the downstairs rooms - all 3 living rooms and the big entrance hall , kitchen and 2 utility rooms plus the bathroom - it was chaos there for weeks

Well! Maybe this will help...

�Dear Lord Jesus, please surround me (family/friends/or the particular person that you are praying for) with a perimeter of Your Love and Protection throughout the day today and everyday a hundred yards in all directions. In the name of Jesus: any negativity, sadness, dispair, any evil spirits that have attached themselves to myself or those about me I command you, spirits of earth, air, fire, or water, the netherworld, or nature depart, now, and go straight to the cross of Jesus Christ for him to deal with.

Lord Jesus, render any demons that are here, or should try to come, deaf, dumb, and blind. Strip them of all weapons, illusions, armor, power, and authority. Disable them from communicating or interacting in any way. Bind, sever, and separate them, sending them directly to the foot of Your Cross without manifestation or harm to be dealt with by you Jesus. May Your Precious Blood cover me, the Holy Spirit fill me, Mary's mantle of love and protection surround me, St. Joseph guide me, the Holy Angels and Saints guard and protect me from all unfortunate events. Protect me from fire, theft, flood, storms, ailments, and accidents of every sort, distress, hardship, curse, and all untoward things. I ask all this in your Name Lord Jesus and I thank and praise you. I love you. Alleluia. Amen!�

Sounds like animals;,more of them around than poltergeists.
Gordo's stories are very interesting. There is plenty of
evidence provided by sober-minded people that what we call
ghosts and poltergeists do exist.We are likely never to know
anything much about them since the scientific confirmation of
their existence would raise problems for the materialist- minded
and they seem to dominate the world of "science".

The same goes for things like levitation and bi-location.
I suspect that many if not most of these phenomena are natural
and not supernatural. If I am correct, it means that there is
a great deal about the human person that we do not know.

Edmac

Many saints have been known to have the gift of bilocation:
St. Martin de Porres and St. Padre Pio both did.

And then there were the Russian Orthodox monks who prayed in their cells in Russia and yet at the same time were able to evangelize the Alaskan natives and prepare them for Holy Baptism.

Rats, mice, and snakes

We occasionally have mice or Norway rats under our house. A snake will then go under our house and flush them out. Next, we hear a scamper of feet, cries, wheezing sounds, and then everything is quiet.

When we have set traps, we catch nothing.

We have king snakes here, and they seem to do their job.

I agree, it sounds like animals.

Every year when we go on vacation we stay in the same cabin and every year we hear the same noises in the walls. The cabin is small so it is fairly easy to hear where they are. They are always active at the same time of night for the same period of time. It is so weird but the little critters (I think they are chipmunks and I have named them Alvin, Simon and Theodore) are like clockwork. In any case, it doesn't hurt to say a few prayers.

Alice,

Let me echo Katie's experience. After many years of dealing with squirrels, mice, and bats in walls, attics, floorspaces, etc - in city, suburb, and rural areas - I've concluded that they have a chosen recreation period. It invariably coincides with human bedtime (except, obviously, mine) and is remarkable for its consistency in terms of length.

Mothballs or mothflakes are highly disliked - and have the advantage of not requiring emptying as do traps.

Many years,

Neil

BUT

Where is Alice now ? There has been an ominous silence since she posted

I only have a small window of time each morning to read the forum...each night during Lent I attend church services...

Thankfully, last night I heard nothing at all..that is what is so strange...I have only heard them once a month and half ago, and once two nights ago...wouldn't I hear them more often? (I would welcome your knowledgeable responses to this)

In any case, I spoke to a wildlife service in my area, and I will have to spring for the money to atleast have them take a look in the attic. I have no stairs to go up there, and I am definitely not going to do it myself.

Another wierd component is that I spoke to my husband who is presently in a different country staying in a concrete filled apartment structure, and he heard wierd scratching noises in the wall there-- the same night!!!

Anyway, thanks for all your knowledge and responses. I will let you know if the trapper finds any hints of any animals in the attic.

Alice

Alice:

Christ is in our midst!! He is and always will be!!!

We've had similar experiences and it turns out that each time it was caused by a mouse who'd found his way into the house and through the outside walls of our 100-year-old house. An exterminator brought glue traps and baited them with peanut butter. The rascals came out and were caught. They were up and down from the basement to the attic. I found one in a glue trap in the basement and another behind a door in the attic.

What needs to be done is a thorough examination of your outside walls and any soffet and fascia areas that may have small holes where these pests can access the inside of the house via a tree or wires--they're quite suited to running along the wires like acrobats.

We could never figure out where there was a hole in the foundation or other area in our home that our pests used to gain entry until we replaced our back porch last summer. Then we discovered that behind one of the boards fastened to the house to hold the wood deck, there was a place where one brick had been omitted in the original construction. Talk about having a double-doored entry for mice!! The new porch is concrete, however, and that little hole is now not only patched full of concrete, it's behind the concrete deck. Point here is to look for the for a place you might not expect to be an entry. I've successfully used one of those canned foam insulation products that hardens as it is exposed to air. They work wonders in getting into extremely small spaces and then hardening to make a former "run" no longer available.

BOB

That is quite interesting. What is it about the women in the white dresses? My father swears that he saw a ghost walk up the steps of his house were he grew up, it was a woman dressed in white!

Dear Bob,

Thanks for your advice!

Infact, just today I was fortunate to hear a co-worker discussing an honest trapper he found for his deer problem (he lives in Connecticut/across the border from where I live in suburban NY--and they have quite a problem keeping any flowers in their gardens because of deer)...anyway, he mentioned that this guy is shy and very honest...so I got his number and gave him a call. He was indeed honest, in private business (rather than a larger company, with secretaries and lots of overhead, etc.) and was even shocked that the few trapper services I had contacted via internet and yellow pages had quoted me trapping services possible going up to $2000!!! He said that they are preying on people's fears. Anyway, I explained everything to him in detail, and he said that he was 99% sure that this was not an animal, (because I have never heard any noise of movement from my attic) but rather a less cute creature like a mouse or rat. (UGH!!! SHUDDER...SHUDDER )...the reason, he said, that I heard it in the wall of my shower is because they use the water pipes for easy transportation...

He said that this would need traps and poison and that he doesn't do that kind of stuff, but could recommend an honest exterminator that does. I called them and they will come over for a VERY reasonable sum, (which in these neck of the woods is a miracle in and of itself-LOL) and set up traps, poison, and look for point of entry...Within that sum, they will also come back in ten days to check on the progress.

I pray that this will get resolved soon. Like a typical woman, I will have the creeps and jitters until it does......

Alice