First guess is squirrel. There’s a difference between the thump of an 8 ounce squirrel and a 20 pound raccoon. Also, quick scratching, running sounds are rodent like. Mice are a possibility, too—you’ll notice them more when the house is quiet.
When I’ve heard this animal at 3 a.m., I heard it scurrying around and scratching. It sounded cat sized. It didn’t sound like a mouse. And the animal that went THUNK as it came through the exterior opening (wherever that is) and then dropped down to the floor was no mouse. That was a considerable THUNK. Considering it was 5 p.m. tonight and already dark, does that help with the I.D.? The maintenance men said they didn’t see any poop. I think they just didn’t want to be bothered, that’s what I think. So they were telling me whatever it took to fob me off. All they wanted to do was put that squirrel sized Havahart trap with the peanut butter in there and leave. After a week, nothing was caught in that trap, so I’d just as soon not have something go into it and then starve. That’s why I insisted they remove it. They didn’t want to, but I put on quite a demonstration of “I don’t want that thing up there!” and they finally relented.
yep
#7. At my house, a 20 pound raccoon is called “starving”. We put a saddle on the last one on my porch and my Maine Coon cat went for a ride. The coon answers to the name “Wideload”.