For nearly two months, two roommates living in a San Francisco apartment could not understand why strange scratching sounds kept coming from inside their walls. The noises became louder over time and regularly woke them up at night.
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The mystery finally ended when a mother raccoon, which had been living inside the wall, gave birth to baby raccoons. Soon afterwards, the animals broke through the wall and entered one roommate's bedroom.
The roommates eventually moved out of the apartment after the raccoon family was removed. The property's managers later gave them about $4,600 in reduced rent and other expenses to help with the move.
Weeks of scratching
Isaac Brodkin, one of the tenants, shared his experience with San Francisco's ABC affiliate KGO-TV. He said the scratching sounds first started in April. "It kept waking me up, and I couldn't sleep, and that's when I knew it had to be some kind of animal," Brodkin said.
At first, the roommates did not know what was hiding inside the walls. After searching for possible explanations, they believed raccoons had entered the building.
They contacted the property managers, Kenney & Everest Real Estate of San Francisco, who sent an inspector to check the apartment. The inspector confirmed that raccoons were living inside the walls and sprayed a repellent to drive them away.
The treatment, however, did not solve the problem. Instead, the noises became louder over the following days. "The sound just kept getting more and more intense, just like a horror movie would, and I couldn't sleep," Brodkin said. "So I moved into the living room to sleep there."
As the sounds continued, Brodkin became worried that the animals might eventually break through the wall. That fear proved to be true. One day, his roommate heard animals running around inside Brodkin's bedroom. When he opened the door, he found a hole in the wall.
