Turned out the noise in the attic was not a squirrel this time. Yes it was a rat. So I have set out traps. I was afraid of poison for a couple reasons. I don’t want a dead rat smelling up the attic if I can help it. And Tricia was afraid that the posioned rat might get out in the yard where our cat might catch it. He does a pretty good job with the field mice and we don’t want him geting sick.