Animal in my wall

Probably a squirrel or rat. Locate the entrance if it’s a squirrel and block it off. If it’s a rat then try to trap it.
If you are not successful then poison is the next step. Hopefully it goes outside to get water and dies out there. If it dies in the wall you will probably have to pinpoint it and open up the wall to remove it.

I have an old antebellum home on piers. Two years ago,while I was offshore, we had possums in the walls. My wife got one of my coon cage traps and put in the crawl space. Put some kind of expired expensive cheese and caught three freaking possums.

You need to define "walls" OP. The gap between studs is only 3.5" usually and 12-24" wide, its not really wide enough for anything but a squirrel or rat to want to go into. You likely have a squirrel or rat nest.

If its in an attic, crawl space, gap, etc that's a different story.

Ace hardware sells live traps (have a heart) and those work great. Bait them with a variety of things from cheese to bird seed to deer corn. Place it on the inside or outside of your house where you hear the noise. Rats maybe inside, everything else outside.

It's definitely between the studs at the bottom half of the wall. I can hear it scratching in the mornings while I'm drinking coffee.
Probably a squirrel, but I'm not sure how it could have gotten in, probably the attic, I guess

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Probably a squirrel, but I'm not sure how it could have gotten in, probably the attic, I guess

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You need to get up along the roof to start to look. Check corners of the soffit to see if any gnaw holes are showing, and they don't have to be all that big for a squirrel to gain access.

If you have any overhanging tree limbs on or near the roof, cut them back.

Try your best to trap it because if it dies between your walls, living in the house will be very uncomfortable with the odor of a decaying rodent in the wall. That will take at least 2 or more weeks to finally come to an end.

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Probably a squirrel or rat. Locate the entrance if it’s a squirrel and block it off.

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Just make sure the squirrel is out before you block the entrance.

Lots of experience unfortunately….

In general if noise in middle of night is rat… if in evening or early morning when sun starting is a squirrel..

As op have said if a squirrel try to find and close hole in daytime to prevent squirrels going back in to sleep at night… if rat.. sorta stuck till leaves or dies….
Squirrels typically enter above ground.. under eave especially if second story.. will chew a hole in soffit especially where roof meet..corners…
You will probably not trap anything on attic.. but if able ….throw poison blocks ( those green chunk) … around in attic… you can stick your head into attic and throw them around and into corners… the rodents will find them…

If a squirrel you can set a live trap if you want.. if a rat you can buy little houses that you put the green chunk poison in and only small rodents can get into it.. suppose to be dog and child proof but I am to scared to use them in an area with kids and pets..
the poison is designed to make them thirsty and they will leave the house and go look for water and die ( or a drip pane in attic)….

If they die in wall.. yeah smell will peak for a few days.. may get a few flies but the nastiest stuff will be behind the wall a go away.. if in a ceiling space like between second/first floor.. probably will need kilz and touch up paint..

Sounds disgusting but is life in areas with nature and lots of trees.. not the end of the world..

If an animal can get his skull in he can probably get through the hole/ crack.

We had a bird fly in through one of the dryer? exhausts vents that were stuck upon, and end up in a column in our kitchen. I just figured out where it tended to be most of the time, and cut one or two chunks of 4x4 drywall out where I know it was, open the back door, and it was gone in 60 seconds.

You really don't want shite dying in tight spaces.