Things that go ..err ..scratchy scratchy shuffly flump ..in the night

There is something living in the attic space above my bedroom. It definitely has claws, as I hear it scratching about up there. And at 3am it sounds about as big as a ...a large ferret or something! With the savage talons of ..a ..an iguana. And no doubt the flesh tearing beak of a small owl! *shudders*

Thankfully I haven't the curiosity, or inclination to get my face mauled off, to find out exactly what it is by sticking my head through the gap in the ceiling. I shall therefore continue to imagine a host of debatably plausible monsterous beaties, and be sure never to stand for prolonged periods under the gap. But most of all: I will try to not think about the slim possibility that it is in fact a giant spider! EEP!