Author Topic: What's under my duck house? (Read 3773 times)

HesterF · « **on:** November 19, 2014, 11:36:43 am »

Not nearly as mysterious as the caravan tale but I need to know! Said duck house is a shed within a foxproof run although we do open the gate from time to time to allow duckies to muck up the rest of the garden too. Anyhow something is now living under the shed because I can see lots of little track marks coming out from under it when I got to let them out in the morning. They were making a bee line for the food bowl so I've started putting that inside the shed (which is definitely rat proof). My suspicion is rats but before I murder them, I want to make sure it's not a hedgehog because all the images of tracks seem really similar. The clear tracks I've seen look like a little hand print - splayed fingers but tiny (bigger than a mouse though). Is a hedgehog likely to move under a shed? It would have had to have got there in daylight because there is no way it could have got through the netting. Or have I got myself a whole family of rats to deal with?

Marches Farmer · « **Reply #1 on:** November 19, 2014, 11:50:32 am »

It's still warm enough here for hedgehogs to be active. Droppings are probably the best guide: rats' are dark brown, smooth and cylindrical and about 2cm long. Hedgehogs' are bigger and more irregular, often almost black and sometimes containing beetle wings and other bits and pieces. Are you able to shine a torch under the shed? Hedgehogs will probably have brought in leaves to make a nest. Rats are more likely to dig a hole.

HesterF · « **Reply #2 on:** November 19, 2014, 12:13:23 pm »

Thanks! I haven't seen any dropping which would probably also indicate rats since theirs would just get mixed up in the mud. Local council will send somebody out for free for rats so I've called them and hopefully they will make sure it is rats before they start trying to kill them (and they'll also know how not to kill the ducks at the same time).

NicandChic · « **Reply #3 on:** November 19, 2014, 05:17:34 pm »

Hope this helps

in the hills · « **Reply #4 on:** November 19, 2014, 05:46:47 pm »

Hogs do like chicken food and they can dig very well, so digging doesn't necessarily mean it's rats. Hogs would move under a shed, particularly at this time of year as they get ready to hibernate. There are lots of autumn juveniles around this year due to late litters being produced in the mild weather. They can be active in daylight as they try to put on the weight necessary for hibernation so could have moved in during the day.

Much better than rats! Get them to have a good check before putting any poison down.

Carse Goodlifers · « **Reply #5 on:** November 20, 2014, 06:18:50 pm »

I think it could be Roland.

We have a rat (although I've not seen it yet) under a 3x3 ft slab which covers an inspection hole for the drain pipe from the bathroom to the septic tank. Looked under the slab - no rat but another hole/tunnel under the slab to under the lawn. Before I moved the slab I did see prints in the mud and I am pretty sure it was Roland.

HesterF · « **Reply #6 on:** November 20, 2014, 07:59:01 pm »

I think it could be a rapidly expanding family of Rolands. I have got some photos of the prints and they don't seem to match anything except a tiny, tiny fox! But there are a lot of them and you can see where they go in and out from under the house and the trails they follow. Rat man due next week by which time there will be thousands under there at the current rate of expansion.