Do gray squirrels steal eggs?

[CrashingPines]

There has been a sudden loss of eggs lately in my coop. Chickens are fine, not molting. I have a LGD so predators are staying their distance. And he can’t get into the coop and he isn’t an egg thief anyway.

But I have many many squirrels. Can they carry eggs away? No broken shells or any other evidence. Another big mystery is that when I started, I had two ceramic eggs in the coop nest boxes and they also, disappeared without a trace. I’m baffled.

 

[cmom]

I have plenty of squirrels around here but mostly fox squirrels. They never go near my coops. I do have a few grey squirrels, but not many. When the grey's start to move in, I eliminate them. The don't bother my coops or birds either but they do other damage. When the grey's move in they will eventually drive the others species out such as the fox squirrels which don't do any damage. They multiply quite quickly and they are not an endangered species. If you have a game camera, put it up and then you will find out where your eggs are going. Good luck...

 

[guyvstewart]

You have at least one snake! I leave my run open during the day so the chickens can free range, and have found 2 snakes in the coop. I caught 1 snake that had swallowed 2 ceramic eggs.

 

[cmom]

@dawg53 do you eat grey squirrels and fox squirrels?

 

[Qwerty3159]

Whole eggs disappearing with no trace sounds like a snake. Ceramic eggs disappearing points to definitely snake, as they smell and look just like the real thing and the snake would swallow them whole anyhow without noticing the mistake. I saw a video once where a snake swallowed a lightbulb that was laying loose in a coop because it was somewhat round and smelled like a chicken.
You're probably dealing with a harmless if not somewhat intimidating ratsnake. Please consider eliminating any points of entry for the snake rather than killing it. They are important to the environment, eating lots of rodents including your squirrels, and although rat snakes can have a bit of a temper they're pretty harmless. I think the bigger ones will go after chicks and small birds but its much easier for them to just steal some eggs.
Also consider that snakes eat far less than mammals or birds have to and that the likelihood of this snake coming back every day to gorge is pretty slim, it would get extremely obese very quickly.

 

[AltonaAcres]

We have squirrels who steal our chicken food but haven't ever lost an egg to one

 

[happybooker1]

Snake??

 

[AltonaAcres]

Yes, those eat our eggs all the time

 

[Nola985]

We have tons of gray squirrels and they are welcomed part of our yard. I feed the wild squirrels daily along with my birds and dog. Sadly, a ton of misinformation and damage is contributed to gray squirrels or just squirrels in general. A friend swore grays were eating his veggie garden. I persuaded him to set up a camera. Turns out it was a rat. Same thing with roof damage. Rats. I’ve never had one damage anything, eat eggs, or even mess with my garden. The worst is them burying nuts in my beds. If you watch your yard diligently you will soon find the real culprit.

I have plenty of squirrels around here but mostly fox squirrels. They never go near my coops. I do have a few grey squirrels, but not many. When the grey's start to move in, I eliminate them. The don't bother my coops or birds either but they do other damage. When the grey's move in they will eventually drive the others species out such as the fox squirrels which don't do any damage. They multiply quite quickly and they are not an endangered species. If you have a game camera, put it up and then you will find out where your eggs are going. Good luck...

 

[cmom]

You are quite welcome to all of the grey squirrels. The grey squirrels here got under the hood of our truck and ate the windshield washer tubing which was a real pain to replace. The greys also ate the cable TV wire at the telephone pole next to our drive way and also at the pole out next to the street.