Egg Thief Surveillance

[cavemanrich]

STILL NO EGGS! I don't know what's going on with them, but no one is laying right now. In case it was the camera upsetting them, I moved it outside the house to face where I suspect the intruders are getting in and out. I'm also looking for some kind of rodents repellant I can put out to dissuade the rats, but that's proving a little more difficult than I had expected...

To the rescue....
http://macgyverisms.wonderhowto.com...ke-simple-no-kill-trap-for-mice-rats-0147621/

 

[Wobbles]

Oh no! A girlfriend means loads of baby ben's and benita's

 

[dotknott]

Zuko! Azula? Weyoun?! I approve of these names!

Hope you find the culprit soon!

 

[foxygoober]

Rodents- Eww! Went out of town the other week, came home to a decaying mouse in an electric trap. . .no matter where I went I kept smelling that smell!
Also- as long as you don't let the animal decay, I think electric traps are awesome. No poison to deal with and the ducks wouldn't be able to hurt themselves.

 

[cavemanrich]

Zuko! Azula? Weyoun?! I approve of these names!

If you run out of names...................... Hera is a good source

 

[AimToMisbehave]

To the rescue.... http://macgyverisms.wonderhowto.com...ke-simple-no-kill-trap-for-mice-rats-0147621/

Those are super clever! Thank you! I'm becoming kinda fond of the chubby buggers so I am hoping to get rid of them without killing them...

Oh no! A girlfriend means loads of baby ben's and benita's

I know, right?! This is gonna become a thing if I don't deal with it quick!

Zuko! Azula? Weyoun?! I approve of these names! Hope you find the culprit soon!

Thanks! My runners all have nerdy names! Wednesday from Addams Family Zuko and Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender (named because they were the only two black ones and looked super similar as peeps, and then they turned out to be the only drakes!) Weyoun and Ezri from Star Trek: Deep Space 9 Impa from Legend of Zelda Zoe from Firefly Mirage and Banshee from X-Men Gwaine from Arthurian legend

Rodents- Eww! Went out of town the other week, came home to a decaying mouse in an electric trap. . .no matter where I went I kept smelling that smell! Also- as long as you don't let the animal decay, I think electric traps are awesome. No poison to deal with and the ducks wouldn't be able to hurt themselves.

I'm keeping the option open, but my hope is to repel and/or relocate the rodents before exterminating them. Part of the trouble is that the duck pen is on the other side of the driveway from the house, so there's no power over there for electronic traps or ultrasonic resellers.

If you [COLOR=FF0000]run out[/COLOR] of names...................... Hera is a good source

Haha! I think if I could talk my husband into more birds, they'd probably get more nerdy fandom names

 

[AimToMisbehave]

Put the camera in a new spot in case it was disrupting the ducks' laying, and I did find an egg this morning (though not in the house... She laid it out in the open) but no thievery. This spot is too obscured by cinder blocks and grass, though, so I'm going to try to find another safe place to put it with a better view.

This is the corner of the pen I have blocked off from the ducks to let the grass grow back

There's a long time with no action beyond general milling of ducks

And then this guy shows up! I expected this was his path in and out of the pen, but I never actually saw him leave, so he must have at least one other path...


The ducks look into this corner longingly from time to time, because they want to eat all the grass and sprouted seeds

Daytime shot! I set the camera up in the dark last night and looking at the angle now, it wasn't good placement. I just have to find somewhere out of the rain to put it (it's a game camera, so I'm pretty sure it's waterproof, but it's not mine, so I don't want to risk it)

 

[AimToMisbehave]

No pictures of intruders tonight, but I got to go through 1,300+ shots of ducks doing duck stuff at night, so it wasn't a complete loss! There has to be a spot in the pen that I can put the camera and catch the thief without bothering the birds...

Wooo~ooooooo, spoopy ghost duck!

Runners look extra-silly when they're snooping for snacks

Alert!

Look at the fwappity-stomper!

Cake-pop duck, as opposed to pancake duck

Flapping wings look kinda creepy in IR...

She's heart-shaped!

I don't know what's going on back in the nest, but there weren't any eggs this morning...

Azula's head is so shiny!!! The game camera gets way better pictures of all his colors than any of my usual cameras!

 

[lovemy mallards]

Put the camera in a new spot in case it was disrupting the ducks' laying, and I did find an egg this morning (though not in the house... She laid it out in the open) but no thievery. This spot is too obscured by cinder blocks and grass, though, so I'm going to try to find another safe place to put it with a better view. This is the corner of the pen I have blocked off from the ducks to let the grass grow back There's a long time with no action beyond general milling of ducks And then this guy shows up! I expected this was his path in and out of the pen, but I never actually saw him leave, so he must have at least one other path... The ducks look into this corner longingly from time to time, because they want to eat all the grass and sprouted seeds Daytime shot! I set the camera up in the dark last night and looking at the angle now, it wasn't good placement. I just have to find somewhere out of the rain to put it (it's a game camera, so I'm pretty sure it's waterproof, but it's not mine, so I don't want to risk it)

my husband said it looks like a big gopher rat or pack rat! Good luck

 

[AimToMisbehave]

my husband said it looks like a big gopher rat or pack rat! Good luck

Do gopher rats dig? I was having a lot of trouble with something leaving molehills all over the duck pen until I put in some ultrasonic spikes that deter digging rodents. Apparently they don't work very well against surface rodents!