Help me identify this hole!

[wickstopher]

Hi, everyone! I have a small chicken coop at my city home. I'm pretty sure I have rats here. I've noticed some holes going in and out of the coop and have seen one at night a few times, but never during the day. They don't seem to mess with the chickens, they're only after the feed that they scatter around the run with their messy eating habits. I'm thinking about getting one of those electric rat traps and somehow trying to tighten up the bottom of my shed that the chicken coop is attached to (expanding foam and concrete, maybe?). I'm starting to think they're living under there. Anyhow, today I noticed a different sort of hole next to my fence and going underground. It was different in that there was lots of displaced dirt piled around the hole. I've attached a picture...is this a rat too, or do I have some new predator on my hands? The hole's about 3 inches in diameter. Thanks!

 

[stoopid]

Give us something to judge size...can't tell from pic.

 

[wickstopher]

Just finished editing the original post...hole's about 3 inches in diameter.

 

[stoopid]

2 in. sounds rat-size, or weasel, what other predators do you have?

 

[wickstopher]

Sorry, just went and measured...more like 3 inches. I've never heard of weasels around here...I'm in Rochester, NY. I suppose it's possible, though.

 

[lovin my birds]

ETS: I dont know if you have muskrats where you live.

Do you have any water anywhere near your coop and shed. We had the same type of holes that something was digging. Found out it was a muskrat, it was living under my coops (duck and chicken), and using the duck ponds for water. It was also eating my chicken feed and dog food. It might be a young muskrat that is living under your shed for warmth. The one under mine was starting to steal hay as well to make a nest. The only way we got rid of it was to move all the coops and move the water to where it would have to walk about 200 feet to get to the water. So it has no more protection and no more water and it moved on. Im not sure if you could do this or not, I dont know of any other way to get rid of them. I hope its not rats!

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

That could be a rat. Depending on the size of rats you have there, they can make pretty big holes. We are having problems here with rats burrowing under our coops. It's a constant pain. The only way to prevent it is to dig all the way around your coop and lay hardware cloth down a foot then bent out a foot. It helps to then put cement down at the bottom of the hardware cloth, too.

i have a couple rat zappers and they work great on mice and baby rats. But our adult rats are too smart and too big to fit inside.

 

[Chinchilla2]

Could be a young armadillo. I've seen those suckers wiggle through a 3" dia. hole and the pic looks a lot like the ones they keep digging in my yard but that would depend on your area. I've seen them in both rural and urban settings but not sure if they frequent New York state. They will eat scattered feed but in their search for bugs they like to dig under things like propane tanks, tree roots, under the house, etc.

Rats can do the same thing. I think the area of dirt toss looks a bit big for a rat but then again I've seen some seriously large rats that may do that as well. Do you see any paw prints of some kind around?

 

[animalpro24]

Could be a possum. They can fit through the smallest of holes! UGH! Good luck getting this guy!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

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