Help me kill whatever is digging these holes around my pen...... :)

[JoeOxfordCT]

Hi All,

First post in awhile which is a good thing !! No more problems with hawks since I covered my pen.

Next topic....

I am finding hole dug in spots around and under the perimeter of my pen. Check the pictures...one is clear, I put a tape measure there for scale.....the holes are approximately 3 inches in diameter.....I am thinking weasel ??? They only appear overnight. My birds are locked safely in the coop at night so they're safe...but it's a little unsettling to see so much activity taking place while we're all sleeping.....

If it's a weasel what're the best ways to trap & kill them ? Jaw trap ? I'm not playing.....I intend to kill whatever it is that's doing this.....no catch & relocate or Havahart traps thank you......My birds will be laying very soon....those that know me know I went through a ton of baloney last year with hawks where I ended up selling my remaining birds to Purple Chicken. This year I've dealt with the hawks and now I'm getting this....

You can see in the second pic where the animal has dug almost all the way under the wire I have laid on the ground.

 

[bluebirdfarm]

i am thinking that a weasel could easily get through the wire without digging ? Do you have chicken wire and then another wire ? i could not tell by the pic.?

 

[miss_thenorth]

I have holes in my coop too. They look about the same but mine are just from rats/mice. I don't think we have weasels in our area.

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Armadillos will dig too.

I have one that digs right around my barn as well as other places in the yard. He's not trying to eat the chickens, just dig up stuff to eat and the stuff he eats just happens to like chicken poo.

 

[HennysMom]

looks like a vole or a mole to me - vole's dig vigorously at night, are related to a mouse/rat/mole LOL

 

[BeckyLa]

Looks like the Armadillo and skunk holes I get around here.

 

[Indiana hens]

I saw corn. Have you been feeding bread? Bread draws rats!

 

[ashyannehand]

Here in the south Armadillos do that. They can dig a whole yard up with these little holes.

Good luck!

 

[ivan3]

To begin a cheap ID (voles/something else...) A glue trap with some meal worms spread on it would probably get the vole. A couple of Big Victor rat traps with something tasty like raw bacon tied to the treadle would eliminate other possibles. Just place the traps under overturned boxes (cut out a few entrances in boxes in case it's `rat like').

good luck!

 

[JoeOxfordCT]

Well I'm in Connecticut so armadillos are out...

(I think

)

The holes seem awfully big for voles.....3 inches in diameter....

Rats I guess it could be.....I would feel a little better than weasels.....
I will pick up one of those large snap rat traps and see what I get.......

Thanks !!!

J.