Let me set the scene. My run is 23 feet by 15 feet, with wood fence on 2 sides, the coop on the third (for most of the third side), and a farm fence style fence for the 4th. Wood fence is the "Shadow Box" type where the fence boards alternate on each side of the horizontal 2 by 4. Fence looks the same from the inside and the outside. Since the fence boards alternate inside and outside, there are large gaps that many small predators could just walk thru. Between each fence board there is a space that is probably about 10 times the size a rat needs. I did add some 2 by 4 inch weave chicken wire, but this does not make the holes or gaps any smaller. Not even sure why I did it. The farm fence side is made of wire with 2 by 4 inch openings. Huge access point for rats and stuff. Enough said.
So......why did someone decide to make a tunnel about a foot long into my run!?!? Hahaha!
This all was done overnight....
Exterior end of the tunnel. Almost a perfect circle.
To make this even more confusing, this tunnel is right next to my gate. My gate that has a massive gap between the gate and the post. You can see the tunnel to the left, and the gate/gap to the right.
I sat there muttering "why" over and over again.....haha. After I gave up on trying to determine the logic of a rat, I dug out the tunnel on the run side a bit and stuck a T-Rex snap trap in there with some peanut butter. Covered it with a small plywood board so the chickens don't mess with it. Will be interesting to see if I catch anything. I might crumble some rat poison in there if the snap trap doesn't work. After first filling in the tunnel to see if it is re-excavated of course. Maybe this was a one time thing....
So......why did someone decide to make a tunnel about a foot long into my run!?!? Hahaha!
This all was done overnight....
Exterior end of the tunnel. Almost a perfect circle.
To make this even more confusing, this tunnel is right next to my gate. My gate that has a massive gap between the gate and the post. You can see the tunnel to the left, and the gate/gap to the right.
I sat there muttering "why" over and over again.....haha. After I gave up on trying to determine the logic of a rat, I dug out the tunnel on the run side a bit and stuck a T-Rex snap trap in there with some peanut butter. Covered it with a small plywood board so the chickens don't mess with it. Will be interesting to see if I catch anything. I might crumble some rat poison in there if the snap trap doesn't work. After first filling in the tunnel to see if it is re-excavated of course. Maybe this was a one time thing....
