Strange Tunnels

[Creteloc]

Our chickens were very skiddish and I saw digging against the hardware cloth that surrounded their run for a while. Last weekend I saw a tunnel that managed to go under the hardware cloth that we buried 2 feet out around the run! So I hurried and created a floor out of the hardware cloth. It's not permanent, I'm building an entirely new coop and run, so their hardware cloth floor is temporary.

Anyway, what do you make of this tunnel? I've seen shadows of a critter, but no one in my family has seen what it is. I have a live trap coming today, but it'd help catch it if I could figure out what it is. Nothing has attacked the chickens and no eggs are missing that we know of. Now though, nothing can get inside.

BTW, the spilled food in the tunnel was there long after the tunnel was made, so they aren't after the chicken food.

Northern Utah Common Predators :

Skunk
Weasel
Mice
Rat
Vole
Raccoon
Fox
Mink
Hawk
Magpie
Dog
Cat
Fox
Coyote

 

[Hybridchucks]

Rats?

 

[Percheron chick]

Looks like voles. I do have them in my coop this time of year. I see them at dark scurrying around the floor. They steal food but don't bother the chickens. I have tried poisoning them but haven't had much luck. I mostly just remove feed at night and try to ignore them .

 

[PirateGirl]

voles dig tunnels in a way that the tunnel appears raised above the surface of the soil

most other animals that dig tunnels you may be able to see the entrance of the tunnel but will not see the tunnel itself from above ground (prairie dogs, ground squirrels, rabbits)

some animals will leave mounds of soil at the tunnel entrance

the diameter of the entrance hole is a key piece of the puzzle too

Hopefully by looking at these factors you can narrow down what it may be

 

[Creteloc]

Security footage is in. I have tons of rats! UGH. Now what? They aren't interested in the live trap at all. I don't want to poison them in case they die where my dog or a chicken can get to them. I need advice.

 

[Boonie Stomper]

Let them have no more food and they may fall for a baited snap trap or threes the kind of trap they go in but can't get out that stores and restaurants use.
Good luck!

 

[Creteloc]

I've been reading other rat stories on here and we're in trouble. They are out during the day, and at one point I saw 6 of them at once in the tunnels below the run. I'm very overwhelmed by this.

 

[lazy gardener]

voles dig tunnels in a way that the tunnel appears raised above the surface of the soil

Not voles that I know. Their tunnels are underground.

OP, you have a huge infestation. According to the folks who are successful dealing with an infestation, poison is going to be necessary. You will need bait stations that are out of reach of your animals. Rats are trap cautious, and super smart. So, poison may be your only way to get rid of them. In the mean time, feed your birds only measured feedings. You'll not even be able to leave feed out during the day, b/c the rats are coming around during the day. And remove both food and water at night, for sure.

 

[PirateGirl]

http://www.wildlifeanimalcontrol.com/voles.html

 

[lazy gardener]

Those tunnels are on the surface, but not raised.