Hi folks,
I have a coop sitting on top of a cement slab. It has an attached, enclosed run (made with mesh wire, not chicken wire). Along the edges of the run, the mesh wire runs underground about a foot to prevent burrowing animals, like weasels, from digging under.
Yesterday morning I went outside to let the chickens out of the coop and into the run. I noticed a pile of dirt/pebbles on the INSIDE of the run, right next to the edge of the cement slab. The dirt pile was about 1/2 to 1 foot wide. Upon further inspection I realized that it was displaced from a tunnel that was dug under the cement pad and went to the OUTSIDE of the run, right where it connects to the coop and the extra foot of mesh wire that runs underground ends. The tunnel was about the width of a baseball all the way through.
I took a hose and sprayed water all throughout the tunnel to make sure nothing was still inside.
My first thought was chipmunks. We have TONS of them around, along with gray squirrels. I sprinkle cracked corn inside the run for the chickens to eat, but a lot gets left behind that they don’t eat, so I assumed a chipmunk was trying to get after that. But I’m also worried that it might be a weasel or mink. I live in Maine so we have lots around here. About 12 years ago I lost an entire flock to a weasel.
I buried the tunnel and put a cinder block over the main hole. I’m not worried about anything getting to my flock at night if it’s a nocturnal animal because the coop is very solid (the run, apparently not so much).
This morning I went back out and found a new tunnel dug around the cinder block. Again, it would’ve happened during the early morning hours (between 5am-8am) if it was a chipmunk. Otherwise, it would have to be nocturnal. This time, there were multiple signs of small digging spots inside the run, where it appeared to get out (unsuccessfully due to the underground wire).
I’ve since filled in the tunnels again with gravel and put larger rocks and cinder blocks over the holes. I also put rags soaked in peppermint and tea tree oil in between the rocks where the tunnels used to be as another potential deterrent. This is just a temporary deterrent until I’m able to get some more mesh wire to completely seal off the weak spot where it ends...I’m going to connect it over the cement pad and have it go underground a foot, just as it is around the base of the run.
In the meantime, does anyone have any guesses as to whether this is a weasel or just a chipmunk? Seems like a lot of damage for a chipmunk to do, especially given the size of the initial pile of displaced dirt I found. But we also have SO many chipmunks around, wouldn’t the large population size point to a lack of their natural predators (like minks and weasels) too?
I’ve attached photos of the ‘damage’ for reference. These photos were taken the second time I found the tunnels.
Any input is appreciated!
Photo 1: from outside the run, you can see the main hole leading into the run. It almost looks like the cinder block was also chewed at the corner??
Photo 2: from inside the run, where the hole seen in photo 1 leads to.
Photos 3-5: small holes found along the edge of the INSIDE of the run (but don’t make it to the outside because of the underground wire).
Photo 6/7: our whole coop set-up.
I have a coop sitting on top of a cement slab. It has an attached, enclosed run (made with mesh wire, not chicken wire). Along the edges of the run, the mesh wire runs underground about a foot to prevent burrowing animals, like weasels, from digging under.
Yesterday morning I went outside to let the chickens out of the coop and into the run. I noticed a pile of dirt/pebbles on the INSIDE of the run, right next to the edge of the cement slab. The dirt pile was about 1/2 to 1 foot wide. Upon further inspection I realized that it was displaced from a tunnel that was dug under the cement pad and went to the OUTSIDE of the run, right where it connects to the coop and the extra foot of mesh wire that runs underground ends. The tunnel was about the width of a baseball all the way through.
I took a hose and sprayed water all throughout the tunnel to make sure nothing was still inside.
My first thought was chipmunks. We have TONS of them around, along with gray squirrels. I sprinkle cracked corn inside the run for the chickens to eat, but a lot gets left behind that they don’t eat, so I assumed a chipmunk was trying to get after that. But I’m also worried that it might be a weasel or mink. I live in Maine so we have lots around here. About 12 years ago I lost an entire flock to a weasel.
I buried the tunnel and put a cinder block over the main hole. I’m not worried about anything getting to my flock at night if it’s a nocturnal animal because the coop is very solid (the run, apparently not so much).
This morning I went back out and found a new tunnel dug around the cinder block. Again, it would’ve happened during the early morning hours (between 5am-8am) if it was a chipmunk. Otherwise, it would have to be nocturnal. This time, there were multiple signs of small digging spots inside the run, where it appeared to get out (unsuccessfully due to the underground wire).
I’ve since filled in the tunnels again with gravel and put larger rocks and cinder blocks over the holes. I also put rags soaked in peppermint and tea tree oil in between the rocks where the tunnels used to be as another potential deterrent. This is just a temporary deterrent until I’m able to get some more mesh wire to completely seal off the weak spot where it ends...I’m going to connect it over the cement pad and have it go underground a foot, just as it is around the base of the run.
In the meantime, does anyone have any guesses as to whether this is a weasel or just a chipmunk? Seems like a lot of damage for a chipmunk to do, especially given the size of the initial pile of displaced dirt I found. But we also have SO many chipmunks around, wouldn’t the large population size point to a lack of their natural predators (like minks and weasels) too?
I’ve attached photos of the ‘damage’ for reference. These photos were taken the second time I found the tunnels.
Any input is appreciated!
Photo 1: from outside the run, you can see the main hole leading into the run. It almost looks like the cinder block was also chewed at the corner??
Photo 2: from inside the run, where the hole seen in photo 1 leads to.
Photos 3-5: small holes found along the edge of the INSIDE of the run (but don’t make it to the outside because of the underground wire).
Photo 6/7: our whole coop set-up.
My cats are skilled hunters; they have caught mice in our house before and for some reason, when they eat them, they always leave behind the kidney. 
This looked exactly like a mouse kidney, but bigger- about the size of a quarter. It seemed that one rat had somehow made its way into our house, but clearly didn't last too long with our cats. Maybe the rats had turned on our house in search of food and shelter after being blocked from getting into the run?
