What animal is tunneling under our coop? Photos

[chickmamato7]

I have ground squirrels and moles all around my yard, and they leave smaller holes than that. Moles leave mounds of dirt and chipmunks & squirrels leave midden piles and lots of shallow holes where they dig but don't finish.

The fact that the mystery animal chewed a cinder block is concerning! Indicates that the animal was wide enough to need more room. Weasels are thin enough to fit through narrow holes, so my guess is that a rat did that!

I would look for droppings and foot prints for verification. Here are some links that might be helpful for that:
https://www.discoverwildlife.com/how-to/identify-wildlife/how-to-identify-animal-holes/
https://www.discoverwildlife.com/how-to/identify-wildlife/how-to-identify-mammal-droppings/
https://www.discoverwildlife.com/how-to/identify-wildlife/how-to-identify-animal-tracks-and-trails/

 

[Painted Calls]

Looks like rat tunnels.

 

[77horses]

We have almost 30 acres of forest and pasture plus our house barn and outbuildings. Earlier this spring we found a big rat drowned quite dead in our stock tank. I baited and got rid of two more just recently. The last one like I said, was burrowing under my chain link fence to avoid the hot wire.

I asked my husband where he thought they were coming from and he just waved his arm at the pasture and timber.

We have an overabundance of mice, field voles and what I call field rats, probably just common gray rats. It's a constant battle to keep them under control,

Huh, who would’ve thought- apparently they’re called Norway rats (or just brown/sewer rats) and they do indeed live in the woods. Crazy.
I think I’m going to set up a live trap in the run to see what we get. But I’m thinking y’all are right about it being a rat or two (if not more).

 

[Painted Calls]

I remember being a kid and sniping rats out of the hay barn. Definitely not just city creatures.

 

[RainbowHen]

I wouldn't rule out chipunks. Their tunnels are ruining the foundation of our house. I have been trapping and killing them all summer.

 

[microchick]

Yeah, I used to snipe ground squirrels. Funny how they are cute until they start eating your yard and flower beds then it's grab the .22 and head outside.

If you want to do a ID on footprints, just put down a powder of common flour around the hole and check for foot prints in the morning. Most are active overnight around here.

 

[LateBirdFarms]

Those look a heck of a lot like rat holes. I get ton of extra unwanted visitors every year when they harvest the grain fields close to the house, and they particularly like the cement slab under my coop too.

 

[77horses]

Those look a heck of a lot like rat holes. I get ton of extra unwanted visitors every year when they harvest the grain fields close to the house, and they particularly like the cement slab under my coop too.

It’s crazy because we’ve lived here almost 3 years now and this is the first time they’ve ever showed up, if they are indeed rats. These holes appeared over a span of two days so far.

 

[LateBirdFarms]

It’s crazy because we’ve lived here almost 3 years now and this is the first time they’ve ever showed up, if they are indeed rats. These holes appeared over a span of two days so far.

They're industrious little suckers! They can get the 15' from the fence separating us from the field and a network under the coop done in 2 days easy. Smart too, unfortunately, I've never caught two in a live trap in the same season and only a few fall for the snap traps.. but if a support beam goes down under the run tarp in a rainstorm and collects a ton of water, a dozen turn up floating by morning, go figure!

 

[shineandrise]

Ok, so guessing chipmunks?

Do weasels ever hunt during the day?
We haven’t had anything get into the coop, which is closed up entirely at night. Even if something gets into the run at night , as it has, there’s no way into the coop- unless it can chew through a metal-plated door!
So the only way a weasel would be able to get to the flock would be during the day