What eats my golf balls? in the winter

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I do like the game cam idea, but no funds at the moment for such luxuries. setting up and watching is an option as I can watch from the living room.
Also Easter is almost here, plastic eggs will be cheap and can be filled with things like plaster, cement, rat bars,,
There is also a pattern, Saturday night was the first night that was clear, no rain, nothing last night. More rain is predicted and it will be right after that rain that I get hit again. That will be Thursday through Saturday, maybe Wednesday night if the rain clears out.
What I can eliminate is coons, they would be chartering up a storm. An opossum would have been trapped, dog or coon too. A rat may have been able to get around the foot traps, or maybe a snake would not spring them,, IDK.
The dogs did sniff all around and do the same at a gate, I may also set a trap there! The hole I found in the fence, now with a live trap in it has produced nothing, so I will fix the hole, and move the trap.
My little girl dog did kill a rat in the yard yesterday, but I dont think it was large enuf to carry off golf balls.
 
I've heard of rats dragging off things that were 3 times their body weight, or more. I think the rats are very likely the culprits, they are smart (relatively speaking), adaptable, and breed prolifically. If you saw one, then there are probably many, many more. They have to chew to wear down their teeth, they can grow as much as 5 inches a year, so maybe they've decided the golf balls are a gift for that. Maybe you have a friend or neighbor that has a camera you can borrow for a few days? If you have brush piles, debris piles, dense underbrush, or buildings that have space under them they could be hiding/living in any of those. They will commonly travel several hundred feet on their forages.
 
I have a question for those that recommended the game camera. These seam to detect heat, will they detect a snake? I think it would detect a rat, but I just dont know about a snake. Reviews on some are not good, so, which low cost unit will do what I need (detect rats and snakes)? I have not read any that mention detecting snakes or rats.

If my predictions are correct I will get hit between now and Sunday morning! Nest is loaded with traps and balls, no egg wash this time, just very old golf balls. The minnow trap has 1 real egg in it.
Of course the dog may have ended the issue if it was that rat.
 
I have a Moultrie that was about $100. They use infrared to photograph at night, but are motion sensitive, so it's the movement that triggers them. There are some that you can set to take photos at predetermined intervals. Never tried to catch a snake, but my experience with the cameras is that positioning them correctly is the trick. So for rats I'd put them close to where you know, or suspect, they are running, and at their level. You might be able to set it up in your nest box itself. Some allow for adjustment of sensitivity. Here is an article with reviews that addresses rodents specifically : https://www.pest-control-products.net/2761/reviews/wildlife-camera-trap/
The hundred bucks may seem like a lot, but we've used it a lot and it's been well worth it in the long run.
 
Nice moon light all night, and nothing gone, the dog may have solved the problem. I really thought I would get hit last night,
I wish those around me took better care of their birds, but they roost in trees, and have no fences. And I find them on my farm from time to time dead. Or just the feathers as I did yesterday, the rooster was a SLW cross and looked nice. shame,,
Thanx for the link, I have already eliminated one of the top units as it sends pics to cloud or smartphone, not what I want at all. I want to be able to pull the pics to my PC via USB. I dont need a pay service to store pics or view/share them!
 
At this point, My little girl dog has solved the problem! Since she killed the rat not 1 ball has done a vanishing act! Of course it is spring (My groundhog was yet again wrong! It was already spring here when he poked his fat lazy head out,,)
Thanx to all for the suggestions, I will be looking into a camera system, it would come in handy to see just who is using this nest, and so on!
 

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