What could have done this??

Sad thing happened last nite, my dad occasionally leaves the young uns loft door to the aviary open overnite,so they can enjoy some early sunshine, the aviary is obviously sealed, went this morning and something had gotten into the aviary and killed and ate a young un, just 1, all that was left was the birds feet nothing else, the aviary door is wooden with the aviary rest mesh, had 1 occurence before when a small amount of damage was done to the bottom of the door, it looked like a rat had chewed a bit of the wood, but nothing since, there was no sign of entry/exit, now would a rat do this or something more lethal such as a stote, although cant understand why only 1 was killed.

yes a rat would do that but more likely a stote, i would mesh the floor paul or concrete it,it will be back

yes defo will be back its had a taste of blood now if it is a rat and you have a confind garden get yourself a couple of ginipigs you wont see any rats again mate

Paul agree with Ray, there is a food supply so what ever it was will be back,until the problem is stopped you have a big problem

Rene never heard that one before, have heard about having ferets and laying there droppings around the loft rats will not show again

All birds are now safely locked away, only in aviary when we are there so food supply stopped straight away, hopefully whatever it was will look elsewhere.

ferrets and rats will fight and kill eachother where a ginipig will kill the rat outright a rat is no match for one and the plus side is that you can let a ginipig loose in the garden and not worry about your pigeons bein eaten it dose work

stoat would have killed more think its a rat paul

I think your right Ian, the door to the loft would have been ajar so it would have had access to all the youngs uns if it wanted them.

ian. wrote:

stoat would have killed more think its a rat paul

will agree with ian, a stoat etc would have killed more than just one. remember, a rat can chew its way in during one night get a trap down if it was me.

Cheers Little hen for your ''Reassuring words'' You need alot of traps for our allotments, bet there are hundreds of rats running around in the dark, it would take all day for one to chew through the loft door so think were safe there, personally believe height is the answer with predators these days, had a unforgettable experience with A fox and my birds years ago, hence my profile picture.

ah allotment,didnt realise. your knackered then

agree with little, no chance against rats on allotments............... just make everything as secure as poss, its all you cn do.

cant you have a terrier on the allotment?

even if your loft is of the ground rats and mice can climb up vertical surfaces hers a little tip get a tub of grease and paint it on about 6" around the bottom of the loft if the aivrey is on legs aslo paint these upto the bottom of the aivery so they cant get a grip on any surface

Good advice there Rene

good tip rene, always good to know...............

I totaly agree with others here, have had this my self, its a rat for sure they always kill one and eat it. I have seen the feet left from a rat also. Set a trap and youll have it.

Funny you should say that, At present Rat trap set in garden waiting for it, no doubt it will return tonite and take bait, then only another 1000 to catch

Paul wrote:

Funny you should say that, At present Rat trap set in garden waiting for it, no doubt it will return tonite and take bait, then only another 1000 to catch

got to start somewhere paul.............

its the two legged rats youve got to watch paul

ian wrote:

its the two legged rats youve got to watch paul

plenty of them around