Ok scat experts, help me out here - Final Update - FERAL CAT

[Simkie]

@endlessclimb

Might be worth a try though. But… they will still burrow under. It’s a non-matted stone dust floor.

I don’t find rodents to go that deep, but it’s just not hard to add hardware mesh down, or out. Aprons work great, without having to dig down several feet. Maybe you can anchor through it deeper with mobile home anchors (or something along those lines) to prevent heaving?

I’ve got more of a rodent problem here than I’ve had anywhere else, I think due to forest and habitat loss and human encroachment. It sucks, because they’re all so trap savvy. Thankfully the barn set up makes it easy to keep them out of the feed room & hay, but they do try to move in against the barn foundation or under the run in shed.

Making aggressive exclusion the first line of defence with hardware mesh and thresholds and the like has been so much more effective than not excluding and trying to play catch up with stuff that’s already inside. And while it’s effort to set up initially, it’s less effort long term than checking traps and trying to get stuff out that’s already in.

(And, bonus, just keeping stuff out is overall more humane, and limits the draw to other animals, whether they’re coming to investigate a mouse in distress on a glue board, or an easy colony to pick from.)

[endlessclimb]

I had a rat problem at my house in the city, because it backed up to the forest preserve and my neighbors never depooped their yard. My lush gardens (not food gardens, just flowers) and raised deck made the battle hard but I was thanking my stars for the brick house on a slab - they never made it inside.

The home improvement plan for next year is to rip the deck off and pour concrete. The dogs tell us something lives under there occasionally, and it’s rotting out anyways.

[Simkie]

If you’re pouring concrete next year, maybe it’s worth considering adding concrete curbs under the doors in the barn, too? Same concept as the wood thresholds but obv more durable. Cost would probably not be significant if you’re already rolling the truck for the patio?

[endlessclimb]

We could look into it. I am very concerned with heaving though, as I’ve had those doors lock up several times and my normal tricks didn’t work. I’d like to put new doors on, even if just sliders, but that’s big $$ and a big PITA too.

[Simkie]

Yeah, I’m curious if you can anchor deeply enough to prevent that. Two birds, one stone, you know?

[endlessclimb]

I’ll wait to see if any of my fence posts heave - some of them are 4’ down. This land is very wet. Great for my fencing ground rods, not so great for anything else.

[Horsegirl_s_Mom]

It just seems like there is no good solution.

Two days ago, we found a small rat in a snap trap. Alive but injured. Hubby had to club it to death with a shovel, which he found very traumatic.

We won’t use poison because we treasure the foxes and owls we have nearby.

Someone described a humane trap that involves building a ramp up into a bucket, which then has a tightrope stretched across it with food dangling. In their effort to get the food, the mice/rats fall into the bucket. You then need to drive them some distance away so they don’t return. Sigh. I see the humanity of the method, but it’s a serious commitment to be running a “vermin bus” every day…

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

Yup. We’ve used a bucket trap.

[endlessclimb]

And, relocating wild animals is just a cruel as dispatching them.

I personally have no problem dispatching, else I wouldn’t use the glue boards. Letting them starve to death on the board is inexcusable to me. The second they are found, they are dispatched.

But the reality is - glue traps are what are used in feed/food mills and facilities. They get checked weekly at best. Super inhumane, and when I worked in a food facility I would take them out back to dispatch them (and got in trouble for it).

[endlessclimb]

Of all people to show this to, I showed it to my boss.

He votes bobcat.

I sure as hell hope NOT.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

Interesting!!!

I’ve heard they are shy. But stealthy as heck.

Very beautiful animals.

[endlessclimb]

If it’s a bobcat, I’m calling ILDNR immediately to take care of it. Beautiful is right. I think they’re super cool but respect how aggressive they can be if they feel like they’re cornered.

And may make sense why my Old Man horse has been edgy lately.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

Has anyone shared this chart with you Endless? It’s a helpful one.

Another thought occurred to me. Is it possible it’s a skunk? They have a weird winter thing where they sometimes try to burrow in various places in the winter right before they mate in the middle of winter. They seem to have a reproductive cycle involving mating in February , but older females can come into estrus earlier. We had one trying to burrow under our house by our walkout basement a few years ago. There’s a 2 story deck above it, and it seems like the skunk felt very comfortable there. Fortunately the concrete slab foundation deterred it. But it was a bold and determined creature.

I also would consider the possibility that this might be what’s under your deck and exciting your dogs.

Pictures of the skunk who tried very hard to move in to my walkout basement a few years ago. I kept on encountering her at night after walking back from doing night checks at the barn. She would be digging and scratching in the gravel under the deck by the foundation. It happened right after Christmas. She was very focused on her goal…

[Simkie]

What do you expect ILDNR to do about a bobcat eating a mouse in your barn? Nothing you’ve described falls under their “nuisance removal” guidelines.

We’ve got a a few families of bobcat here, one with a litter of kittens a couple years ago. They don’t bother the horses.

[cayuse]

That’s interesting. It appears as though I’ve had a bear Sh!t in my woods

[endlessclimb]

Our deck would allow a skunk under it. It’s got hardware mesh along the sides, with holes on edges that are only 1-2" - definitely big enough for ground squirrels and rats but not big enough for a skunk. We don’t like ANY rodent harborage, so want to pour a slab.

But yes, I suppose it is possible that it could be skunk. I think it’s pretty big for skunk poop, though, but maybe he had a big deuce to drop.

Oh that’s going to rank just under the bobcat for “please, no” on the animal scale.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

Yep. Skunks are awful.

[endlessclimb]

If it’s in my barn I do not want to be the one trapping for removal. They also request information on sightings in N IL and would most certainly come out to take a look around the area even if it had moved on.

Edit: You seem really uptight about anything wild animal related. Maybe this isn’t the thread for you. Nowhere did I say I wanted to dispatch a bobcat, or that I didn’t like bobcats. They’re amazing animals. But there is a zero percent chance I will allow it or any other animal to live in my hay barn without being harassed to leave.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@Simkie

We’ve got a a few families of bobcat here, one with a litter of kittens a couple years ago. They don’t bother the horses.

I’d be so excited to see bobcat kittens on a game cam or in real life. They are somewhat rare in my area.

I have seen many adorable fox kits, turkey keets, and even caught black bear cubs on the game cams though. I’ve hear coyote pups in the fields nearby, but never see them on any cameras.

[Horsegirl_s_Mom]

@endlessclimb

And, relocating wild animals is just a cruel as dispatching them.

I didn’t know this. Explain?