Who Ate My Dead Rat?

eldragon · Oct 30, 2006

We live in a strange land.

Last winter, we buried a dead snake over by our back pond, and the next day, it was dug up and gone.

Yesterday, I found Winnie dead on the bottom of the cage. She was a rescued feeder rat who pooped everytime someone tried to pick her up. (She spent two years in a cage...running on a wheel for exercise.)

I buried her out by the woods, in a grave about a foot deep. I tamped the dirt down so that my 9 year old wouldn't be able to tell where the grave was. (She's curious, perhaps she'll be a scientist.)

Today the dead rat is gone. Someone done ate her.

Who would do this?

An armadillo?
A raccoon?
An Opposum?
Or, something else?

oarsman · Oct 30, 2006

Did you see any tracks or scratching marks? It might be a skunk. They have powerful front claws and are excellent at digging. They like to eat small rodents and insects. I am not sure if they would eat a snake.

ETA: Yes, I found out they will eat snakes too.

cree · Oct 30, 2006

I have no guesses; the thread title was just too compelling not to stop in...

Vincent · Oct 30, 2006

You might have a zombie problem.

Nakhlasmoke · Oct 30, 2006

Pet Semetary, anyone?

eldragon · Oct 31, 2006

Nakhlasmoke said:
Pet Semetary, anyone?

That's all I need, another two years with this rat.

Happy Halloween everyone!

eldragon · Oct 31, 2006

oarsman said:
Did you see any tracks or scratching marks? It might be a skunk. They have powerful front claws and are excellent at digging. They like to eat small rodents and insects. I am not sure if they would eat a snake.

ETA: Yes, I found out they will eat snakes too.

Yes, there were some serious scratch marks. We do have skunks, although I've never seen one, we have their smell around the house quite often. In fact, just two nights ago I smelled skunk spray.

It's amazing to me that any animal would be able to smell a dead rat buried 6 inches in the ground.

Haggis · Oct 31, 2006

I think Spooky did it.

J. Weiland · Oct 31, 2006

hillbillies? Do any live close by?

eldragon · Oct 31, 2006

J. Weiland said:
hillbillies? Do any live close by?

Heck yeah!

No, actually, we refer to them as rednecks. And there are plenty here.

MidnightMuse · Oct 31, 2006

Do you have coyotes where you live?

Badgers?

Budding sociopaths, perhaps?

eldragon · Oct 31, 2006

MidnightMuse said:
Do you have coyotes where you live?

Badgers?

Budding sociopaths, perhaps?

We might have coyotes, but I don't think they would come in our yard. We have a Great Pyranees dog kenneled pretty close to where the rat was buried, plus a mixed breed dog who stays on our carport at night.

Our Great Pyr barks all night long, keeping predators like coyotes away. Apparently he doesn't scare raccoons, which I'm grateful for, because just yesterday I found one of Luckys empty catfood cans by a fence that runs right by my dogs kennel. Apparently a hungry raccoon still helps himself to our trash cans despite two barking dogs.

No badgers.

I went and looked at the tracks, it's probably a skunk.

Haggis · Oct 31, 2006

eldragon said:
I went and looked at the tracks, it's probably a skunk.

I told you it was probably Spooky.

Del · Oct 31, 2006

It would take desperation to dig a foot after a lunch as small as a dead rat. I don't know if it could be sensed through a foot of earth.

Maybe you buried it over someone's stash. There is a dog running about thinking who changed my bone into a dead rat.

Or, I don't know. Do you live near Spooky?

bluegrassandyb · Oct 31, 2006

As an unabashed hillbilly (sadly misplaced in the land of ice and snow) I take offense to that remark. We don't eat buried animals, it's too hard to clean them properly. Road kill is an entirely different matter.

September skies · Oct 31, 2006

Haggis said:
I think Spooky did it.

LOL - and i was going to say Haggis did it. Dogs do dig things up all the time, and anyway, I mean, look at him, you can't tell if he's a dog or a rat.

Haggis · Oct 31, 2006

September skies said:
LOL - and i was going to say Haggis did it. Dogs do dig things up all the time, and anyway, I mean, look at him, you can't tell if he's a dog or a rat.

oarsman · Oct 31, 2006

eldragon said:
It's amazing to me that any animal would be able to smell a dead rat buried 6 inches in the ground.

Skunks have a strong sense of smell and can find insects and mice just under the surface. I think it comes from being so close to the ground and having to rely on the ground for food. Skunks usually leave a cone-shape hole when they dig.

If you bury another rat, maybe you should try covering it with some mothballs before burying it. It would either hide the scent or attract all kinds of animals (and rednecks) to the spot.

eldragon · Oct 31, 2006

Delarege said:
It would take desperation to dig a foot after a lunch as small as a dead rat. I don't know if it could be sensed through a foot of earth.

Maybe you buried it over someone's stash. There is a dog running about thinking who changed my bone into a dead rat.

Or, I don't know. Do you live near Spooky?

Well, Winnie weighed at least 8 pounds. She was a well-fed, fat rat who stopped exercising about a year ago. She would be worth the dig, if you liked to eat dead rat flesh, that is.

awatkins · Oct 31, 2006

Eight pounds?? I didn't know they got that big! Wow.

MidnightMuse · Oct 31, 2006

eldragon said:
...if you liked to eat dead rat flesh, that is.

Tonight, on Iron Chef America, it's Bobby Flay vs Billy-Bob. And tonight's secret ingredient is . . .

Dead Rat Flesh!

Let the Battle Begin!

Ol' Fashioned Girl · Oct 31, 2006

September skies said:
LOL - and i was going to say Haggis did it. Dogs do dig things up all the time, and anyway, I mean, look at him, you can't tell if he's a dog or a rat.

He just wanted to roll in it... he didn't MEAN to eat it!

oarsman · Oct 31, 2006

Do you think this McDonald's story is any way related to the rat missing?

eldragon · Oct 31, 2006

awatkins said:
Eight pounds?? I didn't know they got that big! Wow.

Well, she weighed alot. Maybe not 8 pounds, but definitely 5.

Vincent · Oct 31, 2006

eldragon said:
It's amazing to me that any animal would be able to smell a dead rat buried 6 inches in the ground.

No, half a foot isn't deep at all. Remember, the police use dogs to find bodies a number of feet under the ground.

Who Ate My Dead Rat?

in a van down by the river

Salt water is the cure

Cheers

yes

in a van down by the river

in a van down by the river

Evil, undead Chihuahua

Lurker

in a van down by the river

Midnight Reading

in a van down by the river

Evil, undead Chihuahua

Sky isn't falling, ground is rising

cloud watching

Evil, undead Chihuahua

Salt water is the cure

in a van down by the river

Not harboring illegal parrot

Midnight Reading

Hand? What hand?

Salt water is the cure

in a van down by the river

Cheers