Mass death

[snakecharma]

could have been a wild rat that did the damage but too all of them sounds strange

could it be with our really nasty temps in the last few nights that they attacked each other for warmth??

 

[wicked reptiles]

And it couldnt be some sick twisted human?

 

[Saz]

Wild rats and mice do that. I had it happen to mice when I kept them in an outside shed in the UK, and a friend had it happen to his rats, and found the culprit wild rat still at the scene of the crime. It's an odd behaviour, especially to kill almost if not all of the animals, but not uncommon.

 

[Hetty]

I had a rat get into my aviary once, killed all my quails

 

[Dipcdame]

ummmm..... time to call Scully and Mulder???????

 

[=bECS=]

I had a rat get into my aviary once, killed all my quails

Ive never heard of that before, but i guess its an excuse to get the rat wire and put it over the aviary! Damn it, ive been so good at putting it off as long as possible too....
Oh well, i hope it rains tomorrow :lol:

 

[alex_c]

i have heard of a similar scenario which was caused by food. But do have a good look around for any signs of a wild rat

 

[Renagade]

at any given times i need to blame a mystery on, i like to point the finger at WASPS. it is capable of such nasty things... and you'd never pic it.

 

[Ewan]

at any given times i need to blame a mystery on, i like to point the finger at WASPS. it is capable of such nasty things... and you'd never pic it.

Like what are they capable of? I knew there was something suspicios about those things!

 

[FNQ_Snake]

Could it have been a human? I mean we are all looking at animals that may have done this, could someone have a grudge against you? Check the tools in your shed for blood and fur. Maybe somone was being a pain in the rear end?

Just a thought?

 

[koubee]

Could it have been a human? I mean we are all looking at animals that may have done this, could someone have a grudge against you? Check the tools in your shed for blood and fur. Maybe somone was being a pain in the rear end?

Just a thought?

I certainly hope not............:shock: Given that one of the dead girls pretty much had her ears chewed off, i don't think it would have been done by a human.
No-one can get into my yard either, well they'd have to get past 3 cattle dogs, and then get the key to my shed.
Going out now to check the rat trap.
I too thought it may have been the cold cold nights we've had, but i still have some alive and very healthy.

I'm putting my money on it being a wild rat or mice.

 

[FNQ_Snake]

Cool, I was just putting it out there.

 

[koubee]

Hmmm nothing in the trap, but it had been set off.....so SOMETHING is out there

 

[koubee]

Sending the kids out to play detective and to sprinkle some flour on the floor to get some tracks.......I'll catch this evil ittle bugger.

 

[Jewly]

Wow, that is really strange. I'd be really interested to know what killed the poor little things. Hope you manage to find the culpruit.

 

[Hetty]

Ive never heard of that before, but i guess its an excuse to get the rat wire and put it over the aviary! Damn it, ive been so good at putting it off as long as possible too....
Oh well, i hope it rains tomorrow :lol:

The rats dug under to get in, so the wire should be into the ground a bit if possible (unless you have one of those professionally built aviaries with flooring and stuff :lol.

 

[Whisper2]

bit off topicish but my friend and i have always had pet rats. i feed mine on fruit and the petshop rat mix, she fed those two plus meatie bites.
her rats went feral and either tried to eat you (aggressivly not cute) or anything else in their path. mine is still perfect. my friend has had several rats after her first one went spacky and they all somehow kill themselves. mine is still going strong.
so we put the meat in the diet down to producing the abnormaly aggressive behaviour. but these are pet shop rats so they might just be inbred to many times. strange though that mine is fine and never aggressive. but even if this were a possibility i doubt your female would be able to chew her own ears off... strange

 

[dodgie]

If you have them in the shed in melbourne in the middle of winter the cold probably killed them.If there were any live still alive towards the end of the night if may have been the live ones that had a go at the others until they all died.Or a mouse may have got in and had a nibble on the dead.

Mice and rats will attack the under dog,so if some are just about dead they will get attacked.

 

[Saz]

bit off topicish but my friend and i have always had pet rats. i feed mine on fruit and the petshop rat mix, she fed those two plus meatie bites.
her rats went feral and either tried to eat you (aggressivly not cute) or anything else in their path. mine is still perfect. my friend has had several rats after her first one went spacky and they all somehow kill themselves. mine is still going strong.
so we put the meat in the diet down to producing the abnormaly aggressive behaviour. but these are pet shop rats so they might just be inbred to many times. strange though that mine is fine and never aggressive. but even if this were a possibility i doubt your female would be able to chew her own ears off... strange

Apparently some can develop overly aggressive behaviour when older, which is genetic. Getting males neutered can help solve that problem if they are pets and you feel so inclined. They shouldn't be bred anyway, not a nice trait to carry onto offspring.

 

[Sturdy]

Id say it would be a wild rat..

we have 4 laying hens an we keep their seed an hay in a sealed cupboard inside a lock up shed.

an the lil buggers just chewed a whole in the bottom of the cupboard an started making a family in the hay an eating the seed.