Wild rats and their housing

[Joanne]

Every spring I discover many areas where colonies of rats and mice have lived over the winter. It is very interesting to see...

 

[Joanne]

Another shot of the adjacent area:

 

[Joanne]

They seem to choose areas that flood in the spring. Perhaps that supplies them with a water source during the winter:

 

[Joanne]

Piles of dirt that have been excavated:

 

[Joanne]

A closeup of an area where three tunnels meet:

 

[Claireybell2477]

Wow cool pics Joanne! That's really neat. I wonder where they've all gone now. It's like a rodent ghost town lol. Thanks for posting!

 

[SterlingRats0408]

We get voles here that do that.
You can see their little paths as soon as the snow starts to thin out.
Very cool how diligent they are.

 

[Godmother]

I wonder if any of these were made by little moles. I've found star-nosed moles before. They are very small.
Very interesting!

 

[Joanne]

Well from the size of some of the holes, I can't help but think that it's rats. They just seem large for wee ones like mice, voles and moles. If you look at the last picture, I could put my hand in there (but I won't because I'm afraid that someone might chomp me, although I'm sure they must have moved out by now.)

 

[jorats]

Wow!!! That's incredibly awesome. Have you ever seen the rats?
Where I hike, I see similar holes but much bigger, the inhabitants are ermines.

 

[Joanne]

Since I am always taking my dogs for a walk in this area, I almost never see any little ones.

I would love to see weasels! I had ferrets for 15 years. :heart: