Something living under our barn.

[Deleted]

Well, something is living under there and I'm not sure what it is. Have seen some digging in the yard that looks like skunk but no smell. The scat looks like a small dog (I know it can't be a dog, the entire farm is fenced, never had a dog inside the fence in 9 years). Saw some faint prints in the dirt that also look like skunk but again there is no skunk smell anywhere in the area. I have free range ducks and chickens around and in the barn and it hasn't bothered them. I will try to get some pictures of scat and digging and post them here. Would like to figure out what it is. Any ideas....

[tenbusybees]

Armadillo.

[Deleted]

I'm thinking TBB is right. Dang,those armadillos are a royal pain in the posterior.

[1shotwade]

I guess it would depend on where you are.Indiana doesn't have armadillos.You're not losing animals then I have to go with a groundhog.Ducks and chickens are still being made out of meat and groundhogs don't eat meat much!
My best guess.

Wade

[1shotwade]

Mar 29, 2015 2:04:37 GMT Possum said:

Mar 29, 2015 1:56:53 GMT 1shotwade said:

I guess it would depend on where you are.Indiana doesn't have armadillos.You're not losing animals then I have to go with a groundhog.Ducks and chickens are still being made out of meat and groundhogs don't eat meat much!
My best guess.

Wade

YET  Before moving here to GA where we did not have any armadillo's I spent 20yrs working on a large cattle ranch in S FLA. They were everywhere. Now they have been here in N Ga for a while and are making there way north. It gets cold here to and I did not think they could survive but they are prolific little rascals.

I don't even want to talk about the thistles.


Possum! You the okeechobee cowboy? I knew Jim Johnson and his son and "pantherman".Ring a bell anywhere?



Wade

[smokey]

In my area Ground hog's are pretty fond of living under barns.

[Deleted]

I'm in upstate SC. Armadillos are starting to show up in some areas of the state. We also have plenty groundhogs. I had kinda ruled out groundhogs because the "tunnel" going under the barn is small (guess it could be a young one). Had not thought of the armadillo until now. They do dig for grubs like a skunk and that would explain the lack of odor. Will do a search for "armadillo scat" and see if it looks like what is all in and around the barn. I agree it's not a meat eater what with all the duck and chicken on the menu.
Thanks for the ideas, sometime "fresh eyes" help.

Hank

[Deleted]

There didn't used to be armadillos in MO, but there are down here in the Ozarks now.

Interesting fact to keep in mind if you're thinking about handling armadillos: They carry Hansen's Disease (leprosy). The risk is really low, but it's something to keep in mind.

[Maura]

Porcupine? ‘possum? raccoon?

[Deleted]

After doing some research and looking at pictures of scat on the web (yea, that's how homesteaders spend their Sun. afternoon) I am now thinking it may be an opossum. Armadillo scat seems to be more round while the scat all over the barn looks more like small dog. I've ruled out raccoon because none of the poultry has been bothered. I hate 'possum', in my younger days when I had 10 to 15 coon dogs and hunted all night nothing upset me more than walking through a swamp and finding a 'slicktail' in the tree. My best 'coondog' never opened on a 'possum' track, he knew better. 

[Deleted]

Yea, well I hope he's not the one living under my barn, SSS .

[mikeinohio]

We used to have groundhogs living under the turkey coop but doggie killed them. This afternoon DW saw a raccoon come out from under there.

[Deleted]

Mar 29, 2015 22:07:22 GMT hank said:

After doing some research and looking at pictures of scat on the web (yea, that's how homesteaders spend their Sun. afternoon) I am now thinking it may be an opossum. Armadillo scat seems to be more round while the scat all over the barn looks more like small dog. I've ruled out raccoon because none of the poultry has been bothered. I hate 'possum', in my younger days when I had 10 to 15 coon dogs and hunted all night nothing upset me more than walking through a swamp and finding a 'slicktail' in the tree. My best 'coondog' never opened on a 'possum' track, he knew better. 

My best one was a redbone pup who treed three or four possums.Then one night she happened across a hot coon track,that she ran and treed.I shot the coon out,and she turned into an instant COOOON DOG.The next eight years of her life, she never ran,trailed,or treed another possum.If it won't a coon,her lips remained sealed....

[Deleted]

Those are the good ones eddiebuck. My big stud dog (a reg. bluetick) was like that. First to strike and never opened on a possum, deer, cat or anything other than a coon and when he treed he would not leave it. If I couldn't get to him he would stay at the tree all night. When the sun came up he would come out and pout with me. When he died I lost a lot of the drive to 'coon hunt'. It just wasn't the same.

Back to the 'barn creature', a friend said he would bring his 'rat terrier' pup and send him under the barn. He said if it's under there that pup would drive him out. We'll see....Stay tuned....

[nancy]

I'll be awaiting results We had problems with groundhogs until we got a dog. One tunneled under our front porch and another tunneled under our carport. Finally killed them both. A royal pain.

[farmchix]

Mar 29, 2015 1:56:53 GMT 1shotwade said:

I guess it would depend on where you are.Indiana doesn't have armadillos.You're not losing animals then I have to go with a groundhog.Ducks and chickens are still being made out of meat and groundhogs don't eat meat much!
My best guess.

Wade

No armadillos here either....but we have plenty oppossum and raccoon!

[Deleted]

If that terrier doesn't bring it out , I believe I'd try trapping it .

[Bear Foot Farm]

I'd set Hav-A Hart trap in front of the hole and bait it with a little sardine oil
Possums will kill your chickens if they get hungry enough

[paquebot]

Possums and coon don't dig their own dens but take over others. Groundhogs and skunks are the most common to dig under buildings here while badgers prefer open ground. Groundhogs won't dig in your yards unless it's to make a bolt hole. Skunks will dig as they would be looking for grubs.

Martin

[Deleted]

Here's a funny for you, I kept noticing my Annie (wire fox terrier) looking at a little storage building whenever I would take her outside. So after a few days of her being all excited whenever we got near the little building, I decided to let her have a peek underneath. I have to keep her on a leash when she goes outside or she will hit a scent and I will never see her again. So I let her go under the shed and just a few minutes later, she comes flying out of there with a skunk fast on her heels.

Until that day I never knew skunks could vocalize, but that one was growling and doing a squeeking sound like "hey lady, don't you ever come back here again". A couple of weeks later, here comes the skunk and her three babies across the yard, they were returning to their den under the storage building. I so wished I had a picture of my dog that day, fortunately she didn't get sprayed, but she still "smelled like skunk" just from going under the building.

[Deleted]

Well, looks like the "critter" must have moved on. The terrier went under and found nothing. We could tell he smelled where something had been there but nothing now.
Also there has been no new scat or yard diggings for a few days. I guess he found another farm with better grubs.

[Deleted]

Sorry, I didn't think anyone would notice me under the barn