Susan,

Sounds like a young rat - Norway or possibly Black. Juveniles are out and
about before they reach full size.

You might think of it as an owl feeder.

Stewart Wechsler
West Seattle
mailto:ecostewart at quidnunc.net
-----Original Message-----
From: TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu
[mailto:TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu]On Behalf Of Susan Carmel
Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2004 9:40 AM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: rat in suet feeder


Tweeters,
Yesterday afternoon I saw that a rat was snacking in my suet feeder. I'm
assuming it was a rat--not large enough to be a Norway rat, but too large to
be a mouse. ( I think!) It was your basic medium gray rat color, whiter
feet, hairless tail, large ears, large eyes, pointy snoot. The feeder is one
of those caged, squirrel-proof ones, hanging on a pole about 6 feet high.
I'm wondering if I need to take down my feeder, or if a squirrel baffle
would do the trick. There is a bush nearby that it could conceivably have
jumped from, if that's something rats do, though I've never seen a squirrel
even attempt that.. I guess I'm also wondering if I have to take immediate
action based on one rat sighting.
Any ID help and info will be appreciated....
Susan Carmel
NE Seattle
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