Aviary masacre

Pukasand · Post by **Pukasand** » Tue May 05, 2009 10:30 am

Yikes! I agree with Poohbear.

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Tue May 05, 2009 10:47 am

How are the birds doing in the aviary now? Are they okay?

urbantiger · Post by **urbantiger** » Tue May 05, 2009 7:03 pm

They are fine

i would'nt put any birds in there if i thought they would'nt last the night.

I must say i was very tempted to get a ferret and leave that in there for a few days.

Unless the Rats have magical powers i cant see them getting in anymore,

I just could'nt put loads of birds back out straight away,
it will be a gradual introduction, as it will cost a prety penny to replace all the other ones.

Thanks for all your comments.
I will keep you posted on progress.

lovemyfinch · Post by **lovemyfinch** » Tue May 05, 2009 7:13 pm

Glad to hear that everything seems to be fine now.

subersibo · Post by **subersibo** » Wed May 06, 2009 12:13 am

Let me say this: Damn you devourers of cute, harmful widl birdies! (rats to be more specific) I just hate 'em which is the main reason I didn't go thru with having an aviary in the garden.

I hope your problem is solved and that you'll never have to experience that dreadful situation ever again. Those rats must've been on an all-bird diet!

urbantiger · Post by **urbantiger** » Sun May 10, 2009 8:16 pm

All quiet on the western front

although i have put the cat to good uses, on the lookout for vermin in the garden.

lovemyfinch · Post by **lovemyfinch** » Mon May 11, 2009 7:34 am

Glad to hear that the vermin are gone, and that the kitty is on the job.

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Mon May 11, 2009 8:56 am

urbantiger
Thats great news now they can live and be birds and stay safe

trevorama · Post by **trevorama** » Thu May 21, 2009 11:45 pm

urbantiger - I was very sorry to hear about all your birds. I just read your post and have been dealing with the same situation for about a month now. I did the same as you and buried wire, etc.
The rats had chewed through the wire and were digging up through the dirt. The holes were very small. We are currently waiting for June 2nd to come, when the cement truck is coming to pour concrete over the dirt and stop the rats from coming in for good (I sure hope) In total, we caught about 11 rats. I know for a fact the rats were coming into my aviary at night.
We went in to the aviary one night and spent 3 hours catching all the birds (which I thought would be impossible) and they are now occupying the guest bedroom until their home available once again. It's very stressful on them (and me too). I hope the problem is now permanently behind you.
Heather

ChocoboDragon · Post by **ChocoboDragon** » Sat May 23, 2009 11:35 am

What a nightmare!

That must have been very hard for you to find so many of your birds like that.

I'm so glad that the problem seems to have been sorted and was quite educational for me to read too the whole way through, regarding dealing with pest problems.

I love the photo you posted of your aviary, what kind of plants were in there? They look great for birds to perch on.

urbantiger · Post by **urbantiger** » Mon May 25, 2009 2:56 pm

I did take out the pair of Bengalese cos i was nervous still of the ghost of ratty past.

at presnt the avairy plants are thriving and i have traps set all of which have caught nowt for a few weeks so i do think its all clear now.

There has been no signs of digging in the shredded bark that covers the soil over the mesh and cement.

The big tree in the middle is a Forsythia shrub, has loads of yellow flowers in the spring, is about 6foot high, was much higher before i built the avairy around it. The base has wire mesh cemeted around under the surface.
The other big shrub in there is a hardy Fuschia that attracts alot of insects.

All the other plants are smaller and have been planted in the soil above the mesh and concrete, they are mainly box hedge and a few small shrubs.

There is several climbers growing from outside through the mesh, Ivy, Russian vine and 3 clematis.

There was so many nests in the shrubs and in the climbers, i've left them there ready for the new occupants.
The birds love all the natural perches and is much healthier for their feet than wooden dowel.

carmena · Post by **carmena** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 10:39 am

Just read this post...how does the door open?
Just a thought but racoons can manipulate objects, open doors, turn knobs and if the door closes by itself by gravity then the coons could be letting themselves in and out.

get a padlock if you dont already.

just a thought....

JohnBoy · Post by **JohnBoy** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 11:29 am

My outdoor aviaries are built on deck boards. On top the deck boards is a layer of 1/2" hardware cloth. On top the hardware cloth are 1'x1' cement steppin stones. On top the steppin stones is a 1" layer of large pea gravel. No problem with critters so far and one aviary has been set up for over a year.
So sorry to hear about the loss.

jocky · Post by **jocky** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 12:50 pm

I will tell you how I once caught a dreaded weasel that would come into my pigeon loft every night and kill them off, one by one.

For 3 nights he came and killed a bird each night. He ate the first one and left the wings and and the keel bone. The other two he only bit them in the neck and chewed on them a bit.

So I looked up traps, I built my own using wire cloth from Menards (1/2"), I can't seem to find a link, but its similar to those for sale on the net. It has a one way entrance.

The door could easily be opened when the animal pushes on it. But once he gets through it shuts and he is stuck. I placed a pair of my birds in the loft and locked them in a cage I know the animal couldn't get through (their movement and presence is to lure the animal back into the loft/aviary).

I was told by a friend to use the dead pigeon as bait (I know it doesn't sound pleasing, but stay with me), and I waited...

The next morning I opened the loft door and there he was in the trap. He had eaten the pigeon corpse but had no way of escaped.

Than you get rid of him.
Hope this gives you an idea. I believe that if the animal(s) know its a buffet they will keep coming back, even after you fixed all possible gaps, they will find another way.

What is probably best is to get rid of the genius that knows how to get in.
The process was EXTREMELY frustrating, for 2 nights I looked for possible gaps and blocked them. but he kept coming. After I caught him there were no more disturbances.

cindy · Post by **cindy** » Sun Sep 06, 2009 1:20 pm

Being in Florida, we have rats, especially with lakes nearby. UGH!! One night we saw three shadows on our privacy wall, they were walking the bottom edge in the grass. They can do such damage to inside walls, electrical work in attic, not to mention they carry disease and urinate in the insulation and leave dropping. They will knaw their way through thick plastic, thin metal and drywall. I am a huge animal lover but they are disgusting and multiply faster than rabbits.

During the cold winter months you can hear them in the gutters, we had no problems setting traps when we saw one run up into the gutter. We set traps in the attic (above the garage) and inspect it often. So far we have not had any living in there.

We got 5 in 1 night wth traps outside...peanut butter and cheese slices. Our neighbor has a little fish pond in his front garden area, he used to find them dead in the water, they went after his little goldfish.

Oportunistic evil things. We have had some stray cats show up, since then no more rat sightings.

FINCHforum

Aviary masacre

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