Mysterious thief...

[Moozillion]

Ok. I'm stumped.
Something in our area steals cuttlebones.

I bought Elsa some new cuttlebones- the nice big 6 inch long ones. I put one out in her outside enclosure, and the next morning it was gone. Later that morning I found it: something had carried it up and over the wall of her enclosure, which is 2 cinder blocks high. It then carried the cuttlebone about 20 feet across the yard to the back fence, but dropped it there. One edge was gnawed with what looked to me like rodent-type marks.

Since the would-be thief appeared to be nocturnal, I figured I would put out her cuttlebone in the morning and pick it up at night, when we lock her in her safe house. But today I just went outside to get it and it is GONE. It is COMPLETELY gone; nowhere in her enclosure or the yard. And this time the thief took it in broad daylight.

Although we have raccoons, the chew marks were smaller than I would expect to see from raccoons; and I think a raccoon could navigate the back privacy fence while carrying a cuttlebone. I decided the thief is a rat, but my hubby thinks it's a possum or a squirrel. But do squirrels eat cuttlebones?
I'm basically baffled at this point.
Anybody have any thoughts?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Ok. I'm stumped.
Something in our area steals cuttlebones.

I bought Elsa some new cuttlebones- the nice big 6 inch long ones. I put one out in her outside enclosure, and the next morning it was gone. Later that morning I found it: something had carried it up and over the wall of her enclosure, which is 2 cinder blocks high. It then carried the cuttlebone about 20 feet across the yard to the back fence, but dropped it there. One edge was gnawed with what looked to me like rodent-type marks.

Since the would-be thief appeared to be nocturnal, I figured I would put out her cuttlebone in the morning and pick it up at night, when we lock her in her safe house. But today I just went outside to get it and it is GONE. It is COMPLETELY gone; nowhere in her enclosure or the yard. And this time the thief took it in broad daylight.

Although we have raccoons, the chew marks were smaller than I would expect to see from raccoons; and I think a raccoon could navigate the back privacy fence while carrying a cuttlebone. I decided the thief is a rat, but my hubby thinks it's a possum or a squirrel. But do squirrels eat cuttlebones?
I'm basically baffled at this point.
Anybody have any thoughts?

Goodness, Bea, how baffling!
My instinct would be rat, but I'm not familiar with some of your native animals.
Squirrel? I doubt it personally, but they often surprise.
I would also be extra protective of Elsa, too, she may be disturbed by the thief or even possibly assaulted.

 

[Moozillion]

Goodness, Bea, how baffling!
My instinct would be rat, but I'm not familiar with some of your native animals.
Squirrel? I doubt it personally, but they often surprise.
I would also be extra protective of Elsa, too, she maybe disturbed by the thief or even possibly assaulted.

I agree.
Ever since we found out we still had raccoons, I check her over when I lock her up at night. She has pretty predictable behavior patterns and places she likes to hide, and none of that has changed, so far.

I'm thinking the safest thing will be to go back to scraping the cuttlebone over her moist greens in the morning. That way she'll get some calcium but there won't be a big luscious cuttlebone to tempt the thief. Maybe it'll go away after a while. Unless it's a squirrel- we seem to be in Squirrel Central.

 

[Moozillion]

Ok- I googled "What do squirrels eat?" and got this:

QUICK ANSWER
Eastern Grey Squirrels are omnivores, and as such eat a variety of food, including various parts of many different tree species, plants, fungi, bird eggs and nestlings, frogs, bugs and bones.

Now I"m thinking the thief may be a squirrel rather than a rat, since squirrels are diurnal and rats are nocturnal (aren't they???)

 

[dmmj]

I'm going to agree with your husband and vote for possum. They do have a smaller mouth than raccoons.

 

[Moozillion]

I'm going to agree with your husband and vote for possum. They do have a smaller mouth than raccoons.

Do you think a possum would represent a danger to a Hermann's tortoise? Elsa is about 7 years old and is more than 6 inches long.
But they're nocturnal and she is locked up at night, so that shouldn't be an issue, now that I think about it.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Ok- I googled "What do squirrels eat?" and got this:

QUICK ANSWER
Eastern Grey Squirrels are omnivores, and as such eat a variety of food, including various parts of many different tree species, plants, fungi, bird eggs and nestlings, frogs, bugs and bones.

Now I"m thinking the thief may be a squirrel rather than a rat, since squirrels are diurnal and rats are nocturnal (aren't they???)

Yes, but rats eat pretty much anything, too and one of the thefts may have been at night.
A squirrel and a rat working as a team ?

 

[Moozillion]

Yes, but rats eat pretty much anything, too and one of the thefts may have been at night.
A squirrel and a rat working as a team ?

Oh, dear...
Instead of Batman and Robin, they'd be Ratman and Possum...

 

[saginawhxc]

Set out a live trap and relocate your little thief to a park far far away.

You already know what to use as bait.

 

[Tom]

Oh Bea. I wish I could just hang out and talk torts with you more often…

I would guess rat, or some other similar rodent at night, and squirrel during the day.

In most cases, I don't think an opossum will be a dodger to a six inch tort, but I could be wrong. We have lots of possums here, and I've yet to encounter any problem, but it could be different down south.

 

[Tom]

Set out a live trap and relocate your little thief to a park far far away.

You already know what to use as bait.

Good idea. Home Depot sells "Hav-a-Heart" live traps.

 

[Moozillion]

Oh Bea. I wish I could just hang out and talk torts with you more often…

I would guess rat, or some other similar rodent at night, and squirrel during the day.

In most cases, I don't think an opossum will be a dodger to a six inch tort, but I could be wrong. We have lots of possums here, and I've yet to encounter any problem, but it could be different down south.

HI, TOM!!!
I would LOVE to hang out and talk critters with you, too!!!!!
I'm hoping Seven or Sophie will have another job down here sometime soon!

 

[Moozillion]

Good idea. Home Depot sells "Hav-a-Heart" live traps.

Yes, we have all different sizes of Have-A-Heart traps. But we have gazillions of squirrels around here, so that might end up being a full time job!!!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Opossums are not a threat to a tortoise of any size from what I've seen.
They would probably scavenge a dead one, though.
I've gotten rid of every last raccoon in my area, but I don't even bother with the opossums.
I also bet that your cuddlebone thief is NOT an opossum.
It's a small rodent.

 

[Tom]

Yes, we have all different sizes of Have-A-Heart traps. But we have gazillions of squirrels around here, so that might end up being a full time job!!!

Well… I know of an alligator ranching operation not too far from you. They'd probably love to get some free food.

 

[enchilada]

relocate aint gonna solve the problem other than wasting your gas.
after a heavy loss caused by racoons, i found out the only solution is , display the dead body of criminal as a warning sign.

 

[mark1]

i've seen mice , moles , chipmunks , and squirrels eating my turtles food .... my dogs have killed all the raccoons , possums and woodchucks in the area , there are just too many mice , moles , chipmunks and squirrels , and they are way sneakier ......

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Here the only thing that eats my tortoise chow other than my tortoises are Cane (cain)Toads.
The cuddlebones go unmolested.

 

[BrianWI]

Squirrel. They like eating stuff like that. Deer antlers, bones, etc. Tree rats.

 

[Yvonne G]

If you take a good sniff of a cuttle bone, you'll see that it smells very fishy. I would think an animal that likes fish would be the culprit. Raccoons forage during the day too, not just at night, and once they've found a place that gives good food, they'll keep going back.