Unidentified droppings

[RonnieMould]

Can anyone identify these droppings - found them sat on the top of my compost bin this morning. It looked like something had dug a tunnel up one side of the compost and inspecting the base it looks like something has burrowed under the side.

Obvious culprit would be a rat but this seems too big and different shape to any rat droppings i've seen before, plus there was only one. The bin is located at the bottom of my garden just a couple of feet from a stream which has a lot of vegetation /trees growing along the banks if thats any help.

Really hoping it's not a rat!

[monkeyrepublic]

Sure looks like rat to me, I'm afraid.

[vole-woman]

Rat droppings do tend to be pointy at the end, though. And you don't usually get just one on its own. Were there definitely no others about?

[artdemole]

Maybe just a cat.....

[RonnieMould]

Yep, definitely only one. Don't think it's anywhere near big enough for a cat and can't imagine one tunnelling up through the compost (the lid was on the bin). Hoping it's not a rat and agree rat droppings are normally tapered at the ends...there don't seem to be many other suspects though?!

[artdemole]

Maybe cat chased off the rat.

[bigdave60dog]

Until you can prove otherwise it`s a Rat.
Dave

[RonnieMould]

Well today has been a roller coaster of wildlife surprises! Got up this morning to find my downstairs bathroom had been taken over by a group of ants/flying ants apparently mistakenly thinking they were making they're way into the big bad world! Things improved from there when pulling some grass from the side of my decking and something jumped out on me - causing me to jump as well - but was a young frog so quite nice surprise! Things the went down hill again when i walked down the garden to find a dead rat (although, good news it was dead) lying in the middle of my path, so looks like may have found the culprit, not sure how he'd died though, looked quite young (small) compared to others i've seen and didn't seem to have any visible signs of being attacked by anything!?!

[Kayleigh]

Hi and welcome to WAB Ronnie..
I hope your neighbors didn't poison the rat, did you remove dispose of it just in case.

[werdnal]

Originally Posted by RonnieMould

Well today has been a roller coaster of wildlife surprises! Got up this morning to find my downstairs bathroom had been taken over by a group of ants/flying ants apparently mistakenly thinking they were making they're way into the big bad world! Things improved from there when pulling some grass from the side of my decking and something jumped out on me - causing me to jump as well - but was a young frog so quite nice surprise! Things the went down hill again when i walked down the garden to find a dead rat (although, good news it was dead) lying in the middle of my path, so looks like may have found the culprit, not sure how he'd died though, looked quite young (small) compared to others i've seen and didn't seem to have any visible signs of being attacked by anything!?!

I hate to disappoint you, but you very rarely only get one rat - if you see/find one, there are likely to be more. But don't panic, rats outside is perfectly normal. So long as they are not causing you problems or getting into your house, you should just treat them as any other wildlife and not worry unduly.

I'm also afraid that rats and compost bins often go hand in hand. To help reduce the attraction to your compost, make sure you don't put any cooked food or meat waste in there, and keep a lid on if possible. However, I shouldn't worry to much. They say no-one in this country are more than a few feet from a rat, and if they are not bothering you, I wouldn't bother about them.