# What would eat a mouse in a moustrap?



## NCpaint1

Hammerknocker said:


> I have trapped several mice in my attic. One dead mouse was half eaten when I checked the trap. I was wondering what would do this. The only other thing besides mouse droppings I have ever seen in the attic was one small snake skin. I live in a rural, wooded area in the Appalachian Mountains. What might eat a dead mouse in an attic? Another mouse, a rat or could a snake do this? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.


I saw "Deliverence" so I would imagine in that area...could be about anything :jester:

Maybe a stray cat, raccoon, possum maybe? Is there any point where something could get in and out?


----------



## DexterII

Not exactly the environment for a garter snake, but I had the exact situation in my shop about a year or so ago; mice cleaned out of traps and one unaccounted for snake skin on some lumber. I didn't figure it out until I ran into a rat snake hanging from a ceiling joist one day, then did a bit of research, and found that they are pretty comfortable in that type of environment.


----------



## Hammerknocker

NCpaint1 said:


> I saw "Deliverence" so I would imagine in that area...could be about anything :jester:
> 
> Maybe a stray cat, raccoon, possum maybe? Is there any point where something could get in and out?


I'm not THAT RURAL! There is no way something as large as a cat could get in my second story attic. I have not even had a flying squirrel in there(and I've been here for 30 years). The mouse was dead on its back in the trap and the belly of the carcass was basically eaten away. I have heard that other mice may eat a dead mouse. Just wondering...


----------



## DangerMouse

I've SEEN mice eat other mice, so yes, that's likely what happened....

DM


----------



## pyper

NCpaint1 said:


> I saw "Deliverence" so I would imagine in that area...could be about anything :jester:


I can walk to the Chattooga River from my house :thumbsup:

Yeah, I'd bet on other mice too, but another possibility is ants. They'd have probably still been there working on it though. If I bait traps in my shed with peanut butter the ants will clean out the traps before the mice find them. Doh.


----------



## PAbugman

Half eaten indicates other hungry rodents. Anything larger than that would have taken the trap, torn it apart, gotten everything. As far as snakes, I'm not aware that snakes chew their food, but maybe.


----------



## DexterII

PAbugman said:


> Half eaten indicates other hungry rodents. Anything larger than that would have taken the trap, torn it apart, gotten everything. As far as snakes, I'm not aware that snakes chew their food, but maybe.


Thank you, Sir. I knew that, as DM and pyper mentioned, mice ate other mice, but having run into the rat snake around the time that the mice were disappearing, I assumed he was doing it; hadn't stopped to consider the fact that snakes swallow, not chew. Hmmm. Now I am thinking I must have had a real infestation going on if there were enough live ones to feed the snake and consume the ones in traps. But, at least I think that I finally got them both in check


----------



## DUDE!

finding the mouse on its back, I'd figure it did the damage to itself trying to get out of the trap,, caught one that appeared to be "missing" its back,, at first thought something had chewed on it but it sure looked like it did the damage trying to back out of the trap.


----------



## svteam95

That makes the most sense. Especially the chewing snake?? lol riping and chewing, like the African painted dog. Can't see it! I didn't ask the question, but I have the half eaten mouse problem. Looking for answers I Googled it, and it took me to this forum where i read the answers. Yours being best 👍


----------



## joed

10 year old thread.


----------



## de-nagorg

joed said:


> 10 year old thread.


I'm glad that I read the entire thing, before confirming the suspicions.

Yes other mice will eat the dead, except for the tail, strange as it seems, they eat anything dead.

But leave the tail, because it is not edible.


ED


----------



## Demme

I had something eating mice out of the traps in the garage. It would just leave the heads and a pile of fur. It turned out to be a red squirrel doing it!


----------



## BuckDawg

PAbugman said:


> Half eaten indicates other hungry rodents. Anything larger than that would have taken the trap, torn it apart, gotten everything. As far as snakes, I'm not aware that snakes chew their food, but maybe.


I've found 2 of them with just heads remaining in the trap. Wondering what could do that. I don't think a large animal could get to it.


----------



## DoomsDave

This is an old thread from 2011.


----------



## de-nagorg

DoomsDave said:


> This is an old thread from 2011.



It's a ZOMBIE, the undead, keep returning.

🙉🙈🙊👹🤣

ED


----------



## DoomsDave

de-nagorg said:


> It's a ZOMBIE, the undead, keep returning.
> 
> 🙉🙈🙊👹🤣
> 
> ED


Speaking of which 

How are you these days?


----------



## de-nagorg

DoomsDave said:


> Speaking of which
> 
> How are you these days?



 I fall to pieces.

ED


----------

