What's been at my frying pan?

[_mark_]

I'm pretty sure it's a rat.

 

[Frogo]

Its more than likely Rats, they love fat and bold enough to get so close to humans.

 

[tobes01]

OK, silly guess: wasp or hornet? I've seen wasps chewing their way through my garden furniture and making a not dissimilar sort of pattern.

 

[DavidJT]

Mole? (No sign of tail marks)

 

[shaggystu]

SWMBLT pointed out that there's no whisker marks, damn intuitive of her i thought.

cheers

stuart

 

[John Fenna]

Is no a Rat Mr Fawlty!

 

[Mesquite]

Is no a Rat Mr Fawlty!

Did it come with biscuits

[video=youtube;K_q4S7lZeik]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_q4S7lZeik&feature=channel[/video]

 

[iamasmith]

I can see why folks say rat because those incisor marks are big. But lets not forget it's soft and the marks are deep. The first picture is the most useful, how bit is that handle hinge? I would say Mouse if it's about 3cm or less but Rat if bigger. Mouse poo could be confused with black rice or rotten/burned grain. Rat poo is bigger.

 

[Tadpole]

Wood mouse? do they eat fat?

 

[spiritwalker]

id go with mole as well but perhaps a stoat or weasel

 

[Aragorn]

Anyone said squirrel yet

 

[Wayland]

Well I think you've all had time to have a go.

This is what Jonathan had to say about it in a PM about it.

It does look like teeth on that lower area. On the other pic the lines looked very fine like scratch marks, but this bigger pic rules that out. A squirrel and rat are big enough to eat the fat from over the lip and would have avoided going into the pan. The teeth marks are too small for that anyway. A mouse would more than likely have left a tail print and whisker marks.. so it points to a short tailed vole. There were loads around the area, I saw two running around by our site the previous night. It's a great bit of sign though.

I must say I am inclined to agree as I saw one about as well.

 

[JonathanD]

The nose on a vole is much more blunt than a mouse too. A mouse would certainly have left signs of its snout in the deeper parts of the fat. They are definately the incisor marks of a rodent, so we can safely rule out hedgehogs, shrews, stoats, weasels and moles. The angle of the animal as it was feeding also adds weight to the vole theory, and the little paw prints confirm it. The lack of any tail mark is significant as a mouse would have used its tail for stability within the pan.

 

[addo]

Nice detective work Jonathan, very interesting.

 

[JonathanD]

I love stuff like this. I believe Red was the first to ID a vole.

 

[British Red]

Flipping things lived in both my gardens (last and current ones) and often amuse me (as well as feeding the owl population), so I've seen their sign many a time. I'm more familiar with bank voles than short tailed ones - cute little fuzzies

Vole by British Red, on Flickr

Think this one is a short tail though

Short Tailed Vole by British Red, on Flickr

Great photos - fascinating to see