On 01/02/2017 08:11, Janet G wrote:
Rather overrun with rats in the garden at the moment I've resorted to
a couple of traditional snap rat-traps. Twice I didn't get round to
disposing of a trapped rat only to find that the bodies had
disappeared by the next day. The second time something seemed to have
dragged both rat and trap under a polytunnel cover and left the trap
by a hole/tunnel about 15 yards away. The trap was completely empty.
I can only assume this was another rat. Do rats eat other dead rats
or is there any other animal which would behave like this? Janet G

Mild winter and lots of windfall apples has seen an explosion of them.

My money would be on a fox or a raptor to have snaffled a dead rat (not
good for them if you are using poison bait). BTW you shouldn't have rat
traps out in the open where pets, birds or children might get caught by
them. They are quite vicious and should be inside an approved rat box.

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Regards,
Martin Brown