What made a nest on our balcony?
May 18, 2014 5:32 PM Subscribe
My husband and I live in an apartment in Seattle, with a third floor balcony. We had a circular clay pot that previously held a rosemary plant on the balcony - the rosemary died before summer of 2013, but we just left it in a corner and never did anything with it. In time, the pot got sort of hidden by other plants. Today we were cleaning the balcony, and realized that something had made a nest in the pot!
All the dirt that had been in the pot when it held a rosemary plant was gone, and the pot was completely full - a few inches up past the brim in fact - with shredded paper and plastic bags. Definitely in a circular nest-like configuration. Rat? Squirrel? There is a tree right off our balcony that something could have climbed up. Any thoughts?
All the dirt that had been in the pot when it held a rosemary plant was gone, and the pot was completely full - a few inches up past the brim in fact - with shredded paper and plastic bags. Definitely in a circular nest-like configuration. Rat? Squirrel? There is a tree right off our balcony that something could have climbed up. Any thoughts?
Any poop left in the nest? You might be able to identify the critter that way.
posted by ezrainch at 6:17 PM on May 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by ezrainch at 6:17 PM on May 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
Black rats, also called roof rats, are pretty common in Seattle. They climb trees and prefer being off the ground. (The other common rats are brown rats or Norway rats and live on the ground and burrow. Brown rats are also bigger than black rats.) Rats build multiple nests so the builder may or may not come back. Don't leave food on your balcony, rat proof vegetable plants as best you can, etc.
posted by sevenless at 9:55 PM on May 18, 2014
posted by sevenless at 9:55 PM on May 18, 2014
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posted by HuronBob at 6:02 PM on May 18, 2014