Holes in hay nets mystery

[Chianti]

I went to the yard today and the yard owner showed me two small Nibbleze hay nets. They both had huge holes in them with the netting missing. We were trying to decide how this had happened. We don't think it was my pony as basically most of one side of the nets is missing and he would just make a big hole and pull hay through that. The first net was tied to a tree stump so was basically on the ground and the second was tied to a post and wasn't that high up. So - we thought options are rabbits and deer but we don't see either of these around the yard /fields. Has anyone had similar?

 

[MissTyc]

My mare will do this to nets every now and then, so don't discount the pony option! She can go for months without damaging a net, but if she's in the mood to chew holes then the net is for the bin. Brand, type doesn't matter!

 

[Chianti]

My mare will do this to nets every now and then, so don't discount the pony option! She can go for months without damaging a net, but if she's in the mood to chew holes then the net is for the bin. Brand, type doesn't matter!

I'd be very surprised if it was him as I think he'd see it as too much effort! Hay nets are for getting hay out of. When a hole has developed he's just takes advantage of that hole. The yard owner has been checking his poo (!) to see if there's netting in it but nothing seen.

 

[Britestar]

Caught his rug on it and pulled back?

 

[cauda equina]

When I used nets on the ground they got chewed to bits, I think it was foxes

 

[Chianti]

Caught his rug on it and pulled back?

Thanks. But I don't think so. There's no obvious sign of that and it was on different nights.

 

[Chianti]

When I used nets on the ground they got chewed to bits, I think it was foxes

Thanks. That might be it. Would they just be playing as they don't eat hay?

 

[cauda equina]

Thanks. That might be it. Would they just be playing as they don't eat hay?

I guess so, very annoying play as some of the nets were 30 quid each
There was a litter of cubs at the top of the field that year, I haven't seen any since and my nets have stayed intact!

 

[FinnishLapphund]

If there's no trace of the net that has been removed to form the new holes nearby, I wouldn't be surprised if it was as @cauda equina suggested, the work of a curious, playful fox. They can steal all sorts of things they can't eat, anything from golf balls (some thinks they mistake them for eggs, but after the first few I would've thought they should've learnt the difference) to shoes etc.
But I'm also wondering about if it could be a squirrel? I assume they usually use dry leaves, grass, and maybe bits of their old fur as insulation in their nests, but some squirrels likes to take both this and that from others whenever they see the opportunity to do so, and that sometimes include deciding to take stuff which belongs to humans. So a squirrel could've gnawed off the pieces of net because they wanted to add them as insulation in their nest, perhaps leaving the hay because they already have enough dry grass in their nest, and were after another material to add to the mix.

Small squirrel paws are presumably less likely to have left revealing paw prints on the ground nearby the "crime scene" for you to find. If it wasn't neither a fox, nor a squirrel, could it have been something like a ferret, marten, or similar, wanting to add pieces of net to their nesting material?

 

[SantaVera]

Rats?

 

[vhf]

99% certain my culprit was badgers! Really neatly snipped, and the hay dragged to the sett.
The foxes seem to chew and play. Rats will do neat handiwork (toothiwork?) but wouldn't have been dragging the hay to the setts in the quantity it was going in... Got a box to tie my field nets in and hasn't happened since. (And put some waste hay out from time to time so they don't try and get into the box. I don't want to find an angry badger tangled in a net in a box.) The girls don't always get the memo.

 

[meleeka]

Foxes chew things. It doesn’t need to be edible and they seem to like things that smells of human. They are terrible for chewing my lead ropes if I leave them laying around.