Rats in the Garden

Phone call to your Council asap I should think.

Tried that they are absolutely useless They come along put poison down kill maybe one then the rats are back

Do you put bird food out? If you do it might be an idea to stop that for two or three weeks and then the rats will move on.

That's what I was advised to by a Council chappie when I saw a rat in our garden in Oxon.

They don’t like open tidy spaces. Keep the garden as neat as possible and sheds secure with no rat sized access. Make sure there’s no food lying around to encourage them - compost heap covered etc. Killing them doesn’t work - others just move in. Do you know where they’re coming from?

We had a rat in our garden earlier this year. I was horrified. We called the council in and he said, immediately, stop putting food on the ground for the birds. We have a slim pole feeder with a tray about half way up and he said that should be ok, as they were unlikely to be able to climb it. He put down to bait traps, but the bait was left untouched during the three weeks they were there. We have never seen any sign of the beast since, but it has made me very wary. We have very tidy environs so I have no idea where it could have come from or where it ultimately went to. A very expensive exercise though!

My ds saw rats in his garden. His neighbours kept chickens and rabbits so he asked them to tidy up round them a bit, which they did, and the rat problem disappeared.

DD1 sent me a photo the other day of a large very healthy looking rat sitting on her bird feeder directly outside the window. The slippery pole didn’t seem to be a problem for him at all! She’s decided to call him Ralph. I have explained that he may well have a large family, but apparently he was an itinerant as he hasn’t been seen since. She says!

That pole thing is food for thought, then, NfkD! Backing onto the garden next to ours is a large orchard where someone keeps chickens and geese. It could have come from there, I suppose, with a ready supply of food at its disposal.

We have a rat in the garden every other year the little or large blighter chews away at anything it likes in our shed. We buy rat poison from B&Qs lay it out in the shed, usually it feeds on it and doesn’t come back. Sorry all animal lovers but that’s the only way we can get rid of it.

We do not put bird food out and our garden is very tidy and constantly well maintained but for some reason they visit us every year about this time of year

There was a rat in our yard a couple of weeks ago. They don`t scare me, but obviously I don`t want them to get in the house. I won`t put poison down though, because of my cat, also neighbouring cats.

I just keep a packet of rat poison permanently on the shed floor. It is in container. Other animals cannot get at it, nor can children.

We had a few rats in the garden when we moved in recently. There was a small pond. Pest control said they are often attracted to water sources. We've since filled to pond in and hopefully fixed the problem.

Do you know anyone with a Jack Russell terrier? Sounds like they are nesting this time of year.
My daughters JR kept scrabbling at my garage door, I let it in and within minutes there was a dead rat on the floor, I didn't even know we had one. A quick clean kill.

I'd lend you my two JRs but they're on mole catching duty at the moment.

Contact a good local pest controller who will identify the rat runs and put down the poison for you. Poisoning is the only solution I'm afraid.

merlotgran -
"Poisoning is the only solution I'm afraid."
Our rat/mice problem was probably much worse than most as we were living in the french countryside, and had poultry.
The only thing that worked was some very powerful poison, in small blue packets. You needed to wear gloves when handling it.
It didn't seem to attract the chickens or our lazy cat, who took no notice of it.

We use Neosorexa Gold. It now comes in sachets rather than loose. The safest way to use it is to shove a sachet up a piece of drainpipe and put it against a wall or behind a shed.

That way no other pets are harmed.

Our local council rat chap (pest operative, madam) was brilliant. Our rat (s) were the result of work on the water mains in our street and torrential rain. We have dogs so he placed the poison where the dogs couldn't eat it.
The dying rat was sadly located by my huge dog and an equally huge foster dog I had at that time. The dogs played catch with the rat. I'm hopeless with rats, called the dogs in, they came but brought the dying rat with them. All was well - I have a helpful neighbour!

People talk about " a rat" but they breed very prolifically:
"video.nationalgeographic.com
Reproduction and life cycle. The brown rat can breed throughout the year if conditions are suitable, with a female producing up to five litters a year. The gestation period is only 21 days, and litters can number up to 14, although seven is common. They reach sexual maturity in about five weeks."

We live in the countryside ( not deep in the countryside, but edge of a village) and we have a visiting brown rat ( the same one) it has a distinctive white ‘spot’ on it’s head.It only appears in Winter and comes for the bird seed that they spill on the patio.It hoovers anything up and then disappears.One day it sat on an upturned plant pot and cleaned it’s whiskers, quite unconcerned that I was watching it.

Make the most of him lemongrove. He only has an average lifespan of 2 years.

Get a private pest controller if the council aren't helpful. But you do need to follow their instructions and not think everything will be fine after one visit. It can take a while to eradicate them.

Oh dear cavewoman that means he won’t be back next Winter then, as he has had two already,? still, maybe his son and heir will come and visit.

When the kids were young we acquired a pony which we kept at a local stables. We would share a farrier visit and he would bring his Jack Russell. Our springer only met this dog every couple of months but they automatically worked together as a team. No one told them to go ratting. It was their choice. Springer would go into the hay store, noisily searching. Quartering the bales. Jack Russell would stand back quietly watching. Rat came out. JR went in. Dead rat. I hate killing and dead things but watching these two dogs work together was fascinating.