Rats in the Garden

I understood it was more a case of the mice leaving as they were being eaten by the rats! We still have mice in the garden. They and the wood pigeons clear up dropped bird food.

I would be loathe to use rat poison as it kills everything else as well. Hedgehogs etc. Much better to discourage them to a reasonable level.

I bought humane traps and caught 14 of them in my shed, with chocolate spread on crusty bread.
My daughter had a pet rat which was lovely and learned tricks ☺
Like grannygranby I like them and certainly couldn't kill them.

Touch wood I've never seen a rat in our garden in 32 years but we've always had cats so maybe they've kept them away. We must have mice out there though as one of my cats periodically brings one in - and sometimes loses it! It does worry me that we have a derelict piece of land behind us and two garages which were part of the building they demolished so there's bound to be rats in there. I'm a bit concerned that people may put rat poison down and my mouse catcher cat might eat a dead one. He disappeared for 27 hours on Sat and that was one of the scenarios I kept thinking of

Solitaire "I like them and certainly couldn't kill them", so what did you do with the 14 that you trapped? Not criticising, just interested.

Oh Yorkshiregirl that sounds awful! Get the press involved if the council doesn’t help. And I suppose follow all the good advice on here ...

Wish I could send you my very competent rat catchers, but I can't. Can't do without my two cats.

Could you possibly borrow a couple of rat-catching cats for a day or so, or a fox terrier or similar dog?

Greyduster. I have a hanging bird feeder and it was the seed which fell on the ground after the birds had been feeding that regularly attracted a rat. I haven’t used it for years. So wasn’t anything on the ground. Annoying as I used to live watching the birds feeding. I may give it another try.

I have read, but don't know if it is correct, that rats hate the smell of mothballs. Maybe that solution would be more effective if you have and indoor rat problem (shudder) but might be something worth considering.

We had a mouse problem in the house a few months ago, which traumatised me. I don't mind mice, as long as they are in their own environment - and that is NOT inside my house.

We used a combination of poison and sonic deterrents and they soon went. But of course we don't know which of the two was the most effective at getting rid!

There are rats everywhere. We had them in the garage a few years ago (the garage is an Aladdin's cave so plenty of places for them to nest) so I put poison on potato peelings on the floor, they ate them and when I spring cleaned the garage no sign of them. Last year there was a hole in one of the compost heaps - when the heap was dug out for spreading I found an empty nest deep down. I think there's been another nest this year in another compost heap. They gnawed into the plastic compost bin but no sign of them in it. We don't seem to have suffered from them. I wouldn't put poison in the garden because of hedgehogs and cats eating it.

Serkeen the best tip is to avoid all food and water sources. Make sure your bin lids are well secured. If you have any fruit trees or bushes make sure you collect all the windfalls throughout the summer and autumn. they love apples!!

We live in Spain and 3 summers in a row we had problems with the electrics in the car necessitating expensive repairs. On the third summer DH complained he kept finding almond shells on top of the engine, I didn't look and assumed they were thrown up by the wheels until I looked one day and saw a neat pile of shells on top of the car battery!! It was so obviously made by an animal and my DH had never twigged, he just kept knocking them off! On that occasion they had chewed the tube to the rear window washer, more expense. Poison slotted into the engine cavity got rid of them but I really don't like using it as other animals like cats might eat the dying rats. Prevention is the best solution.

Now we are scrupulous about not leaving any food or water source outside and the car is parked inside the garage overnight. Fingers crossed this summer.

Good luck getting rid of them.

Moneyboss shame to fill in a pond, provides a good habitat for a wide variety of wildlife.

Can't think that just a water source would be the only attraction for the rat?

Beware of secondary poisoning if you use rat poison. Our barn owls and other birds of prey have a hard enough time as it is
www.barnowltrust.org.uk/hazards-solutions/rodenticides/background-rat-poison-problem/

When we had a rat in our kitchen the council rodent man who put down poison (which it never came back and ate, so it must have been an itinerant visitor) said not to worry if the cats caught and ate a poisoned rat because the concentration of poison in it would be so low that it wouldn't affect them.

Not that our cats do eat them, they just leave the trophy for me to dispose of...

I know we have them outside because I do occasionally see one but we make sure all the horse feed is kept in covered containers so they can't contaminate it.

MOTHBALLS! Bought cheaply on Ebay and sprinkled on floor of shed (we'd seen Roland Rat peeking round the old net curtain at the shed window!) This was weeks ago, and not seen him or any offspring since.

The biggest rats on this planet are called human beings. When rats rule the world, I hope they remember where the poison is kept!!

Grannygranby and quizqueen = nice to hear someone speaking up for the poor old rats. They are just trying to live their lives, like we all do. Yes I know, they can carry diseases.

They have a really hard time of it, what with being poisoned and used so much in lab experiments. I wish at the very least, the poisons could be humane.

When i lived at my old house i was on like a row of houses about 10 or 11 houses and mine was the only house that didnt have mice or rats, i think it was because i have 2 very big house cats and i use to feed 2 big ferrel cats outside in the garden and they were always there so thankfully i didnt have a problem but my friend/ nieghbour had a terrible time with them and the blood council were hopeless at helping her.

When i lived at my old house there were about 10 or 11 houses on are row and i was the only one who never had a problem with rats or mice i think it had something to do with iv got 2 big house cats and i also fed 2 big ferrel cats in my garden and they were always there so thankfully i didnt have a problem but my freind/nieghbour had a terrible time with them, she was having to chase them out of her kids bedroom on a daily bases and the council was absolutely hopeless, it got so bad the kitchen ceiling caved in from there chewing so she was rehomed.

As I just scrolled back up this thread an advert for Norfolk Pest Control appeared at the top - and I hadn’t even posted anything!

Wigan Pest Control here, Nfk! I don’t even live in Wigan.

Sparkly1000..... Jack Russells nesting haha. I know you mean rats, but the wording is funny and I had to laugh.

Our old rescue dog (rip) was a proper mongrel b ut with many terrier features. One was his ability to sniff out rodents. We have always had dogs and only once had a rat (no doubt with friends nearby) in our garden, after the drains overflowed on our road. I do wonder if the dogs are a deterrent. The squirrel sits on the wall, waving to them, then scampers off when they race up barking.

they do say that you're never more than a few feet (can't remember exactly ) from a rat. We just don't always see them!

As OPs have said, don't put food on the ground for the birds, keep bins firmly shut and so on to discourage them from returning. The council aren't useless, just fighting a losing battle!

Cindy8 I had to buy a cat because I lived opposite a bakery and it worked very quickly. I wish I'd had one in previous places I'd lived in. There really is nothing that works as well. He would bring me presents though (usually 1 for me and 1 for the dog) but better dead mice than living ones.