Rat in the garden!

We see rats from time to time as we live by a cut where you see barges.
To stop them climbing bird feeders spray the pole with WD40.
They can`t climb the pole as they end up sliding down.

Rats can cause a lot of damage, chewing through electrical cables, wood, plastic, drains.

They also spread disease through their urine.

They can breed from about three months old, producing litter after litter.

We used to feed the birds, but have stopped since seeing a family of rats climbing up the tree where the feeder was.

If you do away with their food source, they go away and find another one.

We had rats in our garden, attracted by bird food. The trouble was they didn’t stay in the garden last year they invaded the shed, the foundations of our house and eventually the house. To make matters worse, one died under the units in the kitchen; the smell was horrific. We removed the dead rat, but the smell lingered on and on. No more feeding of birds for us, which is very sad but we can’t risk the rats coming back.

Obviously, your neigbours cats aren't the kind that hunt and kill rats, nor is the dog.

You need the municipal rat-catcher, or even better a neighbour who has any of the breeds of dog that enjoy ratting. These are usually terriers or mongrels with a great deal of terrier or dachshund in their ancestry.

It is said that cats catch rats if their parents did. I wouldn't know, never having seen the father of my competent rat-catching cats, but I believe rat-catching is something kittens learn, either by trial and error or by being taught it by an elder cat.

Sorry about the missing apostrophe! I hit post message instead of preview.

Rats are everywhere, just because youve not noticed them doesnt mean they arent there. Readily available food sources will bring them in.

Please keep putting out food for the small birds, rats have always been with us & always will be. The birds you fed last winter had healthy broods thanks to your kindness, and this year their nestlings are adults & need food for the next generation come spring. It's wonderful to think that the gradual increase in small bird population year on year is due to human generosity. I'd love to think that the robins, sparrows, finches, tits etc are visiting my garden because I helped.

I feed the birds all year round and saw a rat about a month ago but not since. I like the chilli and WD40 tips so will deploy both if I see one again. Years ago in our previous house backing onto a canal we had a problem and bought a large container of rat poison. They happily ate the lot with no ill effects as they have become immune. Phoned pest control who said it’s a massive problem as they are not allowed to use more powerful poisons as it would have a devastating effect on birds of prey.

I gave up feeding the birds when I looked out of the window and came face to face with a rat eating their food. I looked up pest control on t'internet and the first thing they said was to stop providing bird food. So sadly, they are no longer fed. You can get a bait box from the local garden centre for rats. I found a rat-nest hole under our hedge and put the box near there. After finding 2 dead rats nearby, we haven't had any since. (I think...)

... the other reason I gave up on the birds was that the cat was bringing in young rats and not all of them were dead! When I found her putting one into the bin next to my bed I thought, that's it. NO MORE. It was alive - I set it free in the garden but honestly, she'd carried it up two flights of stairs to give it to me.

Put rat bait boxes in you garden also take any bird feed in at night .

Everyone has rats. Nobody is more than 20 feet from a rat. just be glad they are outside. Rats managed to invade my flat and my neighbour's next door, They chewed 2 holes in my wall and got in, and upset my bin and left rubbish everywhere. My neighbour had an elderly cat which brought one in from her garden. Another neighbour had them under her shed. I bought a live catch cage and baited it but not one rat entered it. If you do catch a rat it is illegal to let it go. In the end I had to buy poison from the internet. They took it and I was upset to find a very sick rat staggering around my kitchen. A nice man I know caught it in a plastic shopping bag and took it away. Then he came back, popped the rest of the poison into the holes and sealed them up. That was 2 years ago and I have not seen a rat since and neither has my neighbour, But I know there are a lot outside.

Don't give up feeding the birds. Food is getting short for them.
Also I believe that if a rat or other animal walks in chilli sauce or pepper spray and it gets in their eyes they can scratch them out in their agony,
Don't stress over a rat.

My neighbour was feeding 2 hedgehogs then a fox and now a badger. She put food n water out every night. We saw fox and badger having a standoff over the food. Then I thought I saw a long worm flick upwards into a fusha bush. Took me ages to work out it was a rat's tail.
To anyone thinking rats are like pet rats No they are not. Wild rats often carry leptosporosis and that's what killed my friend's dog. Her neighbours were putting food for the birds on the garage roof. Was a beautiful Great Dane dog

Leptospirosis is extremely rare, it’s one of the diseases which dogs are vaccinated against.
Rats are supposed to have carried bubonic plague hundreds of years ago but you’re not going to catch anything from having rats in your garden. They’re just one of our native animals and have lived alongside people forever. Stop worrying.

It's most commonly spread by rat urine in water. As I've found dead young rats in the water butt before now (goodness knows how they ended up in there), the water could easily have become contaminated. Makes my think twice about letting the grandchildren water the flowers with water from the butts.

We knew someone on the canals who got it. He was very ill.

rats have to eat too. where would you prefer it to go. tescos or sainsburys.?

We had a new bathroom fitted last year. The plumber found rat droppings under the old bath when he took it out. The bath drain pipe was eaten through and water had been draining onto the ground under the floorboards. We then found droppings in the loft! Pest Control sorted it out, but was an awful experience.

One year, I spotted a huge rat in my compost heap. When the ratcatcher came to investigate, he found a rats' nest, with a number of babies, in the neighbour's compost heap. He advised us against putting potato peelings in the heap. Apparently these are a big attraction.

PS A Terrier is a good solution to a rat problem. My GD has a cross between a Westie and a Jack Russell which has recently made short work of a rat in the garden. My neighbour has frequent visits from a JR which may explain the absence of rats around here.

I usually find that my .22 air rifle does the trick.

I’m smiling at your post bodach. As a child living next to a farm we had chickens at the bottom of our garden. There were visiting rats. Any visible when my Dad was about we’re dispatched by an air pistol. I can recall being fascinated. Not a squeamish child but I would prefer not to be seeing rats now.

There are a lot of cats here which I curse when I find their leavings in the flower beds but appreciate for rodent control. So far no rat or rat dropping sightings. We do feed the birds, a little each day and clear up mess. If I saw rat activity I’d stop. We needed pest control at our previous home as rats were using our garden to reach a neighbours to feed from dog food in their shed. Our neighbour want bothered but I was after seeing a whole string of them one day. We removed our bird feeders, pest control laid bait and we saw no more. I’d do the same again if it were necessary.

Please do not try to poison rats, or any other creature! Its a cruel and horrible way to die and rats have just as much right to exist as any other creature!

There are rats hidden everywhere, I know it's easy to blame people feeding the birds etc, but the rats exist everywhere and have done since time imorrial, bet no one was feeding the birds back in times of starvation and disease and poverty through the dark ages. Truth is rats will eat the young of birds hedgehogs rabbits ect, they will eat grain, worms berries and breed like.....well rats! Stop the blame culture, enjoy the birds, feed them, they are struggling, and if your friend chooses to feed a couple of foxs, be treasured those fixed are probably eating plenty of rats too, earning their keep.

We had rats in our garage although there wasnt anything foodlike for them to eat. Humane traps didnt work so bait was put down. A couple of days later my husband went away. I heard the dogs barking in the garden so looked out and there was a huge rat the size of a puppy crawling slowly across the garden obviously having eaten the bait. I put the dogs indoors and then I hit it with a spade to put it out if its misery. I left it a few hours then shovelled it up and threw it over on to the land next door. The wild rats are nothing like the tame white ones we had as children and will attack you if cornered. Our neighbours have chickens and we live in the country so I like the idea of using chilli powder. Especially as they enjoy eating our vegetable seedlings and even eat our seed potatoes when they have been planted.