Rats.

They can also spread various diseases, which is also something to take into consideration.

They urinate continuously, and the bacteria in their urine can cause leptospirosis in dogs - a frequently fatal disease against which dogs can now be vaccinated. Ours is vaccinated every year. Horrid things, rats,

I think it would be a particularly bold and hungry rat to bite a child; or a cornered one. The chances of it happening in an open space seems to me to be very slim or nonexistent. In my experience rats remove themselves pretty damn quickly from humans.

On the other hand, the most common thing fed to wildfowl is bread. There's a strong school of thought that says this is not a good thing to do because it just fills them up without providing the nutrients they need. So perhaps the duck feeding should stop...

I'm on the fence....

Rats are everywhere. As long as they don’t get into my house, it’s just nature. Most of what I see are itinerant anyway and just disturbed by harvesting/construction. I do have traps around my house, but haven’t seen a rat in the garden since I replaced the decking terrace.

There's a saying - "You are never more than ten feet away from a rat"
If people are feeding the ducks then there will be rats nearby.

And no, I agree, bread is not good for ducks.

They do carry disease though. We know of someone who died of Weil's Disease from being in contaminated water.

I saw a news story last week about the surge of rats in New York. They have appointed a rat czar to help deal with the problem. I wonder if they have a magic flute.

One woman interviewed declared they were the size of crocs. I thought that’s surely a bit of an exaggeration 🐊 Then she elaborated, they were like size 8 Crocs 😄

Grannynannywanny 😂
That made me laugh (although it's not funny!)

Now, is that to do with all the fast food that is thrown away? Well-fed rats increasing in size?

Now, is that to do with all the fast food that is thrown away? Well-fed rats increasing in size?

Callistemon21 I think that plays a big part in it . Overflowing bins and dare I say food waste that doesn’t even make it to the bin and is dropped in the street.

My brother lives in a flat and the communal bin shed area is behind the building. They have a rat problem as some residents leave bags of rubbish near the bins rather than in them.

Grannynannywanny
I remember when the refuse collectors, road cleaners were on strike in 1979/80 and rubbish was piled up in London boroughs.
I'd never seen a huge rat at close quarters before

Regardless of other opinions Rats are not going to get established here, we are quite close to a river so they are not far away. We keep a bait box topped up, don’t put excess bird food out or any rubbish

It’s bait boxes I use Katie. Actual rat traps are too difficult for me to prise open to get the corpse out!

Rats are a perfectly normal creature to have around. They are only a problem when they get into human dwellings or other buildings. There is nothing needing doing about them

Here in Denmark, we are now told that we should never feed ducks or swans bread as doing so shortens their lives, and I have seen similar notices in Belgium.

We are by law obliged to report sightings of rats in urban areas to the local municipal rat catcher, who is then sent to catch the rats - something he is not usually very successful at. A pair of average house cats or a terrier is usually much more efficient.

So if you want to cull rats, let cats and dogs roam freely, said she tongue in cheek, well knowing how many people will be up-in-arms if such an outdated solution should ever be seriously suggested.

More seriously, keeping sewers and drains in good order and making sure all dustbins have lids that actually stay closed in high winds, which ournew wheelie-bins' lids do not, would naturally reduce the rat population as well.

I think our dog would have barked a lot at a rat then run away.
Although the rat might have scarpered first.

There was similar advice not to feed ducks/swans bread in the UK. It led to some wildlife really suffering as they had become so dependent on it, so the advice was withdrawn.

Ive seen rats in our garden under the bird feeder so i no l longer regularly feed the birds.

plagues

We live next to a river, no longer feed the birds after spotting rats leisurely eating their lunch from the thrown around food. A neighbour puts bird food on the floor for the blackbirds, the rats now stroll across to her garden. She likes them. We don’t.

There was a field behind my house,. but two years ago new houses were starting to get built on it.The drains were dug first so the ground was disturbed, releasing a mighty rat population.Rats of all shapes and sizes came climbing out, and the mummy and daddy rats began breeding.Whole families of them with baby rats were running along the back walls.They were having parties and inviting their mates around.
Then I saw an enormous one in my kitchen, it scarpered into a hole in the wall.I panicked and rang the council and pest control man came and wanted £400 t put poison down. I told him where to go and got some poison myself for a fraction of the price.
They came in at night, I was horrified.Not helped by my neighbours not putting food waste in the bins throwing around the street instead.
They leave me alone now, but it was horrible at the time.