Rats

Why not block their access to underneath the shed and through to next door? Either welded mesh or cement blocks would stop them.

Yes I have read'heard that decking can encourage rats to make nests underneath.

Whilst many think that by putting bird food up high the rats wont get it ! rats can climb, also we have rats under our wooden shed.

Next door fed the birds on one of those fancy hanging things, the food that the birds dropped went on the ground, the rats had a constant supply of dropped food, and made a run from the shed to the bottom of the bird feeder.

We put poison down, on removing our wooden shed there was a nest approx 15 inch wide all packed in a circle, over the week we found one large body in the nest and around 8 smaller ones dotted around the garden. When I say smaller I mean about 5 inch body length..yuk!

I now never can leave my conservatory door open.

I have had 5 cats over the years and you are right they do help with the rats. Unfortunately at the moment I cannot get another one.

Get a cat! Not joking- we live in a rural area and have always had a cat, specially to deal with rats and mice. We occasionally find a dead rat, but have never seen live one. I think the smell of cats can deter rats. Despite lots of rabbits in area, they don’t bother our garden - I think the cats keep them away.

Very quick witted cavewoman!
?

I should also add that he charged a lot for doing a little.
We mentioned it to the neighbour but no offer of a contribution was forthcoming.

Thankyou everyone. I have had alot of help with this.

I should just add that the rodent inspector said the stuff you can buy in the garden centre is not strong enough; the kind he uses has to have a licence.
But perhaps he would say that.

I have heard that they do, that under the decking is a favourite place for rats.
We have hanging seed containers for the birds and I was horrified to see a rat hanging off one last year,chewing through for the seed.
Unfortunately the LA don't send out rodent inspectors now,(ours doesn't) and we found one who came and set traps. When he came back he was certain that he had sorted the problem but warned that they may come back as a garden behind us is in a complete mess and the tunnel led through to there.

He advised us to take down the bird feeders.

I can't see the point of pest control (unless they're indoors). Poisoned rats can be eaten by wildlife and pets. The poison itself may be taken by other animals. We have owls, weasels and badgers here.

Even if you eliminate them, others will soon move into the vacant territory.

It's more effective to block their access to water (if possible), reduce the chance of bird food being on the ground (especially overnight) and have anti-climb devices on pole feeders - we have them anyway to stop squirrels.

My local council doesn't deal with pest control unless you're a council tenant.

Just checked our local council website under pest control, they no longer deal with any pest control issues. Cost savings I guess.

Do you have to pay for pest control from the council MOnica? You certainly are charged in our area.

Get a rat expert in, its the quickest, and most effective way to get rid of the blighters. You'll need neighbours to support this so the rats get attacked on all fronts

We used to have decking ( another house) it never attracted rats.
However, no decking here, but odd sightings of a rat/rats.We feed the birds ( a lot) but never put food on the ground.There just are more rats around than we think, both in towns and countryside.
I agree with the poster who highlighted the new fencing, thus
The rats now need to burrow under, the old fencing likely had a few handy gaps.
All you can do OP, is not to feed birds, but rats come and go in all gardens.

I think most local councils are responsible for pest control when the pest is a rat.

Whenever they have appeared in our garden, we just ring the council and a man turns up with all the poison and deals with them.

We live up the hill from a river, and until this winter we have not seen rats. Two have started visiting our garden, eating the bird seed from the bird table. My DH says he will get some rat poison to put down, but there must be a better way to deter them. I don't want the birds and other wildlife to be poisoned along with the rats.
I once read an article which stated that wherever you live you are never more than 12 feet away from a rat!

Hetty that was my worry with poison. Peppermint oil and Chile powder seem a good idea though.

Poison is dangerous for wildlife and pets. Next door have decking so we have wire mesh (the welded squares type) behind our fence to prevent problems.

We live near a river and rats like to stay near a water source. If you have a bird bath, use the type on a post.

I have a lot of decking in my garden but don't feed the birds and have no problem with rats. They will be attracted by a food source or where they can move around without being seen. Both peppermint oil and hot chilli powder are known deterrents.

MawB may be able to advise

I’d never have a house with decking for that very reason, I’ve also very reluctantly stopped feeding the birds.
I saw a rather large rat not far from the back door, and I am really paranoid now, I know they’re around, but I don’t want to see them.

I have heard that decking attracts rats, but I would think there must also be a food source close.

Feeding the birds is apparently one of the main sources of rat problems.

Maybe, I am open to all suggestions. Thanks very much, I now have to think about how to tackle the problem.

Just a thought, maybe your new fence is just highlighting a problem with rats that’s always been there, but unnoticed, as they are now having to burrow to get through to your garden?