Urban foxes

They certainly do report rats, susie755! Councils vary in their pest control approach, but I do know that in areas near to rivers etc. rats in gardens, and sometimes under houses, are a regular occurrence.

We had to stop leaving food out for the birds (on the ground) because it encouraged rats - not pleasant to be in the garden enjoying the surroundings when a large rat scurries across the lawn as large as life, especially when you have your GC staying...

Foxes may not enter houses that often (actually rats don't either if the house is clean and maintained) but they do frequent gardens and they have fleas, carry mange, round worm and lung worm.

Lung worm? Is that because they eat slugs and suchlike? Must go and dose my dog for lungworm again; very nasty thing for them to catch.

er, rats do have a bladder

Yes, of course they do, but they're notoriously weak and they tend to urinate willy-nilly wherever they go...

Nice way of putting it Ana

I don't believe our house is either dirty or decrepit. When we had problems with rats some years ago, the rat catcher said everyone in the area was having problems and he suggested there were three causes; people leaving food around (probably for the bloody foxes), the very cold weather, unusually so for November, and the fact that the council had discontinued the free pest control service. Rats and mice can squeeze into your house through holes you would think a worm couldn't get through.

I seem to remember dissecting rats and seeing their bladders.
Is all that weeing a way of communicating? It is in many mammals. it would be funny if humans did this...
Heard of lugworm but they are on beaches.

Basically then too much of anything is a bad thing, be it foxes, rats - or humans.

Buildings surrounded by farmland are likely to have a problem with rats and mice after harvest when the corn has been cut and the weather starts to get colder. They will be looking for warmth, shelter and food.. They also need a supply of water so dripping garden taps and containers that are likely to collect rainwater will attract them. They also love rotting fruit and vegetables so you need to pick up all fallen apples and make sure a compost heap is as far away from the house as possible.

We will be turning our large compost heap soon. I make sure the Jack Russells are geed up ready for action. I hate it if a rat dashes out. The flipping dogs usually get so excited they fight eachother and forget why they're there. If you don't gee them up they get bored and disappear down a rabbit hole instead.

Perhaps they could recycle the foxes. Someone yesterday was complaining that they had a plague of rabbits in their veg. crops and needed more foxes.

All the animals seem to move in close to us. My son works with hedgehogs and he says they are finding them close to towns and villages but very few out in the fields and in the wild.

That's because people are leaving food out for them!

Also apparently badgers eat a lot of hedgehogs. Not sure how. I suppose there are less badgers near human habitation.

Broomsticks Badgers eat hedgehogs from the soft front, leaving behind the skin with the prickles. Very neatly done, but their noses must get jabbed by the prickles when they start.

And horrible to find the skin with prickles on your lawn in the morning....

I haven't seen a hedgehog for a while. I gather their numbers are dropping pretty radically.

I want hedgehogs. I have lovely safe garden for them with tons of slugs and snails. A veritable hedgehog paradise in fact. I haven't even seen a squashed one in the road for a few years..

Look out for hedgehog droppings in the spring galen. Black, about 3 cm long, gritty looking (snail and beetle shells) and fairly pointy.

They can't get in. The garden is secure!

So you want hedgehogs but you've got rabbit fencing and they cant get in?
I think mine squeeze under the gate. About 3 cm gap.
Someone I know got some hedgehogs from a rescue centre (in fact i think they had originally rescued them and wanted them back) but it was a big palaver - garden had to be inspected, pond made safe for hedgehogs etc etc

We have hedgehogs. Plenty of piles of wood and other scrubbly places for them to live. And they can wander in from the fields, from the woods, from the road down the hill, even.

You can't have a Colditz garden, galen, and expect hedgehogs to tunnel in!

They can climb a bit though.

My son used to rescue ones he found in the road as he lurched back from the pub. They didn't stick around though. They were probably on their way somewhere and very annoyed by his kindly meant interference.