Rats 🐀

[JES72]

We have rats rats rats
There’s a burrow to a nest in our front garden and I saw one in our cellar this evening. I’ve noticed evidence for about two to three weeks.
Our neighbours also hear them scuttling about, one had a big chunk of bread taken from their kitchen.

I have a pest control company coming on Monday. I hope they can flush them out and catch them.

 

[Jacqui-S]

My friendly rat man did an excellent job.
I don't think ours were in the house.....just the garden.
Good luck

 

[Cath]

Hope all goes well for you and you get rid of them.

 

[edzbird]

We had them under the shed... pest control put poison down. They still come and go but I don't think they're living in our garden.

A chap who shoots at the club has the most cute 17 month old Jack Russel called Suzy 3 (he's previously had Suzy 1 and Suzy 2), he was proudly telling me "she caught her first Big Fella" this week. He hunts rats & rabbits with his dog, ferrets & gun. He is doing pest control on several farms. The pests he catches are not wasted, they are fed to Suzy 3 and the ferrets. Suzy 3 gives wonderful kisses - I try not to think about what she's been eating.

 

[M.F.]

Please don’t put down poison to kill rats. Owls eat the dead rats and are in turn killed by the poison. You get rat traps that either trap the rat live (you’ll need to release it in another area) or dead (but the rats can’t get out; the company that sets the trap for you will need to monitor the trap and dispose of the rats carefully). We’ve had a terrible time here where protected owls and their fledglings were killed by the poison in the rats they ate.

The best way to get rid of rats is to make sure they don’t have a food source. They’ll move on.

 

[MellowYellow]

Please don’t put down poison to kill rats. Owls eat the dead rats and are in turn killed by the poison. You get rat traps that either trap the rat live (you’ll need to release it in another area) or dead (but the rats can’t get out; the company that sets the trap for you will need to monitor the trap and dispose of the rats carefully). We’ve had a terrible time here where protected owls and their fledglings were killed by the poison in the rats they ate.

The best way to get rid of rats is to make sure they don’t have a food source. They’ll move on.

Absolutely agree with this. Rats are everywhere; the only real way to get rid of them is to eliminate their food source. So if you are feeding the birds; stop feeding them. If you have a compost bin, make sure you are only composting green stuff from the garden and kitchen, nothing that rats like (like eggshells for instance).

 

[HAH]

Absolutely agree with this. Rats are everywhere; the only real way to get rid of them is to eliminate their food source. So if you are feeding the birds; stop feeding them. If you have a compost bin, make sure you are only composting green stuff from the garden and kitchen, nothing that rats like (like eggshells for instance).

Agree with all of this, but sometimes it’s not enough - we had rats under our shed and in a small garden they were too close to the house, as well as sharing water sources etc. So we got pest control in and they were killed and haven’t come back. Sometimes you can’t control all the access points (e.g. neighbours with bird feeders, public bins nearby) so the less ideal routes are necessary.

 

[Jacqui-S]

We had no option other than using something poisonous but our pest control guy was very careful.
We live very close to a farm and are NEver going to be rid of them completely.
Over the years various neighbours have stopped feeding birds, got rid of compost bins, lots of strategies.
A few years ago, I spotted one nimbly trotting over my plum tree branches......

 

[kateincornwall]

We have an elderly neighbour who used to chuck out slices of bread for the birds and of course, being a rural farming community , it didnt take long for the dreaded rats to arrive . I was amazed one morning to see one in our garden and very neatly despatched by Nelly We then had evidence of one in our outhouse where I used to store veggies , I dont now . Another neighbour reported this to the council who sent someone out to deal with them and the old boy was told to stop throwing out food on his garden which thankfully he has done .
Our recent mole visitor has wrecked our lawn but seems to have vacated and gone next door

 

[edzbird]

We too live in farming country, there will always be rats about and I don't really mind them, just rather they don't take up home under my shed. I appreciate, though, they are pests on a farm.

 

[JES72]

London is infested with rats. I don't mind seeing a rat on the common or the tow path but having a nest in our house gives me the creeps. they will set up traps and block entry points.

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

Our recent mole visitor has wrecked our lawn but seems to have vacated and gone next door

Well that’s good news! I guess he figured he’d spread his gardening skills around for more of the neighborhood to enjoy. He IS very hard-working!

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

London is infested with rats. I don't mind seeing a rat on the common or the tow path but having a nest in our house gives me the creeps. they will set up traps and block entry points.

Don’t blame you - that would creep anyone out! I hope the anti-rat measures work and you can relax.

 

[JES72]

Rat man has come and set up traps. now to wait for them to get caught. Traps are all in the cellar so safely away from Stanley.

 

[Emily]

Rat man has come and set up traps. now to wait for them to get caught. Traps are all in the cellar so safely away from Stanley.

Haha "rat man"