Rats in the garden

[jowwy]

Anyone had issues with rats in their garden.

i had one get through a repired hole around my waste pioe and get into the wall cavity And climb the cavity up into the attick…..he’s dead now and the hole repaired, bait boxes put out around the edges of the garden between the fences and planter boxes. Since last thursday 8 bait blocks have been eaten and the ones in there now have been nibbled at.

bloody neighbours and their chickens gggrrrrrr

 

[Profpointy]

My view on rats in the garden is live and let live, so long as they're not in the house. There are rats pretty much everywhere, but I doubt killing them has any value as there'll be a number of rats the area will support and however many you kill will be replaced, so might as well accept them.

The only rats we get in the house have been brought in by this girl

 

[HMS_Dave]

I personally wouldn't accept these pests in the garden. They'll chew everything and breed like forced buggery if they get into a shed or shelter...

My old man had everything chewed in his shed. Wires to nearly all of his electrical items, drills, mowers, strimmers. They got another cat in the end (a cat the could be bothered to hunt) which if nothing else, seemed to scare them away.

They didn't want to use poison so no experience there, but probably not wise if there are other animals about...

 

[lazybloke]

You neighbour's chickens might attract the rats, but something draws them to your property; possibly worth a good look round to see if there's any ratty temptation you can remove from your house & garden.

We certainly get field rats nesting in our compost heap, but they never come near the house so we leave them undisturbed (until we turn the heap).

Possibly our two cats keep the rats at bay, although one only ever hunts earthworms, and the other is too old & arthritic to do anything so energetic.

 

[jowwy]

I personally wouldn't accept these pests in the garden. They'll chew everything and breed like forced buggery if they get into a shed or shelter...

My old man had everything chewed in his shed. Wires to nearly all of his electrical items, drills, mowers, strimmers. They got another cat in the end (a cat the could be bothered to hunt) which if nothing else, seemed to scare them away.

They didn't want to use poison so no experience there, but probably not wise if there are other animals about...

i have two cats, but are both indoor only.....although there are many other cats that frequent the garden area.

the poisons are in proper lock boxes and cant be accessed by other pets or animals, except for mice and rats. The poison blocks are secured on a 3mm threaded bar, so they can just nibble away at them and not take them away.

I havent had any items damaged luckily enough. But my garden is fence off with solid fences to 2 sides, which have no gaps, holes or tunnels around them.....but side 3 is the neighbours fence and its slatted, so they can get in through that area. ive placed the bait boxes in between that area and my large planter boxes, so its like a hidden secure run for them.

 

[Arjimlad]

I zap them with the air rifle.

We don't get many in, usually after the bird feed, and it's not easy to be there at the right time & place.

We've also got a cage trap under the rabbit hutch but they seem wise to that.

A friend has chickens and when the number of rats around the pen get too big he does the same.

 

[jowwy]

You neighbour's chickens might attract the rats, but something draws them to your property; possibly worth a good look round to see if there's any ratty temptation you can remove from your house & garden.

We certainly get field rats nesting in our compost heap, but they never come near the house so we leave them undisturbed (until we turn the heap).

Possibly our two cats keep the rats at bay, although one only ever hunts earthworms, and the other is too old & arthritic to do anything so energetic.

yeh the hole was in the brick shed connected to the hose and its the waste pipe from the kitchen sink. it was all sealed up tight inside the house, so only got into the cavity, but it could probably smell some nice lovely food stuffs. i put bait in the shed and it took at least 200 grammes before feeding stopped and then i sealed all under the shed door so no more could get in again and then did the external boxes around the garden.

i hate the damn things and dead is better than alive for me.....i will keep baiting the boxes year round to make sure they are kept under control.

 

[Sharky]

Have you tried the sonic devices
4 X Woodside Solar Powered Garden Sonic Wave Mole/Rat/Rodent Repeller Repellent | Woodside Products
lots of similar products on the market.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

As long as they don't come in the house we are ok with the odd one that turns up in the garden.

Mrs SD has been known to throw a cheese slice or two out for the smaller ones.

Our Lakeland Stone Walls in the garden are full of mice which freaks out some of our guests - we like them and feed them regularly; part of country living for us.

 

[lazybloke]

Have you tried the sonic devices
4 X Woodside Solar Powered Garden Sonic Wave Mole/Rat/Rodent Repeller Repellent | Woodside Products
lots of similar products on the market.

Took ages for those to get rid of moles from my garden but did eventually work. Hopefully quicker-acting against rodents.

Used to get squirrels and mice nesting in the loft above my bedroom when I was a nipper. Barely noticed the mice but squirrels made lots of noise & mess, including the "waterfall of urine" through the ceiling.

 

[jowwy]

Have you tried the sonic devices
4 X Woodside Solar Powered Garden Sonic Wave Mole/Rat/Rodent Repeller Repellent | Woodside Products
lots of similar products on the market.

i got 2 now in the house that uses the electric cables to detur them....but nothing in the gardens

 

[jowwy]

The bait boxes are around 10mtrs from the house, so as long as they feed down there out of the way and dont come further up im ok........but once they've had a good nibble on the poison, they will be dead in a day or two anyway and hopefully down in their nests out of the way

 

[T4tomo]

I saw one in ours the other day, it came out of hole in the fence that leads under next door decking - a favourite place for rates to live apparently. It / they doesn't seem to eat the bait in the rat box 'cos the women 2 doors the other side put out loads of food for birds, but not in bird only feeders
Hole is blocked up to encourage the buggers to stay that side of the fence.

 

[jowwy]

I saw one in ours the other day, it came out of hole in the fence that leads under next door decking - a favourite place for rates to live apparently. It / they doesn't seem to eat the bait in the rat box 'cos the women 2 doors the other side put out loads of food for birds, but not in bird only feeders
Hole is blocked up to encourage the buggers to stay that side of the fence.

yeh i check all around my decking regularly to make sure there no holes or burrows.........but even if i found a hole i would remove the piece of deck, put poison behind it and seal it back up.

 

[jowwy]

one of the problems we have got is there is an old building at the bottom of our gardens, that's virtually falling down and very over grown that used to be a Coffin builders shop and privately owned. all the roof has rotted and fallen into it, there's no windows and the walls are caving in slowly. Our neighbours did ask him to knock it all down, but as yet hes done nothing to it......we are guessing there could be a loud in there, hiding out under the old timbers and brush.