Rats in the garden

[fossyant]

Your never far from a rat. We rarely see any, but I've only seen them when I've put food out for the birds, they come off the field behind our house and have a nibble. None in the back garden. So long as they aren't in the shed/house then leave them be. You've got no chance of them not being near with chickens and their feed.

The buggers can climb very well, so they can scale your fence no issue.

 

[jowwy]

one of the things i have learnt while reading about getting rid of them online is they hate the smell of bleach.........so i emptied the brick shed and cleaned it all with domestos and sprayed all round the door with peppermint oil, which they hate too.

im sorry but i bloody hate the things and will do what i can to keep them out of my house, garden, greenhouse etc etc

 

[oldwheels]

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...

Not wise to use poison and in any case present day poisons are not very effective on rats but they can harm cats or dogs who may eat a dead rat they find. In my malting and distilling days we were plagued by rats but managed to find a good poison which is now banned. Rat traps which are inspected regularly are really the only domestic answer IMO.

 

[jowwy]

Not wise to use poison and in any case present day poisons are not very effective on rats but they can harm cats or dogs who may eat a dead rat they find. In my malting and distilling days we were plagued by rats but managed to find a good poison which is now banned. Rat traps which are inspected regularly are really the only domestic answer IMO.

nonesense, you dont get secondary poisoning with todays poisons and they are also very effect single feed poisons out there.......

 

[oldwheels]

nonesense, you dont get secondary poisoning with todays poisons and they are also very effect single feed poisons out there.......

Not rats admittedly but I had problems last winter with mouse poison which I used in my garden shed. Neighbour's cats got badly affected.
Not seen rats locally for a long time.

 

[jowwy]

Not rats admittedly but I had problems last winter with mouse poison which I used in my garden shed. Neighbour's cats got badly affected.
Not seen rats locally for a long time.

so you used poison, even when stating its not wise to use poison........hmmmmmmm. Anyway all my poison is securely stored and bait boxes are locked up so no other animals have access to the poisons

 

[Electric_Andy]

We've had a letter from the council to say that rats have been spotted in the next road over from me. I've never seen a rat here in the 4 years I've been living here. The letter says that we should take steps to eradicate them, but I'm doing nothing. I'm not going to put out bait or poison and risk hurting other wildlife or pets just because someone else has a rat problem (if they even do). I see the odd squirell but that's about it

 

[jowwy]

We've had a letter from the council to say that rats have been spotted in the next road over from me. I've never seen a rat here in the 4 years I've been living here. The letter says that we should take steps to eradicate them, but I'm doing nothing. I'm not going to put out bait or poison and risk hurting other wildlife or pets just because someone else has a rat problem (if they even do). I see the odd squirell but that's about it

i thought the same, until i was sat watching the TV and started hearing the scratching and scurrying in the wall by the side of my head........and then in the attic at night above the bed.......

 

[Electric_Andy]

i thought the same, until i was sat watching the TV and started hearing the scratching and scurrying in the wall by the side of my head........and then in the attack at night above the bed.......

I'd certainly do something about it if I saw or heard anything, but until then I think I'm safe.

 

[T4tomo]

I'm not going to put out bait or poison and risk hurting other wildlife or pets just because someone else has a rat problem (if they even do)

The proper rat bait boxes that @jowwy described are very secure though, cat / dogs cant get at it, just vermin. They have a nibble, return to base and croak it.

 

[jowwy]

The proper rat bait boxes that @jowwy described are very secure though, cat / dogs cant get at it, just vermin. They have a nibble, return to base and croak it.

or they crack off a block, take it with them to the nest and blitz the whole crew

 

[fossyant]

The only reason I spotted the rat(s) was I was working in the summer house all day, and one would climb up the chain mail fence from the field, up the raised beds next to the summer house, then onto the soil and up a tree stump to the bird food. Then again, I had loads of squirrels too.

I think you are on a loser here, especially with the neighbour's chickens. We've a massive bag of peanuts in the garage, but nothing has been in to have a chew, but any food that's put out, the various forms of wildlife will nibble it. The rats have a ready source of food in the chicken feed, so they will use your garden to get to it. You've blocked off access points to your property, so the buggers will likely move on.

Poisons can and do affect other wildlife, and TBH, rats do serve a purpose of one of nature's little cleaners. It's your neighbour that needs to address the chicken feed issue.

 

[oldwheels]

so you used poison, even when stating its not wise to use poison........hmmmmmmm. Anyway all my poison is securely stored and bait boxes are locked up so no other animals have access to the poisons

The cats in question allegedly ate dead mice they found. My comment about not using comes after that experience.
I had a lot of experience with rats in grain storage which were a nightmare sometimes. In the past they became immune to the legal poisons then used which were warfarin based. In the end I twice had to resort to Rentokil and on another occasion to what is now an illegal but effective poison.

 

[welsh dragon]

An air rifle is the fastest and most humane way of dealing with rats I find. I daresay we have some here in the middle of nowhere, but I have only seen one once when we kept chickens. It got caught in the chicken wire fence. I shot it with my air rifle.

I wouldn't use poison as any number of different animals can get hold of it.

 

[iluvmybike]

We have rats in the garden occasinally - they come from behind a nieghbours garage where there is lots of garden waste - they don't get distubred there as it is up against the side of the hill we live on. We looked for their 'runway' and put bait boxes with poison blocks in them down where they come through - generally they will skirt along the side of things as they do not like being in the open. They avoided them initially as they are 'new' to them. But eventually their curiosity gets the better of them and they go in and, because they have to chew to keep their teeth short, they nibble it. Within 2-3 weeks they are usually gone. The bait boxes are not accessible to hedgehogs, domestic pets, birds etc so safe enough. Rats can squeeze themselves through miniscule gaps - almost flattening their bodies out. If they want in and can't then they will just gnaw through wire, wood, plastic whatever.