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Rat!

lily6lily6 Posts: 79
in The potting shed
In our successful attempt to create a garden to attract wildlife we have an unwelcome visitor, a rat. He/she is very at home, log piles for shelter, a pond to drink from and, no mess bird food offerings that have been dropped from the bird feeders. We have tried a sensor that emits the noise they are supposed to dislike, either it doesn't work or the rats deaf! I'd rather not use poison, it's cruel and we have 2 greedy labradors. Has any one successfully driven out rats from the garden with a sensor? I'm getting desperate to be rid before it multiplies! 
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  • lily6lily6 Posts: 79
    Hi pansy face, my husband is a huge birdlover, the feeders are all hanging ones from the trees so the squirrels can't get on them. He really doesn't want to stop feeding the birds, hence my enquiry about the deterrent sensors. We've lived here 21 years and it's not been a rat issue until now. 
  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,287
    A humane trap is the only other suggestion,  then dispose of it however you see fit.
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    A healthy, well fed adult rat can be quite difficult to kill unless you are a skilled marksman/woman. i have invested in 2 electric traps which run off 4 large batteries so not mains supply electricity. They give 2 electric shocks, 3 sec.s apart to kill any rat which trips the mechanism. However, because they use batteries they should only be used indoors and I am not going to encourage any rat inside my house just to try and catch it. I am going to wait for dry weather (I know,, I can hear you all laughing) but we might have some dry days sometime, put the traps inside large plastic storage containers near the bird feeders and try my luck. If there is one rat there is likely to be a family. We have a large local rat population, part of living in country farmland areas.
    Rats can stay alive in water for 3 days and if given a single electric shock, their hearts will restart beating which is why the traps give 2 shocks. All sounds fanciful to me but have no way of disproving or proving if true or not. (For those of you who have fallen off your chairs laughing, again!).
  • lily6lily6 Posts: 79
    Yes pansy face you're bang on there, we saw two together about an hour ago! Looking like we will have to explore the trap route. Joyce I admire your humour, I cannot bear rats, lived next to a farm as a child and we were often overrun with them, semi rural here, never had a problem until the ferocious cat from next door moved away last month. If appropriate or even possible on here I'd be really interested to know the make of your traps. Surely we will have some dry weather soon!

    I'd really welcome any further suggestions as we are very keen to solve this ASAP. Much thanks all. 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    You know the saying ... When the cat’s away the mice (and rats) will play.   🐀  🐈 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • lily6lily6 Posts: 79
    Never mind playing, they were having a full on party before the hailstones defended! 
  • lily6lily6 Posts: 79
    A cat is not an option unfortunately, both husband and daughter are very allergic, if our garden was larger a feral rehomed cat would be a superb fix. 
  • lily6lily6 Posts: 79
    Hi RIK56, apparently we're never too far away from the horrible things. It appears the very wet weather hasn't halted procreation, just sighted some more of the family........ 
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    It seems to have a been a bad season for rats (I know.....!)

    Spoke to the local pest control man when he was attending at a neighbours and he thinks it's down to a combination of things - mild winter, lots of water (apparently that always keeps the population up) and the waterlogged ground / flooded burrows means they've been very active and visible this year. 
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
  • TopbirdTopbird Posts: 8,355
    @pansyface - LC has really claimed that space (well the whole sofa really!) hasn't he? How's he getting on?
    Heaven is ... sitting in the garden with a G&T and a cat while watching the sun go down
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