Balgay, you would waste a lot of pellets or have to be a sharp shooter to catch the little bu***rs.
I've shot two rats here this week and probably 40 or 50 over the last few years. They're pretty easy targets if you set things up well with an easy source of food for them to make them stand still for a couple of seconds and a good backstop for safety of course. It's the only really humane way to kill them in my opinion.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Please don't stop feeding the birds, I live in a city and I feel like I'm the only person that feeds them. I also feed a stray cat that has taken to sleeping in my shed, no rats now I have shed cat!!! I also hang my bird feeders in a climbing rose which seems to limit access.
I used to work at an agricultural supply store which stocked poison, the stuff you want is the blue pellets. Rats will always exist, don't risk the birds not being here please.
I won't stop feeding the birds @WonkyWomble I promise. But I have to take a break before the weather turns really bad as I will not have supersized rats running amuk in my garden.
There are several 'serious' cats that live nearby and I see bird feathers on the lawn all too often (usually the stupid pigeons!) but I don't feel I can rely on them on this occasion.
Once I have secured the bird feeders normal service will be resumed, meanwhile the birds are making the most of the bounty of berries in mine and neighbours gardens.
"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it." Sir Terry Pratchett
@l@Lizzie27, I haven’t seen rats in my garden yet. The house next door is a rented house and currently empty. Their shed is run down and is a potential home for rats so I’m trying to avoid any rats looking for a new home.
@Lizzie27, I like foxes and would much prefer a fox than rats.
Here’s the DIY seeds catcher using a sieve. It was raining to I used twine so I could work quickly. If it works, I’ll use some garden wire once it’s a bit dryer.
It’s not very stable and where the handle meets the feeder pole, it has a tendency to go a bit wonky quite easily 🤔
Put axle grease on the pole that holds the feeders, that should stop them climbing, I use this method to stop squirrels, sadly still have seed on the floor problem.
Very ingenious @Skylarks, it will be interesting to see how it performs in the longer term. Unfortunately it won't work with my bird feeders which have spring loaded drop down ports. I did try something similar a year or two back, nearer the ground but found the mesh got disgustingly messy with combined bird poo/bird seeds/wet weather. Not sure if there is an answer really.
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I've shot two rats here this week and probably 40 or 50 over the last few years. They're pretty easy targets if you set things up well with an easy source of food for them to make them stand still for a couple of seconds and a good backstop for safety of course. It's the only really humane way to kill them in my opinion.
I also hang my bird feeders in a climbing rose which seems to limit access. I used to work at an agricultural supply store which stocked poison, the stuff you want is the blue pellets. Rats will always exist, don't risk the birds not being here please.
There are several 'serious' cats that live nearby and I see bird feathers on the lawn all too often (usually the stupid pigeons!) but I don't feel I can rely on them on this occasion.
Once I have secured the bird feeders normal service will be resumed, meanwhile the birds are making the most of the bounty of berries in mine and neighbours gardens.
I did try something similar a year or two back, nearer the ground but found the mesh got disgustingly messy with combined bird poo/bird seeds/wet weather. Not sure if there is an answer really.