Fire that looks like a proper version of my upturned plastic bowl and hanging basket with a crock dish in it 😄 originally to stop the jackdaws raiding it after they've gutsed the dishes! I know rats are very clever, but they'd have to be Krypton Factor material for that! (Showing my age there!!)
I'm never going to poison them, but if I get a cage trap, and there's tons of them, I could be trapping and releasing forever while they breed. I'm not sure what the answer is, and I don't want to stop feeding the birds after so long, but I might have to. Any suggestions please?
The advice I've received from Pest Control was to stop feeding the birds for several weeks and then only re commence when you have been Rat Free for at least a couple of weeks or so. That can work well enough but obviously surrounding gardens need to follow the same route if that is where the problem originates - not quite so simple to arrange. An overgrown garden does not necessarily mean a rat invasion but it obviously depends on what other rubbish ( aka food waste of any sort ) is left laying about as well as unprotected bird/animal feedstuff which the rats can access. As already said, the food source is the issue. You mention the possibility of live trapping - as opposed to laying poison bait - and then releasing the rats. I'm wondering not only where you would release them but would you not be concerned about simply passing the problem on to others who would then have to deal with it - most likely by laying poison bait. Don't misunderstand me as I don't like killing things either ( and I put my large Slow worm colony before a pretty garden but you can rarely have it both ways. It may well be an unpleasant decision to eradicate the rats but it's either accepting them or being kinder in the long term - both to your birds and to others.
I agree with @philippasmith2. Catching and releasing them 'somewhere' isn't feasible, or very considerate. There are boxes available for using poison correctly, which don't affect other wildlife. Placed and used correctly, they can often solve the problem fairly easily. Not feeding the birds for the time being will help though.
Sometimes, building works or similar can displace a colony, so that's another possibility along with @pansyface's earlier post. That happened to friends when an area of rough ground was cleared near their house, and the neighbouring ones, and the usual routes and habitat were disturbed, sending them through their gardens.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I don't think you need to train a Jack Russell to chase and kill small things. We used to babysit one that went crackers for squirrels. A friends Jack Russell went into total hunt mode at the first squeak. I was banned from buying those squeaky toys, as she went insane until she had killed it.
You really must stop the bird feeding ,they are quite capable of finding their own food now. Also the rats are going to have to meet their maker I think ,they just breed and breed else .Maybe the Jack Russell will get the job done for you .
Absolutely never going to poison them. If I trap, there's a million acres of countryside to release them in, I wouldn't let them out near houses! I know the overgrown garden isn't the reason they're there, but it's now quiet and has lots of places to hide/nest, and little dog can't get in to half of it. I've got a penny whistle somewhere, I could try walking them all out the village. 😁
Mmm - I don't like to say it but if you release the rats in open countryside, they will either find their way to a "food" source - nature/conservation areas/ farm land/smallholdings/allotments/nearest habitation which will inevitably cause problems for others or they will simply starve to death. If you really think about it, it would be kinder and more responsible to do away with them immediately. You don't actually have to use poison. There are Snap Traps available which with a little helping of Peanut butter and set correctly will kill the rat instantly. I was forced to use this method when I had rats running around in the space between ground and first floor of my house. I can understand your reluctance but either you have to bite the bullet or accept that others will have to do it for you further down the line. The Pied Piper idea is a nice one but don't you also need a few children for that ? May not endear you to local parents
Hi i had exactly the same problem, suddenly I saw a rat and I also found where he was living, under a bush with a telltale mound of earth. I was advised to stop feeding the birds, but like you I just didn’t want to stop as fledglings were coming etc. My husband devised this contraption which results in no food dropping to the ground and I haven’t had a problem since. The rat must have moved away as there was no easy pickings and that was about a year ago and I’ve not seen one since.
Rats, starving? No. They live happily on farms and all sort of places, I'd be happy to have them around if I had a farm, it's unavoidable When I said I didn't want to poison them, I meant that I will not murder an animal simply because I don't want it sharing my garden. It's never 'kinder' to kill anything healthy. If other people do, that's their business.
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You mention the possibility of live trapping - as opposed to laying poison bait - and then releasing the rats. I'm wondering not only where you would release them but would you not be concerned about simply passing the problem on to others who would then have to deal with it - most likely by laying poison bait.
Don't misunderstand me as I don't like killing things either ( and I put my large Slow worm colony before a pretty garden
Not feeding the birds for the time being will help though.
Sometimes, building works or similar can displace a colony, so that's another possibility along with @pansyface's earlier post. That happened to friends when an area of rough ground was cleared near their house, and the neighbouring ones, and the usual routes and habitat were disturbed, sending them through their gardens.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Just imagine if no one killed them!
I know the overgrown garden isn't the reason they're there, but it's now quiet and has lots of places to hide/nest, and little dog can't get in to half of it.
I've got a penny whistle somewhere, I could try walking them all out the village. 😁
I can understand your reluctance but either you have to bite the bullet or accept that others will have to do it for you further down the line.
The Pied Piper idea is a nice one but don't you also need a few children for that ? May not endear you to local parents
i had exactly the same problem, suddenly I saw a rat and I also found where he was living, under a bush with a telltale mound of earth. I was advised to stop feeding the birds, but like you I just didn’t want to stop as fledglings were coming etc. My husband devised this contraption which results in no food dropping to the ground and I haven’t had a problem since. The rat must have moved away as there was no easy pickings and that was about a year ago and I’ve not seen one since.
When I said I didn't want to poison them, I meant that I will not murder an animal simply because I don't want it sharing my garden.
It's never 'kinder' to kill anything healthy. If other people do, that's their business.