Hi, sorry to intrude but we run a pest control company and most of our customers that have issues with rats have found that buying 'shop bought' poison is not very cost effective. The main problem being that the active ingredients have such a low % volume that all they are succeeding in doing is making the little rats that much bigger.
This also has an effect on the professionals job as the rodents will often build up a; I want to use the word resistance but not sure that is the correct term. This means we need to adjust what we use and can sometimes make the task take a little longer.
I think my biggest advice would be not to put food in the compost bin, clear up any animal waste, and if you want to feed the birds try to do it at specific times during the day. Preferably when you can be around to monitor. Make the bird feeders difficult for the rat to gain access and clear up any spillage of seed.
I live in an area of London (close to a park) which has many rats. After trying to deter rats through 'humane' means I decided to pay the local council to put poison down. After three sessions of laying poison in boxes in my garden, the rats no longer seemed a problem. But a year later the problem recurred and I realised most of the gardens (and some homes internally) have had problems with rats. They probably live in the sewers, are easily disturbed by frequent construction works and I cannot afford to pay my local council over about £100 every year to rid my garden of these animals. I have reported it to the council as an environmental problem but nothing seems to have been done. As long as they are not actually nesting in my garden and do not come into my home, I think all I can do is make my garden less inviting. However, this morning I realised that some kind of vermin had managed to move a very heavy bag of lawn fertiliser (which I had careless left outside my shed during a clean-out): it/they had broken it open and spread it all around. Would this be a gang of rats or a fox? There seemed to be a playful element to their behaviour, since they had moved a bag of ordinary compost to the centre of my lawn. ?? TC
That's more likely to be foxes @tamara.capellaro . The urban ones are a real nuisance now because of misguided people feeding and encouraging them. The only deterrent is to try not to leave anything around that's attractive to them. You might have easy access for them, so anything you can do to mitigate that will help, although I know that isn't always easy. They can get over quite sizeable walls and fences, especially if there's something on the other side that they can climb onto. You can try blocking any obvious holes if they're tunnelling under though.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Being in the midst of farming country, we periodically see rats in the garden attracted by the bird food. The most humane antidote we've found is the good old fashioned spring trap that dispatches them instantly. My only proviso is to position the trap in such a way that they have to approach it from the baited end so, to ensure that happens, I cut the bottom off a square plastic container and slide the trap in. I actually use a 5-litre liquid container with a screw top, through which I thread a length of string attached to the other end of the trap from the bait. This enables me to gently ease the trap into the container by pulling the string, thus avoiding painful fingers. I once set a trap out in the open overnight, but couldn't find it next morning. We then spotted it out in the middle of the lawn with the rat still attached. He'd approached it from the 'wrong' end and got caught by the foot which, rat or no rat, I found unacceptably cruel, hence my plastic container method since.
I have bought a couple of rat traps which unfortunately can only be used indoors, although a polytunnel might be OK. they run on batteries and give the rats a shock to knock them out as they enter the box to get to the food, then a few secs. later give them a second shock which kills them. My rat population is outdoors, so far I haven't tried the traps out. They are expensive, around £30.00 each.
I think we have to wait for the OP to determine whether it's rats or not. It doesn't sound like it to me from the description. They'd need to be superhuman if they're lifting bags of compost and lawn feed
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
We have to store our surplus bags of sheep food on top of a table with space all round. They are perfectly capable of moving a feedbag - they empty it first!
Posts
Hi, sorry to intrude but we run a pest control company and most of our customers that have issues with rats have found that buying 'shop bought' poison is not very cost effective. The main problem being that the active ingredients have such a low % volume that all they are succeeding in doing is making the little rats that much bigger.
This also has an effect on the professionals job as the rodents will often build up a; I want to use the word resistance but not sure that is the correct term. This means we need to adjust what we use and can sometimes make the task take a little longer.
I think my biggest advice would be not to put food in the compost bin, clear up any animal waste, and if you want to feed the birds try to do it at specific times during the day. Preferably when you can be around to monitor. Make the bird feeders difficult for the rat to gain access and clear up any spillage of seed.
Hope this helps...
Please don't put glass in food. its CRUEL.
The only deterrent is to try not to leave anything around that's attractive to them. You might have easy access for them, so anything you can do to mitigate that will help, although I know that isn't always easy. They can get over quite sizeable walls and fences, especially if there's something on the other side that they can climb onto.
You can try blocking any obvious holes if they're tunnelling under though.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Being in the midst of farming country, we periodically see rats in the garden attracted by the bird food. The most humane antidote we've found is the good old fashioned spring trap that dispatches them instantly. My only proviso is to position the trap in such a way that they have to approach it from the baited end so, to ensure that happens, I cut the bottom off a square plastic container and slide the trap in. I actually use a 5-litre liquid container with a screw top, through which I thread a length of string attached to the other end of the trap from the bait. This enables me to gently ease the trap into the container by pulling the string, thus avoiding painful fingers. I once set a trap out in the open overnight, but couldn't find it next morning. We then spotted it out in the middle of the lawn with the rat still attached. He'd approached it from the 'wrong' end and got caught by the foot which, rat or no rat, I found unacceptably cruel, hence my plastic container method since.
They'd need to be superhuman if they're lifting bags of compost and lawn feed
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...