peter maurice, gina and bygones69 - in case you haven't found a solution to your rat problem, try this. We live on a farm and rats are inevitable. We found that hanging the feeders onto a length of wire stretched between two hooks prevented the rats reaching them -they don't appear to be any good at tightrope walking! You must be careful that they aren't able to jump from anywhere to the feeder however.
Put fat cake mix into old brightly coloured mugs and hang from tall lantern hooks in the border - adds a splash of colour and encourages the birds too.
I've always been terrified of this happening too so I make my own. I find it's a lot more gratifying though because the birds seem to adore what I've lovingly made for them and it's so simple! I save all my yoghurt pots and even nick those from people at work (after they've finished with them, of course!), I've got stacks of them in the cupboard - hubby's always laughing at me because of it but I just tell him that reusing is even better than recycling! :-) Anyway, I just get a couple of packets of lard, cut them into rough cubes and melt them in my largest saucepan then just add what I have available - peanuts (crushed, of course), niger seeds, dried mealworms, sunflower seeds, plus anything else I have to hand - and spoon the lovely mixture into the pots and put them in the fridge to set. When it comes to putting them out, I just get a knife and scoop the mixture out of the pot, some of it goes on the bird table and the rest on the ground - sure, it's not pretty but then it's not there for long!
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