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Rats :(
SarSpud
Posts: 46
Hi All, I lifted one of the compost bin lids yesterday to throw some kitchen waste in and found a rat, I jumped and it ran away! I live in the countryside so expect to have lots of animals around and always see foxes and badgers in the garden. However in the last week my cabbages have been nibbled (reduced to a stem) and the redcurrants, blackcurrants, gooseberries and strawberries have all started disappearing!
What can I do to discourage it and/or get rid of it?
I'm not keen on poison which sounds a horrid way to go and could also kill off other animals (including our pets) but I think with a good food and water source (stream) it'll be difficult to discourage 
Help!
0
Posts
Where there's one rat there will be others. I heard on GW some time ago that if you bang the compost bin every time you go near it the rats don't like this disturbance and will stay away. What about a feisty little Jack Russell?
A well quoted saying is, ''you're never more than 6 feet from a rat'.....I'm afraid there is no room for sentiment when it comes to getting rid of them.
As any rat-catcher would do, lay down Warfarin poison, making sure it isn't accessible to pets and other wildlife.
In addition to Ladybird's advice re banging on the bin, if you soak it, they'll often look for somewhere drier to set up home - for obvious reasons!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I had rats in the compost bin at my previous address: left the hose in there for a thorough soaking and they soon moved on.
I place a tray of rat poison under our garden shed to get rid of rats, we have had them in the house, the tray under the shed helps to keep the population down, and its not where other animals can get at it, afraid rats are always with us, I just keep them under control.
There are various traps etc but the problem with rats are they are Neophobic(sp?) basically they don't like new stuff which makes trapping them very difficult. I put poison down under a piece of guttering with some heavy stone on top. Unlikely to kill anything else (mice etc) as the rats will have got rid of them already. Make sure he pets cant move the rocks. Put the guttering on the rat run and keep topping it up. They other thing to do if possible is cut the grass short and tidy everything up - not accusing you of having a messy garden! - they don't like the change and don't like the open.
Also - get a wormery for the kitchen waste - sealed unit rats cant get in.
hi all
i have found that the more noisy you are and banging compost bins they dont like being disturbed and move off
watering over bins and stored areas also keeps them from getting comfy however you just never know when one will appear
about a fourtnight ago i heard one of the lottie girls shouting at her hubbie on a fine sunday morning get it get it you fool ha ha which was a rat well watered from the hose pipe. once it came across the boundary into my patch it was quickly dispatched with my favourit weapon
a four foot long piece of blue water pipe very flexible and leathal to rats
To be serious though they can be a pest because they smell out the food so what ever dont keep any food biscuits for dogs in your shed as they will if possible get in to feed and at all cases wash your hands after finished in the garden before moving off any where else
happy gardening