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rats in our garden
andrewandypet
Posts: 2
Hi everyone as some has said before about rats in their gardens, we live near fields & Nov, Dec every year we get rats in the gardens so we took all the bird feeders in out off the way BUT the people next door have rats in their garden but they blame us for them & they carry on putting bird food out & putting the bird on the floor & then they blame us for the rats, we have put stuff down for the rats but them next keep feeding the birds by putting food on the floor,
what would other people do?
0
Posts
Get pest control in. Clean slate
You can always tell them they're coming from next door....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
i would but we have lived hear for more than 22 years we get the rats every year but these next door are NOT very bright they have lived their for about 5 years & because they are always cleaning they think they should not have rats,
wherever you live i could always get these next door to move in next to you!!!!!
We have the occasional unwanted rat visitor. Firstly we got pest control who told us not to leave food out for our pet duck (now deceased), instead to give it some food in a bowl for about 10 minutes and then remove the bowl. The controller also put down a pipe with poison in it and rat was never seen again.
Now there is a cat about and we don't see living rats anymore.
Do you know where the rats are coming from andrewandpet? Can you get the pest controller to lay traps nearer their nests - if successful that may prevent further rat families in the future.
Rats are there all year round. They're just more visible in winter when they are bolder about coming out to scavenge for scarce food supplies.
I make sure I have sachets of poison on hand for use in the garage and sheds and use hanging feeders they can't get to. I also ration food for ground feeders so there's none left for night time rodent raids. I have been known to leave sachets of poison for them to take overnight but you have to be up and out by dawn to make sure it' s gone before the birds come - not hard in winter. If they dare come out in the daylight I let the dogs out.
Calling in pest control will at least give them the opportunity to talk to your neighbours and advise about leaving too much food out.
Sounds like the bird food is definitely to blame here - if you've already done everything you can to remove any food source in your garden then somehow you need to persuade your neighbours to clean up their act. Sounds like they might be somewhat unreasonable so could be difficult.
Mixed seed can be particularly bad because it's often bulked out with wheat which the small birds don't like much, so they deliberately chuck it out to get to the more desirable seeds (e.g. sunflowers). In any case though birds are pretty messy eaters.
Some sort of raised tray under the feeders might help to catch spilt seed if it could then be removed and cleaned daily.
I believe that most local authorities have some sort of pest control department who will visit, assess your problem and give advice. These pest control officers wear a uniform and look quite official so they often have more influence with neighbours than you have yourself. Take the line with your neighbour that you both have a problem, rather than suggesting that THEY are the cause, and be positive about feeding the birds in a safe way. Personally, I would also put down poison, but this has to be safe from other animals, including cats, dogs and children. The pest people can tell you how to do this and may even provide the equipment. Good luck.
Secondary poisoning is always going to be a risk to pets and predators that feed on rats, such as owls and polecats, no matter how carefully you place the baits. See for instance this page by the Barn Owl Trust: http://www.barnowltrust.org.uk/hazards-solutions/rodenticides/rodenticide-petition/
Remove the food source(s) and you go a long way towards eliminating the problem. We had problems with rats in the past caused by them being able to access chicken food from an open feeder - once we switched to a rat-proof treadle feeder the problem resolved itself - obviously there are still rats present but not at a level that causes problems.
I'd call in pest control so they can talk to the people next door. It's best not to leave food down over night and put it out in the morning. But best just to have feeders if you've got a problem with rats. Pest control will advise what to do.
I personally don't think there is much you can do at all.
I think that no matter what you do to get rid of the rats there'll just keep coming back, you might be able to temporarily reduce there numbers for a short while and at great cost to yourself.
A waste of money. Getting yourself a large farm yard cat or a Jack Russell I think would be cheaper to reduce rat numbers.
Ignore the neighbours, don't get involved, smile and shrug your shoulders, let them work it out for themselves at there own expense.
Happily, it just isn't true that cats and dogs cannot help, but you do need the right animal. A healthy, vigorous Jack Russell will regard ratting as great fun and instinct will make him or her good at it. I'm not a terrier person but I do have a couple of large moggies. They bring me baby rats rather than adults but the effect is just the same. Farmers have kept these animals for thousands of years to do this job.