Re: Feeding Birds
Originally Posted by
Tiffany
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I've been told by the council rodent man that I have to stop feeding the birds here & remove all feeders & food.
I spotted two rats on the patio eating the bird food over several days & called the council. They sent the man, but he can't use poison as there's nowhere to hide it safely from other animals. He said the council can stop me feeding the birds if I don't do it voluntarily. Great! All my neighbours feed the birds too, but he said if the rats don't go & multiply then they'll be blamed & I won't. I wish I'd just left it & never called them.
The food will inevitable encourage rats, I agree.
I have had them in the past, and I remember Muddy saying she had too.
We happily put the food out, intending it to be for the birds, but other animals don't know that and must think they have found a treasure trove.
Unfortunately, the same applies to putting down rat bait.
It is made so palatable deliberately, but then other creatures as well as rats will also eat it.
Even the birds, owls, frogs, and hedgehogs we all love will eat the slugs, snails and mice that have digested the poison.
Some have heard all this from me before, but my oldest dog spent the night on a drip at the vets, not exected to live till morning, because although the bait had been properly placed inside bait boxes, we think she had eaten mice that had eaten the rat bait.
She was vomitting blood badly, because the bait thins the blood and stops it clotting, and the animal bleeds to death.
My girl was lucky, she pulled through thank God, but I won't have bait anywhere near my place since.