Re: Rats on the lawn!!

In my area, the council service is free for domestic property .....

If rats are reported in one property, adjoining and nearby properties are checked and treated for free as part of the service.

Re: Rats on the lawn!!

I stopped feeding the birds some months ago after seeing 4 baby rats on my bird table. Unfortunately my neighbours didn't stop feeding the birds & from what someone has told me, the rats are now living under neighbours shed, he's seen the holes there. I haven't seen rats in my garden for a while now, but they are still around.
A few years ago I did call out the council pest operator, he was not helpful & said stop feeding the birds, you can be prosecuted for encouraging rats into your garden. So I did stop for a while & started again, it was a while but the rats came back.
I don't think you can get rid of them, they are everywhere. Though if all households in this area stopped feeding the birds the rats would go, if no available food for them.
We had rats here when we moved in, they lived in the Devon bank/hedge at the bottom of the garden, if they had stayed there no problem, but they have gradually got closer to the house.
We got rid of the compost bin because they had taken over that as a nursery. When it was dismantled it was riddled with runs & dens. No rats though, they had fled.
I actually like rats, tame ones, my Son has had several over the years, they are very friendly, clean & intelligent, but wild rats are a different story, they can carry disease & chew wires etc.
The poison used to get rid of them is nasty & it can take a rat several days to die from it, in agony, it is totally inhumane & is also a danger to pets.
So the only way I can see to solve the rat problem is to stop feeding the birds. Harder for people who keep chickens or rabbits or any outside pet.

Re: Rats on the lawn!!

I had rats, visiting the back garden, for quite a while.

Then realised that it started after my cat died some years ago. we'd always had a cat & dog up 'till then,.

I was about to go to the cat rescue, to rescue a cat, when new neighbours moved in - with two cats!

Plenty of birds again, now, and no rats.

That's great because I wouldn't have wanted to rescue a cat, at my great age, only for it to end up back at the rescue whenever!

(<cat)

Re: Rats on the lawn!!

if you're a council tennant then it's free , and the neighbor who called them out at that time was a council tennant

Re: Rats on the lawn!!

I had problems with rats in the late winter early spring,stopped feeding the birds and put down bait,took a packet and a half to rid them about 30 tablets made of seed and poison.

Re: Rats on the lawn!!

We found rats when we moved here three years ago but our two Jack Russells soon saw them off. It's all farmland and stables here so rats go with the territory.

Re: Rats on the lawn!!

You should watch the youtube video I posted, it tells you how rats suffer from that poison.

Re: Rats on the lawn!!

My dad and his dad used to thresh straw with a threshing machine and steam engine,once they got down to the bottom of a straw rick the rats would be everywhere, terriers were their friend.

Re: Rats on the lawn!!

You could of course follow the advice from this fella:

Re: Rats on the lawn!!

How would you advise me to get rid of them Tiffany?