Get rid of rats

ganger

I noticed 2 rats at the bird table the other evening.I have stopped leaving out bird food now,so what is the most effective way of getting rid of these b?????. There is an old blackthorn hedge around most of the house,would they be nesting in this?

Gambas

The rats are there because there is food- bird food. Either change it so food doesn't fall to the ground an make sure they can't climb it, or else just live with them. Removing the hedge will do little. When they are hungry enough in winter they have no hesitation crossing open ground. They are almost certainly not nesting there either. They go for better forms of shelter.

Bloody*Mary

if you live in Dublin contact your local auth, they can help.

otherwise the tried and trusted trap.:mad:

CarrickMcJoe

Father in law had same problem, laid plenty of poison and stopped feeding birds. That was last winter and this year has laid more poison but it hasn't been touched. Back feeding birds too.

Gambas

CarrickMcJoe wrote: »

Father in law had same problem, laid plenty of poison and stopped feeding birds. That was last winter and this year has laid more poison but it hasn't been touched. Back feeding birds too.

They'll be back sooner or later.

Poison is a waste of time and money. If you kill the rats who are in your garden and leave the food supply, there is a constant supply of rats within the locality who will fill that niche.

Imagine if someone reversed the story and told you that someone was feeding rats and they'd managed to get rid of the crows who were stealing the rats food by poisoning them. And then told you confidently that the crows were gone for good? You'd say they were mad.

kaisersoze

If you have seen two rats, there are likely to be more.

Dont do what I did and hope they will move on.

You have to get rid of them. I had to get Fingal out with bait traps and over time I managed to get rid of them.

But you need to get rid of the food source and where they lived, i.e. under sheds and in bushes.

If you have the money, I would get rentokill in or one of those companys and just deal with it asap.

Sorry to all nature lovers, rats just freak me out!

monkeynuz

The rats will have holes in the ground, kind of like burrows. That is where you will find them.

Methods of control are varied and unpleasant.

Shooting, find a good shot with an air rifle who is willing to sit out at night wathing a plate of food on the ground with a lamp on the gun and shoot the little fellas.

Bait, numerous ways to do this, 1)find the rat's holes and pour/place bait in the holes and then cover with bits of wood,(there will most likely be more than one hole) then go back everyday and replenish the bait (rats are greedy buggers and will eat all the bait you can put down) keep going back day after day until they stop eating the bait that means they are probably dead.

Bait stations are another option, placed along rat runs and bait inside, carry on as with last method.

Good idea to check around the house that there are no holes by your walls, they could have got in to your cavity wall and be using the house as a nice warm shelter.

Hope this helps, anymore info needed just ask.

M.

Cork boy 55

How do they get on top of bird table? have you a piC?

monkeynuz

Cork boy 55 wrote: »

How do they get on top of bird table? have you a piC?

I would imagine they climb up! Rats are very agile, I have seen them 15 feet up in a damson tree before!

M.

Missyelliot2

Rats are really agile. I think the only way is to rid table of food....not ideal, but rats are extremely self-sufficient. Also their teeth grow constantly and they need to gnaw to stop their teeth growing into opposite jaw....shudder!!!

madchild

Get a jack russel he,ll hunt them out for ya

TheChizler

Any tips on how to get them out of compost bins?? They're basically treating it like a restaurant. Live next to a stream so no hope getting rid of them, want to deter them from the bin. Its only in the last year I've seen them in it.

madchild

TheChizler wrote: »

Any tips on how to get them out of compost bins?? They're basically treating it like a restaurant. Live next to a stream so no hope getting rid of them, want to deter them from the bin. Its only in the last year I've seen them in it.

I,ve heard they hate sawdust for some reason so maybe you could mix some up in the compost bin and leave some of it outside the bin also it might help worth a try anyway.
hope this helps

redser7

TheChizler wrote: »

Any tips on how to get them out of compost bins?? They're basically treating it like a restaurant. Live next to a stream so no hope getting rid of them, want to deter them from the bin. Its only in the last year I've seen them in it.

I have the same problem at the allotment. I have a tumble composter, so it is actually off the ground and sealed all round. There are a few small holes for aeration. The feckers chewed through the plastic to make the holes bigger!!! They've been burrowing around inside but I'm sure as hell not looking too closely inside, they're probably still there.

paddy147

Get a cat and he or she will easily earn their keep tracking them down.

redser7

Have 2 at home and they bring us a steady supply alright

TheChizler

There's always one or two wild cats just staring at it! Doesn't stop all the burrowing though. Might clear some of the scrub around it, give the cats some pouncing room.

Pumpkinseeds

TheChizler wrote: »

There's always one or two wild cats just staring at it! Doesn't stop all the burrowing though. Might clear some of the scrub around it, give the cats some pouncing room.

Give the feral cats a bit of food, they'll see the area as part of their territory and that'll be the end of the rat problem. Feral cats have a rough old life, they don't ask for much and I'd rather see a couple of cats than rats. I know mine keep us rodent free and thats despite a big housing development that went up nearby that disturbed the rats and scattered them around the area.

TREVOR H

TheChizler wrote: »

Any tips on how to get them out of compost bins?? They're basically treating it like a restaurant. Live next to a stream so no hope getting rid of them, want to deter them from the bin. Its only in the last year I've seen them in it.

I had lots of rats this year in the compost bin and green cone. I trapped 7 so far this year. Plus the neighbours cats caught some more. What I did was cover the outside of the compost bin in sand/soil. Then I saw where they were getting in. Then I dug out the compost beside the hole. Put a trap baited with Nutella. Caught 1 of every couple of days. They usually live in family groups so eventually I killed them all. I know it's a pain but check the traps everyday. Also I tied a string to the trap so I didn't have to reach down into the compost bin when removing dead rats.

TREVOR H

Gambas wrote: »

The rats are there because there is food- bird food. Either change it so food doesn't fall to the ground an make sure they can't climb it, or else just live with them. Removing the hedge will do little. When they are hungry enough in winter they have no hesitation crossing open ground. They are almost certainly not nesting there either. They go for better forms of shelter.

Just follow Gambas' advice for a while and they'll look for food elsewhere.
Somedays I leave it until 1 or 2 o'clock before feeding the birds. It makes them pick up all the spilled seed from the day before. When the weather is a bit milder I leave a day between filling the seed feeders.
I started my rat watch in November. Rats mainly run along the edge of buildings or hedges. I set traps in a number of spots around the garden. Behind sheds, etc. I put them in old flower pots so cats don't get caught in them. If they are climbing your bird table you can put a metal collar around the stake that will stop them climbing.