I want to feed birds not rats!!!!

[colliecrew]

Hi all,

We live in a very rural location and loved watching all the local wild birds coming to our feeders. That was until the rats moved in, first below the feeders and then in various burrows throughout the garden.

We got the rat invasion successfully treated and unfortunately have had to remove our feeders to prevent further rats.

I would love to know if anyone manages to feed birds and avoid rats moving in.

I'd appreciate any and all advice.

I really really miss the birds in the garden

[astarsdad]

Hi,

I do know people who have gone out and bought an air rifle to kill the rats.

Terry

[posie]

Hello colliecrew, and Welcome to WAB...Apparantly rats won't live where there are Ferrets...you don't have to keep ferrets yourself, just beg some droppings from someone who does have them, and put it around your garden....Posie..

[kezzer]

Hi Colliecrew, this works.....
chilli pepper, lots of it mixed in with all bird food/seed.
The hottest powder you can find and lots of it, this will stop rats but the birds will not mind one bit.........
This is the reason why.....

Birds are not affected by "capsaicin" - the active ingredient in chilli peppers. Research has shown that there is no evidence that birds code capsaicin as an irritant at concentrations as high as 20,000 ppm (the hottest chilli is about 2,000 ppm). Mammals, such as squirrels and rats, reject capsaicin concentrations as low as 1-10 ppm

The reason behind it is evolutionary....Most botanists and ornithologists believe that chilli peppers evolved this way so that small mammals would avoid the hot taste, while birds freely eat the pungent pepper pod thereby resulting in wider ranging dispersal of the seeds to ensure the natural growth and long term survival of the chilli pepper plant.

Chilli pepper seeds consumed by birds pass through the digestive tract unharmed, whereas those consumed by mammals do not germinate at all. The presence of capsaicin in the fruits therefore protects them from being consumed by mammals, which have molars that can kill seeds.

Studies show that mammals, including squirrels, have receptors on the tongue and in the mouth that react to chilli peppers by sending heat signals to the brain. Although there's no actual damage, the sensation makes it seem as though the mouth is on fire (much the same as ourselves). Birds lack the receptors that make chewing chilli peppers such an eye-watering experience for mammals -- they can eat peppers all day long and never feel a thing!

[posie]

...Parrot mix food actually has those long thin red peppers in it....The only trouble with these methods is (for me), tho I prefer not to have rats, I do like the little voles, shrews and woodmice that clear up round the feeders at night......Posie

[kezzer]

Apparently some sites on- line sell the "capsaisin" for the purpose of mixing with wild bird feed.
my friend did it to remove rats and it worked but she did have to mix a lot in and she used really hot chili powder.

I haven't had the problem thank goodness, but I would definitely use this method if I did. Failing that I would stop feeding till the rats had gone.

I wouldn't want anything round my feeders, voles, mice, yuck, they creep me out. I had enough of them when kids had rabbits years ago, there would be a vole in one hutch and a little mouse in the other when I went to uncover the hutches in the morning.

I didn't know that parrot food had chili peppers in, so I've learnt something new.

[posie]

... . For myself I would like to hear what the more expert wildlifers say about it , I'm not comfortable about feeding hot peppery food to birds, just because they will eat it. It is not normally their natural food in such large quantities. No, I do not like it, until I get expert opinions, and I cannot see that they will approve or advise it.....No, sorry, its a million times a big NO from me....Posie

[kezzer]

Originally Posted by posie

... . For myself I would like to hear what the more expert wildlifers say about it , I'm not comfortable about feeding hot peppery food to birds, just because they will eat it. It is not normally their natural food in such large quantities. No, I do not like it, until I get expert opinions, and I cannot see that they will approve or advise it.....No, sorry, its a million times a big NO from me....Posie

Posie, Perhaps you could invite an expert who you trust to give their opinion. I trust the RSPB.
I took the advise from the RSPB's forum, where a professional/ a guy who works for RSPB's actually wrote the post, not a member of the public.
The fact that you can buy capsaisin for this specific reason makes me think that it is acceptable.
You don't continually put it with the feed, its enough to add it, let the rats try it and they normally don't come back for more, you then obviously stop adding it.

As I said in my post earlier, my friend did it, she added it for a week, cured the problem and her birds were just fine/still are.

[Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by astarsdad

Hi,

I do know people who have gone out and bought an air rifle to kill the rats.

Terry

Hi Colliedrew, I live in a similar situation & the air rifle method worked for me, shoot a few & they soon get the message, they're not daft!

[posie]

[quote=kezzer;626325]Apparently some sites on- line sell the "capsaisin" for the purpose of mixing with wild bird feed.
my friend did it to remove rats and it worked but she did have to mix a lot in and she used really hot chili powder.

Hi kezzer, I'm sorry, I didn't realise it was the RSPB,... but even so I was really referring to....''she did have to mix a lot in and she used really hot chilli powder.''... this just worried me a bit.....Posie..