bird tables attract rats

[chris59]

I have 5 seed feeders in my garden, and a bird table. I wash the feeders and scrub the table every two weeks in the winter.( more often in the summer ) But I dont have the tree space to move the seed feeders around. So I am left with the mess that the seeds leave on the grass when the birds have eaten. My garden is not a garden for people to sit in. Apart from kicking a ball around for my dog, and putting the washing out , I rarley go out there. But i keep the grass cut and bushes tidy, so that the wildlife will visit. But what I am worried about is that rats will come to the mess underneath the feeders. . Can anyone tell me if rats are attracted to the empty husks ? or am I getting worried over nothing.

[naturelover]

Hi chris59,welcome to the site,yes you will attract rats if you donot keep the ground clear of husks,there is always a certain amount of seed that the birds miss amongst the husks,hope you enjoy your stay.

[hobble]

Probably will if you have any close by, the only way to find out is too keep watch................
I was watching one today pinching seeds and going back to it's run.
I tend to leave them alone as long as they don't try to move in with me, as I have said before I have a house sat smack in the middle of their natural habitat and they were here before me.
I have children who play outside and I always make sure they wash their hands when they come in and they know about rats.
My cat catches them sometimes, two found dead this year.

[ron1863]

If you leave seed etc. out overnight you will always get some form of rodent eating it. I like to watch the field mice at dusk, running onto our lawn, grabbing a few seeds and running back into the undergrowth.

We had rats a few years ago but got rid of them.

[jamie1976]

sorry to say and admit but rats need there numbers down quick ,i love wildlife of all kinds but i got no hart for the rat kill the lot dirty filthy horrible things

[cathyh]

............and whilst you are keeping your bird tables clean, please spare a thought for the stench pipe at the back of your home and check that there is a cage on it. Necessary to stop rats poppping up from the sewers (like a rat up a drainpipe) and scampering into your loft or down the wall to visit your garden.

...or into your neighbours loft or garden

Only the other day, in a busy shopping street, in broad daylight, a cheeky rat came out of a drain in the gutter, ran under a row of trolleys outside a supermarket, was harrassed by shoppers, so shot back into drain and this is freezing March, what hope for flaming June

[Sparrowlegs]

Originally Posted by jamie1976

sorry to say and admit but rats need there numbers down quick ,i love wildlife of all kinds but i got no hart for the rat kill the lot dirty filthy horrible things

Please explain why you think rats are ''filthy horrible things'', and that you think they should be 'reduced'. Maybe you could also add why you have written that you 'love' wildlife?

[Adam Cheeseman]

Originally Posted by chris59

I have 5 seed feeders in my garden, and a bird table. I wash the feeders and scrub the table every two weeks in the winter.( more often in the summer ) But I dont have the tree space to move the seed feeders around. So I am left with the mess that the seeds leave on the grass when the birds have eaten. My garden is not a garden for people to sit in. Apart from kicking a ball around for my dog, and putting the washing out , I rarley go out there. But i keep the grass cut and bushes tidy, so that the wildlife will visit. But what I am worried about is that rats will come to the mess underneath the feeders. . Can anyone tell me if rats are attracted to the empty husks ? or am I getting worried over nothing.

They certainly will come to any food on the ground, particularly if you scatter it there too. Some rats will even climb up onto the table. If you do get rats the simple thing to do is to stop putting food out and they will look elsewhere for food, then you can resume making sure to leave as little on the ground as you can.

Cheers,

Adam

[jamie1976]

why are they filthy ,well living in raw sewage pure oeoeoeoe ,i may have gone over board with what i said but to tell the truth there numbers have to be cut down like it or leave it, but it is the truth ,and i wrote i love wildlife because i love wildlife simple as

sorry for speaking my mind

[tigger]

I stopped a lot of the mess under the feeder by swoping to sunflower hearts. The birds eat practically all of it. If they drop any the other birds tend to hoover it up. I've got 6 birdfeeders lots of birds, a friendly Wood Mouse but no rats (amazingly!). The other thing that keeps the rats away are foxes! (or neighbours cat).

[hobble]

Originally Posted by jamie1976

why are they filthy ,well living in raw sewage pure oeoeoeoe ,i may have gone over board with what i said but to tell the truth there numbers have to be cut down like it or leave it, but it is the truth ,and i wrote i love wildlife because i love wildlife simple as

sorry for speaking my mind

Our rats don't live in sewage, they live in runs in an old quarry. I am not sure they are all filthy disgusting creatures. ( I am aware they carry diseases)
Take a look at the rat I photographed last week, looks healthy to me.

[Paul mabbott]

Quite right. The animals which rats most resemble, of course, are humans. Some live in filthy and unpleasant situations, other don't. They just happen, like humans, to be adaptable to almost any habitat.

Anyway, the title of this thread is wrong - rats aren't attracted to bird tables, they are attracted to the food on and around bird tables. As they would be to human picnic areas, larders, what have you .....

Originally Posted by hobble

Our rats don't live in sewage, they live in runs in an old quarry. I am not sure they are all filthy disgusting creatures. ( I am aware they carry diseases)
Take a look at the rat I photographed last week, looks healthy to me.

[werdnal]

I was just gong to post something similar myself.

Rats are attracted to humans! Any human habitation provides the 2 things most important to rats - a food source and shelter. Even if you don't have a bird table, chances are there are rats nearby.

As for them being dirty, disease ridden creatures, indeed they do carry some quite nasty diseases and you would be wise to wash your hands and cover any open wounds if working in areas known to have a rat population, but wild birds are carriers of many diseases and bacteria too, yet we positively enourage them to share our gardens!

[Dan Salter]

Im not getting into this debate as im all for keeping non natives under control but....Rats are actually very clean animals....it is just that they are opportunists and live on HUMAN FILTH that we leave or produce...we are far dirtier than any Rat.

And im sure you know as its regularly quoted but the now rare Black Rat was not the spreader of the Plague...it was infact carried by fleas. Pet Cats and Dogs and many other animals have fleas too, im sure you dont consider your grans cat as a dirty filthy animal? (although i have a similar feeling about all dogs) ha ha

I have seed all over the floor which is eaten by foxes (on top of the scraps i leave out for foxes) i would love to see rats or any other rodents cleaning up under my feeders at night. But im not going to argue that in some urban/city situations rats are multiplying unnaturally,..... which is once again due to mans filthy dirty habits.

[tigger]

Dan... you leave scraps out for the foxes! I was told in another post that because I left scraps out I was vain and trying to change the natural way that foxes live.... you naughty man

[Dan Salter]

Originally Posted by tigger

Dan... you leave scraps out for the foxes! I was told in another post that because I left scraps out I was vain and trying to change the natural way that foxes live.... you naughty man

Ok then...i leave scraps out for whatever decidses to come and eat them..im being green and saving on landfill ( and i compost all other non cooked scraps).

Anyway...Chris Packham in person told me to leave all dinner scraps out so nerrr !

[tigger]

To be honest mine get left overs every night... and if it's ok with Chris Packham it's ok with me! It's just I got really berated in another post for doing it... I knew I wasn't really an awful person

[zek]

I ground-feed Dunnocks and Pheasants etc, and rats are a continual problem. Having said that, I find them fascinating to watch, but when two or three are out feeding at the one time in daylight, it's time to draw the line. I'm not keen on poison, so opt for shooting them. After a week or two, they get tolerant and feed in daylight, and are fairly easy to shoot. This may not be an option for some, as there is legislation in place to control the use of firearms in your back garden. Another option is the use of Fenn traps, tho' be carefull with your fingers. I don't use them, but I'm thinking of going down this line. The trap would need to be placed in a box tunnel.

Zek.

[shei111]

Hello zek, If your method of shooting them works then keep it up they are not pets and carry diseases which can be passed on to humans. We touch things out in the garden and dont know whether its been urinated on by rats , and to be honest we dont all wash our hands after being outside.

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by shei111

Hello zek, If your method of shooting them works then keep it up they are not pets and carry diseases which can be passed on to humans. We touch things out in the garden and dont know whether its been urinated on by rats , and to be honest we dont all wash our hands after being outside.

I am also in the get rid of rats camp. They pass diseases onto dogs. Eat birds,young and eggs, raid the nests, eat mice and anything smaller than they are. Kill Hedgehogs the rat man told me. Not sure if cats can catch anything from them.
Not nice things to have around.

[shei111]

Hello tigger No your not an awful person for having your own opinion on rats, I know how I feel about them and thats thats Hello kayleigh I quite agree with all the points you made about rats too . sheila

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

Kill Hedgehogs the rat man told me.

I very much doubt they would kill a Hedgehog.

Im abit on the fence with rats, they are a pest but i think that people should discourage them before resorting to killing them, its not hard to keep them moving on without stopping around. Although im aware that this isnt always the case and they carry some rather unpleasant things such as leptospirosis (causes weils disease) around 50-70% of the UK population has this which is a concern to say the least, also carry salmonella and toxoplasmosis.

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

I very much doubt they would kill a Hedgehog.

Im abit on the fence with rats, they are a pest but i think that people should discourage them before resorting to killing them, its not hard to keep them moving on without stopping around. Although im aware that this isnt always the case and they carry some rather unpleasant things such as leptospirosis (causes weils disease) around 50-70% of the UK population has this which is a concern to say the least, also carry salmonella and toxoplasmosis.

I am sorry to disagree with you as you are a nice person judging from your posts. but they do kill hogs sorry.

[Dogghound]

Very interesting. I would have thought a Hedgehog being larger with larger teeth and coverd in spines would have put up a strong fight against a rat. Ive never seen any reference to them being killed by rats. Is this what the rat man says? or is it a common occurance? although juvenile Hedgehogs would be vulnerable.

[aeshna5]

I've never seen any reference to Brown Rats killing Hedgehogs. To my knowledge the only 2 wild critters capable of doing so are the Badger + Fox.