Rats in Garden

Bluefoot · #1 (**permalink**) 23-04-2009, 10:47 AM

Hi, am new to the forum. I have rats in my garden, I have found where they live. Am in built up area so not really feasible to catch and relocate them.
Anyone have any tips on best way to catch them. I have at least one large (huge) adult and various young rats.
Also whats the best way to dispose of the bodies?

flowerpower136 · #2 (**permalink**) 23-04-2009, 03:35 PM

We had rats in garden last year, and thought they were quite cute, drinking and washing at pond edge, gamboling about. etc, etc. Then ..... they found their way into the stone walls of the house. Suddenly not so cute, and a nightmare to get rid of. They've been scuttling in the walls for most of the winter, and that's despite us having a ferocious dog.

So, dont wait till they move in, get the rat man out from your local council office.

Kayleigh · #3 (**permalink**) 23-04-2009, 05:24 PM

NOOOOOOOOO Don't get the rat man out....He will leave poison out.....BAD NEWS.........

Get some "little nipper" rat traps and put chocolate buttons on the spike so they cant remove them..
Then put the bodies in the dust bin...

Jason Green · #4 (**permalink**) 23-04-2009, 05:43 PM

Welcome to WAB, BF!

I would personally suggest humane traps, then relocate as best you can. If they're breeding, I wouldn't like the thought of the parents getting killed and the poor young waiting for the adults to return, then slowly starving to death. That said, I would also advise against blocking off the hole in your garden - or they may just look for somewhere warm to reproduce...

Try ultrasonic units, or leave food out away from your house so they move elsewhere... there are a lot of humane alternatives before contacting any rat men! Kayleigh is quite right to advise against the poison - cats, foxes, dogs, etc.

Good luck, and keep us informed!

Bluefoot · #5 (**permalink**) 24-04-2009, 04:41 PM

Thanks everyone - I have been using the snap traps with some success. I actually saw one getting caught in the trap - not a pleasent sight.
There are way TOO many of them for me to actually catch and after investigation with neighbours it seems like their "run" crosses perhaps five back gardens and a church. My garden is in the middle of the run.
I have seen small grey ones (babies I guess) , a big brown one, and a medium sized reddish brown one.

salukiwhippet · #6 (**permalink**) 24-04-2009, 06:47 PM

There are some pest controllers (including me!) who offer poison free control programmes, usually involving intensive trapping with Fenn traps. Whereabouts are you? PM me if you prefer and I'll advise if I can

James

ron1863 · #7 (**permalink**) 24-04-2009, 06:49 PM

Phone the Council, they offer a free service to get rid of rats and provide an excellent service and are very thourough

Gaina · #8 (**permalink**) 24-04-2009, 06:53 PM

If you do your best to remove ANY kind of tidbits from your garden and make sure they can't get at your bins, they quickly realise there's no incentive to stay (they're smart cookies!) and move on.

If you have lots of bird feeders, only put out enough food for one day and sweep up anything spilled on your paths whenever you can

.

EDIT: I just wanted to make people aware that sometimes domestic rats are 'set free' when the owners become bored with their pets so you might have a case my friend came up against (she rescues rats) where she was called to rescue a pet from a garden because the 'nice people' who lived their had just chucked the poor little fella in the garden and moved house when the kids were bored with it.

Kayleigh · #9 (**permalink**) 24-04-2009, 06:58 PM

Councils no longer provide a free rat catching service in England...I think they charge around £50..

flowerpower136 · #10 (**permalink**) 27-04-2009, 10:35 AM

Our Council don't charge, and made numerous visits until we and our next door neighbours were happy that the visitors were no longer with us. It was a stressful time. It's really not nice to share your home with rats.

Our council rat man was great, explained everything clearly. His role wasn't just to trapping, he gave us a lot of information and advice about how to keep them out in future. Pointing all the likely points of entry and what might be attracting them.

Naturally, we were worried about using poison, this is a rural area, with everything sitting on the doorstep from roe deer to rabbits. And of course most of us have beloved dogs. The bait was placed very carefully where there was evidence of rat activity, and in little sealed boxes with tiny entry and tiny exit, so was perfectly safe. I couldn't get at it, and I did try, just to be sure.

Clearly, you can't muck about with poison, but neither can you muck about with rats.

Always best to work with an expert, someone who actually knows what they are talking about. And as indicated in various posts, poison isn't always the only solution, though in our case we did opt for it because of the sheer numbers.

Snap traps deal with one at a time. Our local game keeper uses these traps to keep numbers down around her feedstores. Last year the body count was in excess of 260. More of a hobby than a solution? Fine to keep a reasonable check on overall numbers, but not the quick fix needed when they are heading for your kitchen cupboards.