new member with rats!

[Lyndap]

Hello everyone,
I know this subjects been covered but these are"my" rats! I first got rats under my shed about a year ago.i tried a electronic thingy..hopeless! I have a dog so i was a little worried about her.I did'nt want to poison them.However eventually i was persuaded i had to get rid of them and got the council"ratman" in.The night before he came i cried! Well he poisoned the rats and the mice as well.I will never do it again! And what good did it do because they came back anyway.What are you supposed to do ? Keep killing them? I suppose a lot of people would.
I read this forum before and i know poison is awlful.well they've been back for ages now.my husband do'snt really mention them unless he sees one! (He knows how i feel about them).
I discovered last week that ratty (i know there's no doubt more,but i only see one) was coming through the ivy and getting at the bird feeder.So i moved it.I cut back the ivy.I have watched him over a period of time and they really are very clever little creatures! He found a way! I've tried numerous things to deter them and they amaze me sometimes.
Dare i say it,i'm kind of attatched to them.I'm also still vaguely ashamed of myself for having rats in my garden.
My garden is a little haven for wildlife(masses of ivy and no pestsides).loads of birds,visiting squirrels(yes i feed them)and a family of hedgehogs.
To me rats are just animals,living ,breathing ,feeling creatures.Why is it that it's ok to poison rats(ah of course they're vermin)when you woul'dnt be allowed to inflict such suffering on other creatures? (apart from other "vermin").
If my neighbours sees them they'll freak out! But thats their problem.
So,i dont want these rats in my garden,but i'm living with them.
Problem is if you had the vicars wife round for afternoon tea and a rat ran pass it would not be good news would it?I really wish i knew what to do.The huge turkey sized pigeons that poo everywhere are more of a pain!(i would'nt want to hurt them either.
I try to discourage them, i am open to all suggestions.I almost dont know how i should be feeling about this? You are almost expected to throw a fit if you see a rat! this is a wildlife forum,surely some of you wont think i'm nuts?

[Digit]

I've always felt that Rats have been the subject of a bad press, people raise their hands in horror, but so they do with Toads and Bats.
If they find your place so enticing then killing them only puts out a DES RES sign for others.
The only way to displace them is to make the place less enticing, then they will move on.

Roy.

[ron1863]

Hi and a warm welcome to WAB
I wouldn't worry too much about the neighbours, if you have them then there's a good chance that they have them too. I can only suggest laying traps with chocolate buttons as bait or getting a couple of cats but I am sure you will get good advice from other members.

[hobble]

Hi Lyndap,
Lots of people have rats in their gardens. I do, I see the occasional one and turn a blind eye as my house is situated right in perfect rat habitat.
I live in an old quarry which is now ivy covered with trees and a stream nearby.
As long as they leave me alone in my house, I leave them alone.
Sometimes my cat catches them, in the last 2 months she has caught one adult and one baby.
In fact I was just thinking about moving the dead baby when a buzzard took it, a very good reason not to use poison. This is the second time I have witnessed a buzzard clearing up.
If you lay humane traps and catch them you can move them to a better wild place.

[shirl]

Yep, we have rats in the garden and in the loft but I would never ever use poison to get rid of them just incase the local birds of prey (or my working springers ) get hold of them. I am trying hard to make the house rat proof at the moment, and hopefully they will live in the garden in future.

Shirl

[IdleHands]

Hello,

I know that used ferret bedding is a great mouse deterrant. Just the smell of a small ball of the stuff wrapped in material is enough to cause them to abandon a house/shed/garden. It is completely humane as it causes them no harm (apart from an enormous panic when they first encounter the smell!). And you don't have to worry about dead animals rotting under your floorboards as you do with poison.

Does anyone know if this works with rats too?

Cheers,

Idle

[Pippa]

Hi ,welcome to WAB.

I have absolutely nothing against rats but wouldn't like them living in my garden.We (have now moved )had a large garden and i ensured that the shed areas, underneath and above were rat free.They came in from the fields in real bad weather and i didn't mind one bit as they were simply regarded as wild-life.Everything was spotless and clean, so i didn't feel at all concerned.

I would get a cat if i were you.I am not thinking of killing, although a cat would.I am thinking of a great deterrent. Maybe i am wrong but if i had your problem that is what i would do.

[treecreeper]

Lynda, I like to think the vicar's wife will have a more enlightened attitude than you fear. You never know...she may offer it a cucumber sandwich. There is a rat which regularly visits my garden and often dives under the shed. It may possibly live there. I have no intention of discouraging it. My fear is the next door neighbours will spot it; I have seen it going into their garden. They have two girls aged about 4 or 5 and if the parents see the rat I am sure they will call someone in. It would be completely irrational, the rat is not going to harm the girls. Perhaps the long term answer is more children's classics which portray the brown rat in a positive light and so inculcate a benevolent attitude in the formative years. I know there was Ratty in The Wind in the Willows but I think he was a different species.

[BigAl]

Yes, I have rat(s) that live under my summer house. They've dug a tunnel through to my dalex compost bin. We called the locval council who've put a poison trap down. I'm not sure how effective it's been, if at all. My cat has caugfht 2 rats in the last 6 months. Everytime I think they've gone, I find new tunnels in my compost bin. The council man tells me off (via Mrs BigAl) for feeding 'em (i.e. putting stuff in the compost bin). To be honest, the rats don't bother me but, like others, I'm concerned over what the neighbours might think!

[BigAl]

I' know there was Ratty in The Wind in the Willows but I think he was a different species. '

I think he was a water vole.