Bird feeders and rats

[Catherine]

We have always put out bird feeders in the garden, Various nut and seed feeders. We love watching the birds in the winter. But last winter we suddenly started having problems with rats coming into the garden. We killed three juvenile rats and we put our feeders away all summer and did not see any more rats. Then about three weeks ago I was sitting reading in our room looking over the back garden whe a rat (not juvenile) started walking round on our patio looking for food.

I want to put the feeders back out for the winter but I want to get rid of the rats before I do so. Any suggestions gratefully received.

Our next door neighbours whose garden is fully enclosed was the first garden to see them, our un attached neighbours saw them also but we never saw them until we put the rat traps out. This is the first time that we saw a live one.

[Geoff]

Air rifle? You can get the smooth tailed and the fluffy tailed types this way.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Catherine, with the explosion of the rat population over the last few years, this is going to be an on going problem i'm afraid.
I think everyone who feeds birds will have trouble with rats at one time or another, including me.
So, i'm seriously thinking of buying a good quality bait box and keeping it baited through the Winter months.

[Elle's Garden]

Little hint from the wife of a 'rat man' - if you are self baiting you are probably using 'blue' stuff. This is warfarin based and you must ensure that the rodents have 7 days continous exposure without missing a day. If you miss just one day then all you will have done is feed them. Check your bait boxes every day to make sure it has not run out. This doesn't mean it will only take 7 days to kill an infestation, you would be better to think in terms of 2-3 weeks of daily checking. Once bait is no longer being removed you should have been successful. Place bait boxes along fence lines and rat runs if you can spot them for the best effect. If all that fail you may have to call in the rat man. Also, if you throw out bread or scraps always do so in the morning and clear up any left by late afternoon. Leaving it on the ground overnight just encourages the rats.

[Catherine]

Thanks for that we have been using large traps which look like a mouse trap I just dont want to miss having the birds in the garden for the sake of the rats. Up till this year we have never had rats in the garden.

[toffeeman]

I have a rat problem on and off. I tend to use the 'blue stuff' which looks like grain in a bait box and this does appear to be the most affective that I have tried. I have tried a biodegradable pellet from B & Q in the past and the verim does not appear so keen to take the bait. Whether this is because it sees them off quicker I don't know. I doubt it.

[The Mouse]

We got 'the rat man' out last year, and he came back every week to top up the traps - again, and again, and again .... . In the end he gave up, because the poison was still disappearing at the same rate and he couldn't work out where it was going.
Then in spring I started to dig over a little bed near my shed, and found it. The soil turned blue as I dug, as the stuff came to the surface. Something - maybe field mice - had been hoarding it there. And either they never actually ate it, or they were immune to it!
That said, we haven't seen any more rats since then!

[Elle's Garden]

Hi Caz, it could be they never ate it. Another problem can be around horses, something in their food contains vitamin K which is the antidote to the blood thinning properties of the blue stuff. Rat with access to that can then seem to be immune to the poison, whilst they tuck in!

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Caz, maybe the rats died of exhaustion.

[PLUMPUDDING]

A few weeks ago I kept seeing a rat under the bird feeders eating what they had dropped. I'd not seen any for months so was not too pleased.

I had a look round and found a huge rat hole under the golden hop. I'm afraid my eradication method was rather nasty, but spectacular and so far effective. I poured some petrol down the hole and lit it. There was a huge whoosh and flames shot out of all the exits and along the runs they had dug under the paving, then there were two small explosions - rats perhaps?

I've not seen any since.

I have used traps and the blue stuff in the past, and a couple of local tom cats seem to like hunting them too.

I do try and not leave food out at night except in the hanging feeder that is impossible to reach. I clear the bird table and under the feeder before it comes dark. I've found that if I put a bit less food on the table it all gets eaten by afternoon anyway.

I've also changed the hens' feeding place too and keep their food in the hen hut so there isn't any left outside to attract rats.

They are horrible things, it just makes you wonder how many of them are about that you don't see.

[The Mouse]

Hi Plumpudding

Your way of dealing with the rats made me laugh, but reminds me of a story I was told very recently by a friend: when he was a boy, this friend and his dad decided to deal with a wasps' nest using petrol - they poured it down the hole (the nest was in the ground), lit it, and threw a large stone on top. Next day they went back and my friend removed the stone. Several angry wasps came flying out, and he said that one of them chased him for the next half-hour, before finally cornering him and stinging him

I just hope those rats aren't out there still, plotting their revenge!!!

[Elle's Garden]

Being the wife of a rat man, also makes me the wife of a mole man, and we had a client who had been driven to distraction by his moles. He went for PlumPuddings method in the middle of his lawn. He managed to blow a huge hole right in the centre of the green stuff. He called us in when he woke up in the morning and looked out to see 2 fresh mole hills!

[glallotments]

One of our plot neighbours used PPs method on a wasp nest a few years ago. The wasps had nested in a hole next to the water tap that is situated on our plot. The resulting fire burnt three of the bushes that we had planted nearby so our neighbour was very repentant when he next saw us. He thought his days were numbered - we still remind him of it. One bush never recovered!!

[Tigger]

We use bait boxes all the year round and buy a 'gold' product from the local farm suppliers. It's expensive but very effective.

[DebbieP]

I had the same problem as you and tried this ultrasonic repeller. It makes a noise that humans can't hear but that mice and rats don't like, so they try and get as far away as possible- thereby leaving your garden!! The instructions say it doesn't affect birds though. It's specifically for outdoor use, you attach it to a fence or something similar. I bought it because I didn't want to use traps and have to deal with horrible dead rat bodies!

If you're interested, I got mine here:

http://www.primrose-london.co.uk/outdoo ... Path=24_25