Mumsnet Talk

Bit of background... I live in a house that's about 200 years old. It's two former mill cottages knocked into one house (in a row of similar). The houses back onto a former woollen mill. There is, of course, an outlet from a river which leads into what was the mill (it was how the mill used to be powered). Not surprisingly, there are also occasional brown water rats around. I've noticed, lately, though that two of them have been taking food I've been putting out for the birds from my garden. They started this during the snowy weather but, having found a good source of food, have continued to pop up for their lunches.

To be honest, they don't really bother me that much but where there are two rats there will soon be more. Plus, I don't mind them by the water but I don't really want them in my garden or near my house.

Sooo, is there a humane way to get rid of rats (I will move the bird feeders obviously) or should I just call the council and they'll be exterminated.

Hate the thought of condemning something to death.

I expect you won't feel quite so guilty about condemning them to death if they enter your attic/kitchen and keep you awake all night with their constant scratching. Call the council.

You may be right!

Bloody hell! Council regards rats in occupied building as an emergency (not that they're in my house). Guess that puts things into perspective.

Killing this lot off won't make a lot of difference in the environment you describe (sounds lovely, I'm SO jealous, btw). There will soon be another family to replace them.

Tbh probably the best thing you can do is remove all incentive for them to visit you. Sorry!

I speak from experience - fortunately our 'internal' problem now seems sorted, still see the occasional one in the garden though. What fun it was removing dead rats from my kitchen cupboards first thing in the morning

If you're seeing a couple of rats, then you can bet there are a lot more hidden away. Google and see how quickly they reproduce. Get in touch with the council and get the exterminator in quick. I've been on stable yards where people have tried the humane ways, and they just don't work. While they are trying the rats just keep multiplying at a frightening rate!
I'd also have a think about how you feed the birds, to make your garden a little bit less attractive to rats.

Ewwwwwww...

They can spread Weill's disease which is often fatal - attacks the liver. I know of a child who died after contracting it, although it is rare. We have loads of rats here too - we are surrounded by arable fields and also have a lot of grain for chickens and wild bird feeding. Over run when we first moved in and while I was faffing about humane methods the neighbour put down poison in a shed and killed the lot. It was a sort of welcome to the country present.

For the future I am considering rehoming a neutered feral cat or two. The Cat Protection League have lots that need homes. They live outside and although you have to feed them once a day and check on their welfare they are working animals - and good at sorting out rats as nature intended. Check out google for more info. Or a terrier?

Looks like it's bye bye Mr & Mrs Ratty then... Feel terrible. May shift responsibility to my next door neighbour. She won't give a stuff about comdemning them. I'm such a hypocrite. Don't want responsibility for killing them but happy to let someone else take the blame so long as they're gone.

www.the-piedpiper.co.uk/th1a.htm

YABU

The best you can do is make it more difficult for them to get in and give them no reason to try. Hang feeders off your washing line- you can even get feeder trays that stick on to your windows with suction cups so you can watch the birds close up. If you stick them on your upstairs windows the rats would have to be VERY determined!
Good luck, my mum had huge rats last Feb when it snowed and the poison made them die slowly and horribly

sallyjay I love cats. I've got two cats and my neighbour has one too. I was worried about the rats attacking the cats to be honest. I like the idea of feral working cats. Might suggest that to my mum who has similar problem with rats but, like me, doesn't really want to deal with it. Should say this is not inherited shoddy house keeping!!

My cats are a bit rubbish with rodents though. We get field mice in the house occasionally when it's very wet in the summer and the cats do despatch them quite quickly but they tend to frighten them rather than actually getting their paws dirty. They're bloody hopeless with spiders too.

I'd wait until there is a problem - maybe I'm being naive - but I would never kill something or condemn something to death unless it was the ultimate last resort.

Traps are better nannynobnobs - instant and
the satisfaction of a job well done , aalthough can take a few days for them to 'trust' the traps before they stick their nnecks in them

YABU
'humane' ways normally mean catching them and releasing them somewhere else. Where they will be someone elses problem

SuperAmoo - with rats I really think it's better to avoid the problem. They breed like mad and carry very unpleasant bacteria that can infect humans. I guess you are a vegetarian from what you have said and believe me the rat control around arable crops is not 'humane'. If you are eating food commercially produced someone is condemning rats to death on your behalf.

kill the motherfuckers and shit them into space *rat phobic and proud of it*

tsc, I can't wait to meet you on 8th!!

ha ha ha, ditto.

Please make sure they are rats and not water voles, as their numbers are decreasing. Water voles have shorter noses and chubbier faces

It was a council exterminator Tippy- these rats were the size of guinea pigs and were staring in her kitchen window from the garden wall! I would have suggested traps but I don't think the council lay them in case somebody fiddles with them and loses a finger. (My 10yo sister has Downs and I wouldn't put it past her to fiddle!)
one of the poisoned rats launched itself at my jeans leg and SCREAMED at me. What a horrific sound, I nearly soiled myself.

We had this problem too; I didn't want to lay poison as too worried about inadvertently poisoning something else and also just didn’t like the idea as it's a cruel death. We laid humane traps but rats are tricky to catch and we never caught anything despite trying all sorts of bait.

Feral cats are the best solution I think, we have two now from the CPL and the problem is under control.

tialys I checked out the water vole possibility in the hope that they were voles but they're not. I'm country born and bred (oo-ah) and I sadly know a rat when I see one (not so good at spotting the human variety, unfortunately). I double checked online and there is no way they're voles.

I wish they were.

Ah well than, shoot the dirty little buggers