to consider making the DCs spend the whole summer cooped up inside?

[theluckiest]

OK more of a WWYD. Lovely afternoon in the garden with DS1 (5) and DS2 (2). They are never happier than charging about throwing sand around and fighting over plastic tat. All good.

As I mowed the lawn I noticed that we seem to have an awful lot of wasps. They seem to love the enormous laurel hedge on one side of the garden. I had a look to see if I could find a nest with no luck (or with luck depending on how you look at it! Don't fancy dealing with a wasps nest TBH). As I was scrutinising the hedge, my eye was caught by movement under the hedge.....yep, a large, grey creature lurking underneath hedge a few feet from where DSs had been playing. Mr Rat scuttled along the hedge into a flowerbed and then squeezed under the fence into next door's garden.

Now I live in a suburb of Birmingham and used to work for a housing association so am realistic about the fact that rats are everywhere. But this one was out in broad daylight and near my kids. So I suppose I'm possibly overreacting slightly...

So AIBU to contact pest control at the Council? DH reckons they'll just laugh at me/fob me off as the rat seemed to just be 'passing through'. In fairness, I've had a good look round and can't see evidence of rat activity/droppings so think Rattus rattus might be (hopefully) living in a neighbours garden. Our garden is fairly clear and no food/rubbish left out so fingers crossed. DH did see one months ago that also seemed to be passing through and disappeared next door. Do I do something? TBH not sure what pest control could actually do. Do I just face facts that little fuckers rats are everywhere and unless they get into the house there's not much you can do?

Yeeuch. At least I now know why my dog was barking at the rose bush earlier. Oh and AIBU that the numerous neighbourhood cats need to stop sunbathing and ripping open binbags and get off their fat furry arses to sort the rats out?!

[Collision]

I know there are rats everywhere but if there was one in my garden I would have to phone EH?PC to get it sorted!

[hiddenhome]

We had a rat in our back garden area. We just bought some poison and a lockable bait box. No more rat. I have dcs too and it never stopped me from letting them out.

The wasps won't bother anybody until later in the year when they're dying off and becoming aggressive. Just leave them to do whatever it is they're doing in the hedge.

[DeWe]

Try environmental health. They were brilliant when we had squirrels in the loft. Came every day to check the trap and told the children a lovely story about how carefully they were going to look after the one they caught.