I think I have a rats nest in my garden!

[WeeMadArthur]

Out de-pooing the lawn and noticed that one of the planters looks like it has been burrowed under, the entrance looks too small to be for a hedgehog (wishful thinking on my part) and there is a fallen apple by the hole which has knaw marks on it.

Apart from the planter being too heavy to lift, how else do I find out what’s under it? It’s most likely to be a rat isn’t it? I’m an animal lover but I don’t want rats in my garden so what’s the most humane way to get rid of it ( or them!) I’m not sure if I can put poison down as both my dog and the night neighours cats are in and out the garden all day and I can’t risk any of them eating it. Help!

Here is a picture of the hole and knawed apple

We had a rats nest under our shed. We put traditional style snap traps down that pest control cake and checked and disposed of the rats for us. It was pretty gross.

Came*

Call the pest control officer at your local council - quickly! I'd remove that gnawed apple too; you don't need to be offering pudding as well as accommodation....

*gnawed. I knew it looked wrong when I typed it

Pest control it is then, argh, there are probably lots of babies as well!

We had a huge rats nest in garden when we first moved into our house. Saw quite a lot of them on the lawn and managed to identify their burrow.

We called the council and the rat catcher came. He poured poison (lots of poison) through a pipe deep into the burrow itself. No more rats.

Only thing now is I imagine we've got a mass grave under the garden

If you were poop scooping I'm guessing you have keys. Be very careful with what you put down as it can get back to them.

Pets. Pets. I'm sure your keys don't care about rats!

Call the council, I think the first time is free, then they charge if need to keep coming back.
rats will live anywhere they aren't disturbed, decking is the worst and if close to your house will get in.
Plant pots and sheds are good places for them too. Any food left out for birds, open bin lids are also an attraction for them.
getting out in the garden and disturbing things is the only way to keep them down.

Do you have an apple tree then? Rats can climb, so if you are providing a constant food supply, then they will want to nest in your garden. Try filling in any holes you see, and hold off feeding any birds/wildlife in your garden for a while. I stopped feeding the birds, and my rats got bored and went somewhere else. The neighbouring cats made light work of any babies they produced!

I’ve reported it to the council, I do feel bad as I would happily let DS have pet rats but I don’t want to be overrun (and I’m sure the neighbours wouldn’t thank me either). Hopefully they can sort it before the numbers get out of hand as I’ve only just noticed the hole (and if the apple hadn’t been too big to fit I would never have noticed probably, but I spotted that the apple had moved). I’ve binned the remaining apples and taken up all the bird food (sorry birds).

@alaric77 I also had a mouse nest under the garden bin, DS had collected lots of acorns which I ‘stored’ outside for him and when we moved the bin there was a lovely little dry straw nest with lots of empty acorn shells.

we back onto woodland and are over run with the horrible varmints at the moment dp is waging war on them