Rats in garden

[poloarpanda123]

We have a smallish garden and I saw a rat out there months ago, some weeks later we had a dead baby rat under the trampoline so I called the pest control who put down poison in their boxes. They came back about 4 weeks later and said some had been taken so they refilled them.
Now tonight I see one come and go into the bait and run off then back again when I next went downstairs. Not sure if it's the same one. It was still light.

Do you think this is the same lot or a new lot? The poison must have been there at least 2 months now. Why are they not going away? :(

We don't have any food/pets etc in the garden and it's pretty tidy although the guy though our garden might be pat of a run.

Does it mean I shouldn't let the kids play out there for now as one of the baits is on the grass near to where they play.

Rats are impossible to get rid of, putting poison down for them causes them to die slowly and in pain. Anything that hunts rats like foxes , owls and domestic cats will also be poisoned. Rats breed in huge numbers , you may kill some but more will always replace them. The only way to stop them is to fill in their tunnels and burrow. If they are only in your garden and not in your house you may as well learn to live with them. Obviously don’t let your children any where near rat poison.

Gobby, what are the chances they would try to get inside?
I'm petrified of them! I've tried to fill in any gaps but still worried :(

Do you put food out for birds? I had to stop feeding the birds in our garden as the rats were picking up whatever the birds dropped. We live in the countryside so I know rats are never too far away but I wasn’t going to be feeding them!

We have them and they are a nightmare. A garden near ours was landscaped a couple of years ago and they dug up a big area where I think they were nesting. Our neigbhbour catches them and drives them to a field a few miles away (I don't really agree with this - I'd rather just kill them but I can never catch any!). We are sure not to leave out any food (bird food as well) and keep our garden tidy but can't change what the neighbours do. They don't tend to come inside unless they get in the loft so make sure any holes into the loft space are packed with wirewool.

I agree with pp they are unlikely to come inside. Try not to worry about them, not feeding the birds and making sure your kids don’t drop food around the garden will help. Really they are no different to any other wildlife in your garden, if you hadn’t seen them they would still have been there but you wouldn’t be worrying.

No I don’t think they would try to get into the house OP
Some of the advice is to move things around in your garden, so that they are constantly disturbed, don’t give them a safe place to nest etc, and don’t give them access to food.

Mine came into my house from.my garden . I woke up and saw one in my bedroom ! I screamed blue murder...put out rat traps etc..

We then got.some budgies..and i havent seen a rat since. But i can't sleep well anymore

Thank you :)
I shall sleep!
I don't let the kids eat anything in the garden for this purpose and I never put out bird food or anything else. I've been careful not to leave water out.I'm going to buy some drain covers and get someone to fix the fence at the back as the guy said there were gaps in it where they may be getting in.

omg busybee, I was just going to sleep!!
How did it get in?
Do budgies deter them?
Maybe I'll get one !

Also don’t stop your children from playing in the garden, explain to them that they need to avoid the bait, but I don’t think your children would come to any harm, this would have been explained to you if that were the case, by the people who laid the traps/ bait.
I think as much noise and disturbance in the garden would help to discourage rats.

Or maybe I'll get an owl

Sam, thanks, they are not really young (youngest is 6) and they know not to touch them. They are scared of them anyway. I have artificial grass to disinfect too when I can.

I feel your pain, I read this post last night while sitting surrounded by the fumes of "dead rat" somewhere under the floor, yet again. I feel like a bloody expert on the damn things now, having had to deal with them for the past 6 years. Several time they have got into the house, under the house, died in cavities between houses and oh God you don't want to know!

We have a neighbour at the house at the end who feeds the birds and foxes etc so they have constant food source. We have asked nicely for her to pick the food off the floor but she just says they are naturally everywhere. This is true, but when they are getting in your house something has to be done. We regularly have a pest control man to keep numbers down, and only then when they have made themselves shown at the top end of the garden i.e. near the house. We have all clubbed together and agreed to put bait down as now all four gardens are affected and yet again they have got inside between 2 of our houses.

My advice would be to check every tiny crack or crevice, pipe outlet or drain to make sure there are absolutely no gaps they can get in. If you have even the tiniest of gap fill it with wire wool or block it up. If you are joined to any other houses, tell them to do the same.

We know now when to call pest control to put the special boxes down as opposed to just living with them, when we see numbers increase and they are out in the day bold as brass and each neighbour says they have a problem. The idea is that they take the poison back to the nest and most of the time will die there. Also note that the poison you buy from the shops does not usually kill them as it is not strong enough. The pest control use a much stronger type only they are licensed to use. If you have pets or your neighbour's have pets, the boxes are also a much safer way to put poison down.

I would speak to the pest control people again ask their advice. We usually have boxes for a good 3-4 months but with big gaps towards the end where less and less bait gets taken. At the beginning we had tons of bait eaten which indicated there was a very big population and they are always breeding, so it does take time to control.

Good luck.

I too have artificial grass in a sunken play area and regularly throw a couple of buckets of bleach or Zoflora over it. Glad I'm not the only one .