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Original poster

Rats in parks

60 replies

CleverCatty · 12/11/2020 10:15

In a few suburban parks recently I've seen rats - ground rats - quite cute actually but I know a few other parks have had poison put down for them as some people don't like them. I saw 2 playing the other day and they actually looked very cute!

My question is - do you mind them or not? I know a few parents who really don't like them but some don't mind them at all. Do they carry disease apart from Weils Disease etc? I saw an article that more rats were encouraged to come to ground level during lockdown as less people were around and there was more discarded food around. I heard years ago that they are more like squirrels - so quite harmless generally.

I do hear a few owls in the local big park so presumably they have 'dinner'.

OP posts:
slothtrot · 12/11/2020 10:22

Owls and foxes will take care of them. Round here we have buzzards and kites over the parks and they both take rats.

DickBastardly · 12/11/2020 10:27

Rats are disgusting. I hope you are not encouraging them by putting food down for them. You may think they are “cute” but you are in the minority.

LauraBassi · 12/11/2020 10:29

There is a beautiful dam near me. You can sit beside it and look over it. I was there the other week with dds and we looked down and there was rats just milking about.

We left.

peachescariad · 12/11/2020 10:31

Rats are a public health problem in urban areas. They carry a multitude of pathogens, they cause huge damage to brickwork, pipework, cabling etc.in order to gain access, they have big litters several times a year.
They are as far removed from cute as you can get. (house pets the exception).
Ex food safety EHO here.

vjg13 · 12/11/2020 10:38

I think it will be a bigger issue this year, more people using parks, eating outside, discarding litter etc. Our council seemed to have reduced the bin emptying with the same bin overflowing for a few days and more people leaving stuff at the side of it. There was a dead one in my local park but not seen any live ones yet.

RedMarauder · 12/11/2020 10:40

I agree with PPs rats are disgusting. They so "cute" that serveral train stations have rat poison boxes on their platforms and a few petrol stations have rat poison boxes outside their stores.

Squirrels are also not "harmless" and "cute" either. Apart from being pests in the garden digging things up and eating food crops, several of my friends have had them in their roofs chewing electric cables and loft insulation. I've had them in my shed chewing stuff up luckly nothing flammable.

Mrsfrumble · 12/11/2020 10:44

@LauraBassi are you sure they weren’t water voles by the dam? They look very similar to rats, and the first time we saw some by the lake at our local park we assumed they were.

DelphineWalsh · 12/11/2020 10:45

I've seen a big rise in rats in our neighbourhood recently. Local takeaways and small import grocery stores are throwing out stale bread and spoiled food onto the grass verges and round the edges of parks presumably for the birds but its attracting the rats. The signs from the local council are woefully ineffective.

Mylittlesandwich · 12/11/2020 10:46

I like rats. I had pet ones. I'm not a fan of the death that rat poison brings about so I wouldn't use it personally. I do agree though that they can absolutely cause issues. Luckily where we are there are natural predators like birds of prey and foxes so it's not something we've been bothered with. We did have a mouse that snuck in and ate the cat food though.

sweetleftfoot · 12/11/2020 10:50

I saw a rat the other day who went down to our little river and promptly got in and swam over to the other side! I have never seen a rat swim before, it was a very good swimmer! My terrier who is supposed to be a ratter didn't even clock it

Original poster
CleverCatty · 12/11/2020 11:12

@DickBastardly

Rats are disgusting. I hope you are not encouraging them by putting food down for them. You may think they are “cute” but you are in the minority.
Of course I'm not putting food down for them - don't be so ridiculous!

I'm not sure if some of these are water rats - in a park near me - one of the park gardeners didn't like poison being put down near the ponds because presumably they were 'water rats'. I don't know the difference to be honest.

OP posts:
Original poster
CleverCatty · 12/11/2020 11:14

@Mylittlesandwich

I like rats. I had pet ones. I'm not a fan of the death that rat poison brings about so I wouldn't use it personally. I do agree though that they can absolutely cause issues. Luckily where we are there are natural predators like birds of prey and foxes so it's not something we've been bothered with. We did have a mouse that snuck in and ate the cat food though.
Exactly - issues - not sure what they can cause.

There are lots of owls etc in this park but I'm just wondering how quickly rats spread.

Funnily enough in summer I was in an area of the park with someone screamed like a girl when I saw a rat and it heard and darted quickly into the bushes!

OP posts:
Tomcullenisahero · 12/11/2020 11:20

I've noticed an increase in rats this year, I live in a rural area but there are so many that have been hit on the roads and this is something you'd never really see round here. My mate also has had rats in her attic, thankfully they managed to trap them and theres no more, she's never had anything like it. Can you imagine?
I don't mind rats and mice, they don't scare me but I wouldn't want them in my house, peeing over everything as they really do carry diseases.

UniversalHadIt · 12/11/2020 11:22

We’re inundated where I live. To the extent that I stopped taking my son to the local park after we saw around 15-20 in the course of one walk.

Then they started moving down through our gardens.

One of the push factors to me moving actually. They’re dreadful and the local authority just arent getting on top of it.

mylittleyumyum · 12/11/2020 11:22

I have absolutely no problem with any wildlife. Had a singular mouse once in my last house (tiny field mouse that we caught to release but it died) and another mouse in this house a few years ago, we blocked off the access route and that was the end of that.

We have mink at the local canal that some people hate because they have destroyed the swan eggs in the past. I'm always delighted when I see one. Rats, mice, mink - we're all motivated by the same thing :D

IJustWantSomeBees · 12/11/2020 11:22

These comments are so ignorant. Rats are certainly not disgusting, if you are not able to comprehend that other animal species exist other than humans then stay in your house. This hysteria people get at seeing an animal dare exist in an urban space is tragic. Rat poison is more likely to harm your child, pathogens in your beloved dog's faeces are more likely to harm your child. And if people didn't leave so much rubbish everywhere there would be less rats anyway.

IJustWantSomeBees · 12/11/2020 11:26

@LauraBassi I'm glad to hear that you left the rats to enjoy their natural environment Smile

hummusandpitta · 12/11/2020 11:27

@IJustWantSomeBees

These comments are so ignorant. Rats are certainly not disgusting, if you are not able to comprehend that other animal species exist other than humans then stay in your house. This hysteria people get at seeing an animal dare exist in an urban space is tragic. Rat poison is more likely to harm your child, pathogens in your beloved dog's faeces are more likely to harm your child. And if people didn't leave so much rubbish everywhere there would be less rats anyway.
This!

How dare another species live on OUR land Halloween Hmm

FreshFreesias · 12/11/2020 11:28

I agree @IJustWantSomeBees the way some people pathologise certain species is dreadful. I even like wasps and enjoyed feeding them this autumn with sugar. They have a valuable part to play in the ecosystem along with most creatures.

DickBastardly · 12/11/2020 11:30

@IJustWantSomeBees

These comments are so ignorant. Rats are certainly not disgusting, if you are not able to comprehend that other animal species exist other than humans then stay in your house. This hysteria people get at seeing an animal dare exist in an urban space is tragic. Rat poison is more likely to harm your child, pathogens in your beloved dog's faeces are more likely to harm your child. And if people didn't leave so much rubbish everywhere there would be less rats anyway.
I think they are loathsome and vile and so do loads of other people. Nobody is saying they shouldn’t exist or should be exterminated but we don’t have to fall over ourselves to call them cute either when they are clearly not.
CathyLovesHerKid2000 · 12/11/2020 11:32

WE NEED TO KILL THE RATS, THEY WILL SPREAD THE PLAGUE AGAIN! Angry I HOPE THE LOCAL CUNCIL TAKES IMMEDIATE ACTION AGAINST THESE VILE, DISGUSTING CREATURE. AMEN Wine Wine

HerNameIsIncontinentiaButtocks · 12/11/2020 11:48

Started drinking early, Cathy?

UniversalHadIt · 12/11/2020 13:15
Grin

I’m with Cathy.

VenusClapTrap · 12/11/2020 13:28

I don’t mind rats. I see them at the bottom of the garden sometimes. They don’t bother me and I don’t bother them. Plenty of space for everyone, humans and wildlife, round here. They are food for the thriving local owl population, which I love to hear at night.

Hoppinggreen · 12/11/2020 13:31

Well she might love her kids but Cathy sure hates rats, and the “cuncil” (which I really hope it a typo)
Amen and Hallelujah