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Original poster

There’s a rat in my garden

75 replies

Springsnake · 05/02/2021 12:40

I just saw it run out from under my shed ,run round the plant pots and back under the shed ..it’s huge .
I’ve 3 dogs as well ,how have they allowed this to happen.

OP posts:
FatCatThinCat · 05/02/2021 12:44

Do you have a bird feeder, they attract rats.

We get rats in our garden despite have two prolific rat killing cats.

TheChip · 05/02/2021 12:48

You should call him Herman.

nomorespaghetti · 05/02/2021 12:48

We had one in our garden sniffing around under the bird feeder a couple of summer’s ago. It was during a heatwave that I kept the back doors open after cooking tea and went out of the room. DH walked into the kitchen, shut the doors, then turned around and noticed that ratty right next to him on the floor! The rat ran for the doors, now closed, and crashed into the glass, then turned and ran into the living room and under the sofa I was on. Both DH and I were standing on top of furniture shrieking Grin eventually were scared it out and chased it back out into the garden with a broom!

Moral of the story: keep your doors shut!

Turnedouttoes · 05/02/2021 12:51

Oh god this is my nightmare. I saw similar once while at a friends house with her huge french doors open. I’m not exaggerating by saying it was the size of a cat! I was terrified all afternoon it was going to come in through the open doors.

Could you borrow a Jack Russell by any chance? There’s a video doing the rounds at the moment of two sniffing out a rat in the house, that rat was never visiting again!

WingBingo · 05/02/2021 12:54

I thought most gardens had rats either in them or near them.

ginghamtablecloths · 05/02/2021 12:55

We were horrified last autumn to see a rat after some work had been done in a garden about three doors down. A hedge of conifers which had been previously shortened were then chopped down fully and I had to assume that it had disrupted ratty's home. We kept doors closed and made sure there was nothing left out which could attract them. Eventually it disappeared - the neighbours must have taken stern action and I hope I never see it again. Sympathies.

TheMandalorian · 05/02/2021 13:00

This is what happens when you create wildlife areas for your garden. You get vermin. Not cute hedgehogs or pretty birds. Speaks the voice of bitter experience.

LittleSwede · 05/02/2021 13:01

Our neighbour two doors down the road had a massive rat feeding off her bird table the summer before last. Neighbour in between called council who put out poison. End of story, or so we thought. End of last summer it decided to move into our loft, making occasional trips over to next doors loft too as we are semi detached (they've caught it on camera). We named it Ratzilla.

13 pest control visits later, two litters of rat babies running around in the caviry walls (one made it into the kitchen cupboards but went in a trap a few days later) and many broken nights sleep and we were finally rid of the problem a couple of weeks ago. Lots of flies but luckily no stench so we thought they were all dead under the house. DH went up to clear up the mess in the loft and promptly discovered a 25 cm long dead rat, that's without the tail. Still lots of messand chewed up insulation to clear and we'll need to insulate the loft again after but at least we can sleep at night now.

So, do whatever you can to prevent this rodent from your house, remove any bird food, check shed for tennis ball sized holes in case it's moved in there. Maybe consider some bait stations with poison. The dogs shouldn't be able to get to that and could be placed behind shed, or under.

LittleSwede · 05/02/2021 13:04

We did consider borrowing a Jack Russel, a ferret or a cat but thought it might be a bit complicated to let one loose in the loft!

Original poster
Springsnake · 05/02/2021 13:09

Oh god .we are vegans ..the kids have seen it ..it’s made a tunnel in to next doors garden
It didn’t care ,it just stood looking at me .
I don’t know what to do

OP posts:
Original poster
Springsnake · 05/02/2021 13:10

3 dogs as well ...3 supposed to be good ratter types as well

OP posts:
Original poster
Springsnake · 05/02/2021 13:11

Why is it out in the daylight

OP posts:
PrincessSarene · 05/02/2021 13:13

Am I the only one singing “there’s a rat in me kitchen what am I gonna do?”...

PrincessSarene · 05/02/2021 13:14

(Sorry - not very helpful!)

Meggymoo777 · 05/02/2021 13:14

Fairly sure you can get humane traps OP 🪤 I wouldn't be comfortable killing the poor thing either, he's just doing what a rat does.

I'd be having a stern word with your 3 guard dogs though 😂

TonTonMacoute · 05/02/2021 13:15

It's out in the daylight because it is not afraid of anything!

It will move in, breed and you will be overrun unless you seriously tackle this problem now, just saying.

Get the rat man in.

TonTonMacoute · 05/02/2021 13:16

Fairly sure you can get humane traps OP

And then what...?

Sn0tnose · 05/02/2021 13:17

@PrincessSarene Nope, me too. I thought this was the grammatically correct Mumsnet remake 😁

LittleSwede · 05/02/2021 13:17

I heard ours in the daytime too despite them being meant to be nocturnal.

Peppermint oil is a deterrent but not sure how good it will be outside as rain will wash it away. There are traps for catching them live but don't think it's legal to release them elsewhere. I wouldn't even kill a spider under normal circumstances but having a rat in the house made me change my mind on using pest control for rats. Sorry, I know that sounds cruel. We had mice before and I caught them and released them in a field.

LittleSwede · 05/02/2021 13:18

@TonTonMacoute

It's out in the daylight because it is not afraid of anything!

It will move in, breed and you will be overrun unless you seriously tackle this problem now, just saying.

Get the rat man in.

That's exactly what happened to us!
campion · 05/02/2021 13:20

Contact pest control at your council. Rats carry nasty diseases.

And there isn't such a thing as a rat. They're very sociable, prolific breeders and good parents. You have a rat family but you just haven't met them all yet! Wink
Get rid!

CuriousaboutSamphire · 05/02/2021 13:21

No, you don't.

You do not have a rat in your garden.

You have rats, multiple.

You have to work out what is in your garden that they like. Bird feeder, dog food left out, loose lid on your food bins etc, or something on the other side, you might just be between the nest and a good food source.

Block their entrance!! Easiest starting point would be to add steel wool or copper mesh wire into the hole and lay chicken wire over the area under the shed to persuade them not to bother.

Good luck

CuriousaboutSamphire · 05/02/2021 13:22

Oh, rats aren't nocturnal. They just live that way because of how we live.

I had them as pets for 30+ years, they are definitely not nocturnal Smile

LittleSwede · 05/02/2021 13:22

@PrincessSarene

Am I the only one singing “there’s a rat in me kitchen what am I gonna do?”...
Listen to it scrabbling around underand inside the barticaded cupboards for a few days whilst refusing to cook or wash up! Only just moved our dry foods from the study back into the cupboards last weekend. Two months after said rat youth went into the trap.
MrsSchrute · 05/02/2021 13:24

The same happened to us, big rat ran out from under the sofa and scared the life out of me!
We got the rat man in, he put down poison and identified where they were coming in, which we blocked up with plywood and chicken wire.
Thankfully no sightings since!
The rat guy said that the rat population has exploded since lockdown one started. And due to lots of restaurants having to close they have moved into more residential. He said he had been the busiest he ever has since lockdown!

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