I have rats! Help

[fatfrenchprick]

Yesterday I found out my garden had rats in the best way possible. My cat brought one in and dumped it on my kitchen worktop

Now I have seen a small on on my decking. It didn't move very fast and when I went outside it just looked at me. So I chucked a couple of my dogs balls near it and it didn't even flinch!

How do I get rid of them? My pregnant daughter is freaking out (she googled rat diseases)

Your local authority may help, otherwise I would contact a pest control firm. Make sure you and your neighbours aren’t putting food out and the recycling and bins are secure / collected.

Call a pest controller, you'll need proper poison put down under the deck and elsewhere - if you've seen one there are at least 10 others around

I'd imagine most gardens have rats. It's outside.

Give your cat a collar with a bell so it can't catch any more and take care to store your food away at night so the smell doesn't attract them in.

Even if they have diseases, its highly unlikely that's a risk to you unless they come in and run all over your dishes or something.

You need to get a local vermin control company to come over and deal with it, I don't want to freak your daughter out even further but they will often make themselves at home under decking.

Also remove any food sources like a bird feeder from your garden

Call the council pest control, ours were brilliant.

Would your cat kill them? We have a builder’s yard behind our garden where they store stock. Hence we get the odd one at this time of year but our cat is a great ratter (despite being tiny herself).

A good pest control company won’t just address the rats, it will inspect your home for any potential entry points. They can be surprisingly hidden.

we had mice when I was pregnant. Tried to diy at first. Absolutely worth just hiring someone. Took care of the problem so much faster.

Decking is well known for rats/mice to make a home underneath, so if it's a reoccurring problem, I'd look at removing it.

Short-term, my DM had rates. She contacted a pest control company. They were great - it didn't matter how many visits they made, the fee would be the same. They returned regularly to check on traps and only when they were 100% certain problem was solved, charged her.

We have an outdoor foot bin that the council provide, maybe that's attracting them?

It was the one that was just staring at me that freaked me out. It didn't care at all that I was there. It showed no fear

The cat peanut normally bring anything into the house so I'm surprised it did. I'm panicking that they're in the house now

if You’ve got bird feeders out remove immediately. Make sure your food waste bin is properly closed or temporarily at least stop using it.
Then get pest control in. Don’t fanny about trying to set traps etc yourself, get the experts in

I can't believe this. My partner has messaged me and he had found a rat in his kitchen! He lives in another town but is surrounded by woodland