Rat in garden - advice please

[Ratadvice]

I saw a rat at the bottom of the garden this morning. It disappeared behind the compost bin.

DH emptied out the old and broken garden shed next to it and found some droppings in there.

There is also a hole by the decking which we naively had thought was from a hedgehog....

We have young children and I am now freaking out about them playing in the garden. I feel like it's all contaminated with horrible diseases!

Also slightly concerned that we saw one out in broad daylight ( Google says it either means they're starving and desperate or that there is a big infestation... hopefully the former!!)

Our first reaction was to get some poison but now I've read about it it doesn't seem like a good idea.

We will remove the decking and shed in a few weeks when we have time as it's all old and not used anyway, but what else should we do in the meantime?

I've stopped feeding the birds in my garden as unfortunately it was attracting rats (they would literally climb up the bird feeder to eat the fat balls which I'd put out for birds!)

We live in the sticks and have rats at times in the garden, it’s not a big deal, they’re part of the ecosystem and the foxes eat them.

With the compost, we have indeed been putting fruit and veg peelings in it. We'll stop doing that but what about the stuff already in there? Is there a way to secure the compost bin?

There are 2 holes along the decking and I read that they usually have one hole in, one hole out so they are most definitely living under there. Should we call pest control rather than taking up the decking and letting them spread God knows where (and potentially nearer/ inside our house?)

;)

I have had rats in my garden. They are everywhere, as are mice. I have two cats now though so I usually only see dead ones now!
I would not worry about the children. There are probably rats visiting lots of places where you go with your children, like parks and woods etc. It's just that you don't see them,
If you want to put off the rats then kick the compost bin frequently as they don't like being disturbed. It's possible they are inside it, that was the case in my garden once. My cat hunts frequently on the allotments behind our house and he often stakes the compost heaps for hours on end. Please don't put any poison down, other animals could die from it.

Rats are as dirty as their diet, if they are eating natural things and not living on rubbish or sewage, they are no dirtier than any other animal.

But I am biased, I love rats, I have five, curious, intelligent, cute little girls. They make fantastic pets.

That is definitely the root cause then your compost bin fruits and peelings, you will be unlikely to secure it against them once they know it's there, either get some gloves on and remove it or let them eat it all and don't put anymore in it again.

OP pkease ignore posters criticism of your initial reactions (precious kids? FFS) ... it's quite natural to be panicky when you see one. It's how we've been conditioned. But your quite right poise is a very bad idea and can cause lots of other harm.

I used to be more relaxed about them ... even after a few sightings last summer in the garden and running across out patio ... and the in turned out that our neighbor (semi detached houses) and his horrendous pet hygiene downfalls plus shit diy skills meant rats got into our loft via shared cavity wall. Hole was blocked but unfortunately we still have at least one rat living in the shared walls with no sign of it dying. But that's a whole other thread.

So yes -

Clear all clutter, piles of leaves, any places rats will hide. Definitely sort the decking asap. A clear out covid spook them to move on as they creatures of habit

Do not despite what a pp said leave any good whatsoever lying around. They will not only enjoy the buffet but bring their mates along too

Have a good look around the outside of the house to check there are no entry points just in case

I adore nature, wildlife and animals. But rats carry disease and are incredibly clever and resourceful and if they find a way they will aces your home. Make the surrounding areas as unappealing to them as possible.

Our rat issue has been going on for almost 6 months now and most of the contents of our loft are stacked up in our house. It's horrible. And I'm on sleeping tablets as I hear the fucker above me in the loft most nights.

Hope your visitor is just using your garden as a run

First sentence correct.

Second sentence completely incorrect. Do the opposite.

It's fine. We are surrounded by rats. Either attracted to bird feed people put out, wind fall fruit or compost heaps. In more rural areas like ours, everyone has two or three heaps, all fruit and veg goes on it, why wouldn't you?

Last year in neighbours garden under the apple tree the rats held a dining party, while we were sat in the garden having drinks. They are actually pretty cute, and paid us no attention at all.

Unless you are going to completely sterilise your garden, which is unlikely, you will have animal visitors.

Just a note ... If your child has ever when to the park, or the wood, or the beach, they will have come into contact with rodents.

Thank you all. We've had a huge clear out and moved things around and will be very strict about no food in compost, no bird food etc.

It seems from comments that with a few simple measures they are likely to "move on" but i worry where they will move to once we get rid of the decking. At least now I feel reassured that they're at the very bottom of the garden.

I also don't want them to move on and infest our lovely neighbour's garden either.

Urgh, stressful

I agree with PP that they actually are quite cute, I'm not that scared of them per se, I'd happily let them get on with it if I knew they were just passing by and weren't going to infest my house next.

But knowing they've already declared ownership of my decking isn't very nice!

🥰❤️

I would have dropped dead with shock!

Update! Yesterday I was working from home minding my own business when I saw a creature run across the living room. I have never been this close to a heart attack!

It took me a while to find it so I could identify it. It was a..... cat! I still have no idea how it got in and am totally freaked out it's hanging around because of the rats. We've been seeing it a lot more in the garden lately.

Anyhow, I've ended up calling a pest controller for advice and he reckons we must have had the problem for months and the cat is after the rat babies. There are babies 😨

We're having to get it professionally handled before they get overcrowded under the decking and start looking for other places to hang out, i.e. my house.

If you see one rat, there will be many others that you don't
They don't live solitary lives and breed very quickly
We put traps out
They have caused immense damage to our property and we've had to take drastic action

Sorry to hear @prampushingdownthehighst what sort of damage so I can be prepared? And did the traps work?

I'm honestly so worried I can't wait for it to be resolved.

They chewed through pipework and wood in the loft and plasterboard in our spare room downstairs
We got the professionals out who put poison in the loft and gave us lots of helpful tips, put long screws through any down pipes so they can't use that as a means of entry etc Cleared inside in about 2 months. I was so worried about wires being chewed through and having a fire and our man said it is not unknown for that to happen!!
I wasn't happy about the poison outside so we use tomb stone traps that are very powerful outside and regularly catch them
God, I hate killing any animals and it breaks my heart to find them, but we had to do something.
Good luck to you, it is such a worry.