Mum putting rat poison down in her garden - do others see this as cruel or unethical or is it just me?

[GardenRat]

My mum has been having a problem with rats being present in her back garden. She is dealing with it by putting rat poison in bait boxes around the garden. I don’t agree with her on this as I understand that rats die a slow and agonising death from the effects of the poison. Also, if any other animal (including birds) was to eat the rat poison itself, or try to eat a rat that has died from poisoning, then that other animal could also potentially become very ill or die. Her position is that she doesn’t care about that, and that using rat poison is the only realistic option she has to dissuade the rodents from entering her house. What are your thoughts on the matter MN?

Well, unless you want her to retain her rat infestation what do you want her to do. Buying a Jack Russell or a cat and crossing your fingers it’s a mouser does seem extreme so rat poison it is.

Has she cleaned away all areas in her yard that they could be attracted to or breed in, otherwise it’s a short term fix. Understand it’s not easy if you have minging neighbours with won’t clean their yard though!

I am sure most of us have rats in our gardens, I know I do and it doesn't bother me in the slightest. Having said that with a cat and dog they never come near the house anyway.
I would never use rat poison or similar unless they were causing an issue INSIDE my house and I think that anyone using rat poison like that is cruel and irresponsible

Agree with all of this - plus I find rats kind of cute 😬

I'm not sure how effective that would be. What's attracting the rats? If she's feeding birds? Is there rubbish outside?

Yep, stick a fluffy tail on them, call them squirrels and people will welcome them into their gardens

I think when it gets to the point that you see rats in the garden then you have a sizeable infestation and they’ve gotten quite bold and hungry. Your lovely house is full of food and nesting material. I think you need to get the pest controllers in tbh.

Needs must!

I eat meat and dairy products. I have leather and suede stuff. I’m not under any illusions that those animals have a particularly happy or comfortable life prior to me consuming them (thanks to the militant vegans in my life) and if I had bed bugs or fleas or wasps etc, I wouldn’t waste a second worrying about them being exterminated as quickly as possible. I’d be a bit of a hypocrite to be overly concerned about rats.

Having said that, I’d probably live and let live if it was just the odd rat scurrying through the garden at night time, and just keep things clear and tidy so they didn’t have free run of the place.

Don't care about the rats dying an agonising death tbh. Would make sure the bait was somewhere that it couldn't be eaten by other wildlife though.

I have rats. They live under my shed. One day I was looking out of the window and I saw one using a rose petal to wash its face! It was holding it in its little paws and rubbing it all over its face. Since then I feel differently about them and leave them alone. 😊

Rats are everywhere! I should think everybody has a rat visitor to their garden on a regular basis. As a walker, there’s not a day that goes by when i’m out and about that I don’t see a rat.

Squirrels are twats <misses point>

Rats carry nasty diseases and be very destructive if they get inside your home.
Bait boxes are a good solution. The boxes stop bird birds, cats etc getting at the bait or carrying it off and the rats often die in their burrows. An animal would have to eat a lot of poisoned rats to suffer secondary poisoning.

How do you propose she deal with the problem?

Same

ETA: Ammonia is a very effective rat deterrent. It smells like cat's urine and apparently scares the rats.

I agree. I think traps can be much more humane, I don't mean the actual humane catch and release traps though, they're pointless.
Poison is cruel and poses such risk for other animals too.

Rats are often too clever for traps. They’re very difficult to catch.

I suppose the truly ethical thing to do would be to build them a heated nesting box and leave out food for them so they can expand their little families without worry and plant them rose bushes so they can use the petals as facecloths (so cute!). However, for obvious reasons, no one sane wants an infestation of rats living in their garden in close proximity to the house. They carry diseases and breed very rapidly. I'd definitely be doing exactly what the OP's mum is.

She's killing birds, especially owls. Tell her to quit. Some people just don't have a clue, it's so sad.

I think the question is whether OP's Mum does have an "infestation" or has spotted a rat or 2 in her garden.
Very different things and should be treated accordingly

Yes they bloody are! I used to like them, then i moved house and the bastards dig up my bulbs and young plants 😡little shits.
Rats outside, i used to have them at my old house and left them alone in the garden, i did have traps and bait boxes in my loft though as spotted the odd mouse and was worried about wire damage etc. Maybe that's your mums concern? if they get in and eat through cables it could cause an awful lot of damage.

What an awful thing to say, that you don't care about a living sentient creature dying an "agonising" death.
I wouldn't want an infestation but wouldn't be happy with anything having an agonising and slow death and I would care very much about it!

Personally I would never harm them, we have them under the shed and I make sure there is water for them and I know they eat the bird food I put down for the blackbirds and I am happy to see them. I love rats as much as any other animal however I wouldn't want them in the house same as any other rodent because of the damage they can cause. Happy with them down the garden though. As for diseases, bunnies and squirrels carry diseases too.

I don't see a problem. Rats are not exactly an endangered species, in fact they will probably outlast us.

Not a fan of using chemicals that carry the risk of killing other animals. Rats are clever but we humans are pretty smart too. I’d be looking at the number of rats, seeing whether it really is an infestation or just the usual few that every garden has, and considering traps/pest control instead.

I sued to have a trap that electrocuted them for an instant death (they were in my garage destroying stored belongings). That was at least a decade ago, so there must be some better options by now, surely?

Wouldn't use poison for all of the reasons you've listed.