....or is DH? bird food and rats

[Clarella]

DH keeps getting his knickers in a twist about bird food encouraging rats. Obviously, yes the odd mouse or rat might partake, but does it warrant trying to put a coconut feeder in difficult to reach places or not out at all?

I'd love an actual bird table but I think he'd have a daily annurism anurrism anourism heart attack.

(To be fair, I think he has a mild phobia after experiencing a rat getting into his old flat and having to clear up a load of mess under the bath. However, rats are everywhere. This house is fine. And I had a pet rat so kind of a bit more bomb proof. Obv I don't want them in, but I do want to feed the birds.)

Aneurysm

We have had bird tables for years and no rats! We have squirrel proof feeders - but they still try every now and then. - and in the early morn and eve we have tiny mice.

Use a squirrel proof location and you wont have a rat problem.

I used to feed the birds
loved it
got a bit obsessed until neighbours said they'd spotted a rat popping out from under my shed to grab a bit of food. 😞 stopped that day but swear they're still there. We've just got a terrier and he was going crazy the other night trying to get under there.

Our neighbour loved feeding the birds in her garden (she loves the animals) and couldn't figure out why our cat kept bringing her rats. Her son went into her garden and saw something moving at his feet only to realise the garden was actually swarming around his feet with rats... the horror.
Neighbour doesn't like harming any animal but she can't have such a huge amount of rats running around her garden. So, instead of using poison or traps (which could have harmed the cats or foxes etc too) she started putting the bird food out the other side of the house... far away... across the field in front of our house. Rats were gone in a day because there was no food. She still got to feed the birds.
If you don't have a field to frolic in nearby your house have you considered making regular trips to a local park/canal/duck pond? Might be an option.
I have to add, the rat situation faced by our neighbour was enhanced by the other neighbour keeping chickens (big part of garden dedicated to them) and a sheep field behind our house. It's a very rural location and we were very near a wild rats natural habitat anyway sooo you probably won't have this problem, but just in case.

Just watched poor mr black bird looking for his breakfast. Now removed and shoved in the tiny inaccessible Bauhaus.

Missing the equilibrium of the countryside.

#firstworldbirdproblems

OMG that rat picture!!!!

....although scroll down the rat story and you see it's smaller than it looks due to the way it's being held

My husband sent me the rat picture yesterday on my phone, I stupidly opened it in a meeting and had to take a few seconds to compose myself.

I think I have a near phobia of rats.