There's a XXX in my garden! Warning.

[DottyBlue2]

It has a tail. Don't read any further if you don't like this sort of thing.

They did put in a planning application which I strenuously injected to. I.e., there is no vehicle access in case of fire so the fire engines won't be able to get to the kitchen. I mentioned the rats. I raised lots of points which the planning committee patronisingly over-ruled in the meeting (it was so blatantly misogynistic that I sent my DH to the alcohol license committee meeting, rather than the silly little woman) - the application was approved. Oh god, I could go on but it gets quite extraordinary and rather boring.

We have loads of rats round here. Live in the countryside.

My cat is only tiny and it brought me a rat twice its size a few weeks back. Decapitated and made sure the guts were arranged round my kitchen in an almost deliberate fashion. It sat looking at me with a look that suggested it wanted praise. I chased it back out of the house, got rid of rat and guts...and it later brought me a baby mouse instead. Which was not as vile and it hadn't played with it...but I still did not appreciate it like the cat reckoned I would

I'm really baffled by people who live on the country but cant get on board with country living.

If you have rats, call in an exterminator. Or the local terrier man. Or set traps.

Wait... there's a rat, and a cafe...

OP, this is a golden opportunity to put on a live action version of Ratatouille.

Dotty well there's the answer to your problems then, SET FIRE to the restaurant.

But honestly, pest control and food hygiene issues do not need to go back to Planning Committee, they will be dealt with at officer level.

Has someone made a pornographic snowman and snowwoman scene in the garden?

crunchy mine's s Patterdale. She's fine, a 100% little dog - well behaved too. Unless another dog comes into sight, of course. And a stone cold killer of rats!

japab i think i love you.

I would LOVE a Jack Russell and have been pestering DH for one for over a year. A dog is now a necessity.

My JRT is an excellent ratter, and to back up the others can jump higher than any other dog I know. The little buggers have no boundaries, when you're not looking, when you are they pretend the training sunk in. And everything is hers. Literally everything, they are so possessive of anything!

But such loving and feisty little dogs, with a great sense of humour. I've had a few breeds and the JRT is by far the most loyal I've owned. I also have an ancient Westie and they have developed a great hunting technique for the stables. The westie who's not built for speed or small holes is patient and devious and will find and flush them out into the delighted jaws of the JRT!
Terriers do get obsessed though and can be PITA to get them to leave where they've been ratting!
Sorry I didn't mean that to be an advert for Jack Russell's! I do love mine though.
As for the cafe, the EHO would be worth contacting. If there's rats and they have their door open then that leaves access to the rats - places I've worked we aren't allowed the doors/windows open without screens because of the potential for buzzy things and other things contaminating food. Food places must also deal with their smells appropriately to not disturb others unduly.
Good luck!

Thank you beerwench interesting comparison with JRT and westies - I grew up with Westies and I think they would be outdone here.

Had a conversation with DH tonight about dogs - he wants a Labrador or a spaniel. I don't think either or those breeds would make good ratters, would they? but think of the size of the 💩 innocent face

Our spaniels kill mice (they stamp on them with their front feet) and rabbits, but have never encountered a rat, so I don't know how well they would deal with one.

Terriers (I am a terrier girl to the core, so I am biased) are the best ratters you can get. They are phenomenally alert, incredibly fast, totally fearless, and when focussed on their prey are not distracted by anything else. We've had 10 terriers over the years (most at any one time was 6) and they are such cheerful, loving little characters.

We have spaniels now and they are lovely, they really are, but need a HUGE amount of exercise - physical and mental. Whilst all of our terriers thoroughly enjoyed a good walk, but would then flop and cuddle in when you came back, two hours of wild running about just whets a spaniel's appetite for MORE! They will happily zoom around the house like a Wall of Death for another half hour. They are also less openly affectionate than the terriers (though I admit my experience is limited - and horrifically greedy! This makes them easy to train with a food incentive, but means that you can't leave ANYTHING unattended. Terriers are digger, though, and will excavate the garden given the chance.

Spaniels also need daily grooming and if you can't cope with this, regular clipping (£40 approx, depending where you are). They are lovely dogs though. Actually - all dogs love company - why not get one of each .

Never had a lab - they seem amiable, greedy, soft and useless (re: rats) to me.

Remember - terriers were among the original "designer dogs" - designed to hunt and kill rats and mice. They do it very effectively, and efficiently

Spaniels and labs were selectively bred to retrieve - they have soft mouths, spend a lot of time sniffing (they live through their noses) and most of them don't have the prey drive that all terriers have bred into them. (No-one wants their pheasant brought back in shreds.)

Terriers are visually alert, have good noses (though not up to spaniel quality) and are fast and incredibly agile. Their reactions are phenomenal, and they are much less likely to get themselves bitten than a lab or spaniel would, and won't bring the rat back alive. (Our girls bring rabbits back live, kicking and uninjured - I suspect that rats would be the same).

There are videos on you tube showing terriers dealing with rats - have a look (if you can bear it) and see how well they deal with them. Don't worry - it isn't a barrel of tame rats emptied into an enclosed ring, it's farmers taking a couple of terriers to rat-infested buildings and letting them loose.

If you aren't used to terriers, don't get a Patterdale! I already had one terrier (a cross) and was all blase about owning her. Got a Patterdale and, my god the difference! Hyperactive, barky, utterly single minded and can steal food you don't even realise is in the house!

But loyal, adorable, cuddly, devoted to me (and an EXCELLENT killer of rats). But seriously, not a 'beginner' terrier!

Oh - re: the poo. Spaniels have huge appetites for their size, and what goes in must come out. They produce a LOT of poo.

Their bottoms are also born under a wandering star! Our girls can each poo 3-4 times on each walk*, and will often do this when they are in motion (no pun intended) so they are trying to scuttle along, half squatting while staying in action. This means that you are following them to pick up. To be fair, on leash they don't travel as far, but travel they do. I've seen other spaniels and spoken to other owners, and this seems to be pretty much par for the course.

*in addition to what is left in the garden

Just because the restaurant is in a listed building doesn't mean that it can get away without an adequate extraction system - it just has to have its system approved by the Council's Conservation Officer (part of planning team). So, if you are being troubled by food smells, then complain to Environmental Health, and at the very least they may have to change their menu until they have an adequate extraction system.

The terms of the planning consent was that they were not to install an extractor fan. Does this mean that the EHO will make them take the chips off the menu?

Terrier it is!

We HAD rats in the garden. Between my psychotic serial killer of a cat and the neighbours similar cat we no longer have a rat problem.

My cat is semi feral and started on mice as a kitten, biggest prey to date was a full grown rabbit, hes been quiet on the killing front lately which probably means hes working out what the next size up is.

I got used to coming down to a selection of bodies, all very neatly killed and usually the heads being seperate to the bodies. The only one I wasnt keen on was the live mole he left in the kitchen.

We also have ferrets which the rats seemed to give a wide berth to.

Trading standards and health inspections spring to mind

Spot the rat hanging off our bird feeder. Bastard must have shimmied up there! Excuse the state of the garden - it's a work in progress!!

Rats get everywhere. They are so sly.

Terriers are digger, though, and will excavate the garden given the chance.

I don't know if lakies are the exception here, and I've never owned another terrier breed, but neither of mine have been diggers. My lad would "help" if I was digging in the garden, and once dug up a large and long-dead fish on the beach, but my girl has never shown any inclination to dig. If I'm digging a hole to plant something in, she'll watch with interest, but also with that "are you mad?" expression that terriers are so good at.

Dunno about gundogs and rats, but if they caught one, they'd probably come and present it to you, still alive!

Anyone else bemused by nyx's earlier post? It suggests unless I read it wrongly that rats have shoes that bring cockroach eggs in. No wonder the noise in my attic is so loud. Bloody rats in hobnail boots.

Do not get a fox terrier (from which the JRT or Parson's are descended). My previous one came down to the kitchen with me and we faced a huge rat balanced on our compost swing bin. Fox terrier raced back to bed. Leaving me to deal with it.

And yes, rats can get up a drainpipe.

Just a plea - do use rat poison that doesn't have a secondary effect eg poisoning raptors like owls. If in the country, do get a proper terrier/ferret man in - if like me you'd prefer to die quickly from a snapped neck than lingering miserably from poison.

OP, call your local environmental health officer at the council. The back door should not be open unless they have some kind of screen on it because it allows for insect/other ingress which is a food hazard.

From the Food Hygiene guide issued by the FSA - the law states:
"Windows and other openings (e.g. doors) that can be opened
onto the outside must be fitted, where necessary, with
insect-proof screens that can be removed easily for cleaning.
Where open windows would cause contamination, windows
must remain closed and fixed while you are producing food."

I'm really surprised they weren't allowed to have an extractor of some description - if it's a residential area then they should have one installed to minimise the smells so mention that to the EHO as well.