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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To freak out because I saw a rat in the garden...

51 replies

Thisismynewname123 · 14/05/2019 10:05

Since the weekend, I have seen what I assume is a rat run across the patio 4 times now. What should I do? Do I need to immediately call pest control, or will it go away by itself?
I know this isn't really an AIBU, but I'm posting here for traffic, and to hear other's experiences.

OP posts:
Original poster
Thisismynewname123 · 14/05/2019 10:47

No, we don't feed birds. There is no mess at the top of the garden to be cleaned away. It's a clear area, so I'm not sure where it's running to to get it's food from

OP posts:
Stayawayfromitsmouth · 14/05/2019 10:51

We had some a few years ago. Got at the bird fat balls stored on the shed. I had to get squirrel cages for the bird feeders and secure all food sources. A local cat got it eventually.

GirlRaisedInTheSouth · 14/05/2019 10:51

We see the occasional rat. Usually when I’ve put food out for the birds and they haven’t eaten it all. I remember a few months ago very late one evening sitting at the kitchen table. I saw a rat climb onto the balcony, pinch a piece of bread from the bird table, then scurry off. It occurred to me at that point that he just wants to get food to feed his family, just like us.

Traps and poison are cruel. Just leave them be. If you don’t want them on your patio then keep it scrupulously clean. And don’t leave cardboard lying around as, in my experience, this seems to attract rats.

Stayawayfromitsmouth · 14/05/2019 10:51

It may be using your patio to get to neighbours food source?

recrudescence · 14/05/2019 10:53

It’s possible the rat(s) are merely crossing your property to get to food elsewhere. What are your neighbours like on the relevant side? Could they have something tasty on offer?

GreatestShowUnicorn · 14/05/2019 10:56

I'm vegan but it's ends with rats!! Poison in a safe baiter will let them get in but not birds, hedgehogs, etc. I had one in my chickens a few years ago.

ALadyofLetters · 14/05/2019 10:56

Do any neighbours have chickens? At our old house our cats used to catch massive rats that lived a few doors down around the chicken house.

Branleuse · 14/05/2019 11:01

if you put poison down, then other animals nearby are very likely to get secondary poisoning, even if they arent poisoned directly.

You arent going to get plague

Original poster
Thisismynewname123 · 14/05/2019 11:16

Ok. Thanks everyone. I'm still freaking out, but will try to be calm. I'm not going to put any poison down that could potentially harm other animals nearby. I'm definitely not going to be opening the back doors though! I really hope the neighbours cats get to work soon!

OP posts:
MsSquiz · 14/05/2019 12:45

When we had a rat in our garden we used 1 of these traps and stopped feeding the birds. (Our rat used to scale the hedge, to jump into the tree, to eat directly from the bird feeder - I was very impressed)

www.homebase.co.uk/rentokil-enclosed-rat-trap_p404961

But then our neighbour also spotted the rat in his garden so they called pest control at the local council who came out with more traps (slightly larger versions of the one above)

It was eventually caught in the trap in the neighbours shed

ishouldbedoingsomework · 14/05/2019 12:52

I have seen rats in the garden, or in the road near every house we have lived in (6).
Why are you worrying about it? Rats are highly intelligent and sociable animals.
Maybe wear gloves when gardening and keep children away from areas they may have been hiding in but other than that don't worry I would say.

Drogosnextwife · 14/05/2019 12:55

It doesn't need a door open to get in your house, they will find a way. I would get pest control in before it starts breading. Infact it probably already has. My mum's neighbour had them in her garden, turns out a few people in the street did. One neighbour had seen them loads of times, hanging off the bird feeder in her garden but hadn't bothered to do anything or tell anyone else Hmm

FineWordsForAPorcupine · 14/05/2019 12:56

Don't freak out! Rats are just animals (like hedgehogs and squirrels) and seeing them outside your property from time to time is not a big deal.

Obviously inside your house is different - they are damaging and a health risk - but outside they are just going about their ratty ways :)

(I live in a large city and if I tried to eliminate rats from outside my house I'd never get anything else done)

XiCi · 14/05/2019 14:49

We saw one a few years ago running through our garden. The food source was a fruit tree a few houses down. We set a trap for it, caught it and have never seen another. I did get the council out prior to that and there was no sign of any nesting in our garden or shed so it was literally just running through. It was right next to the patio windows so had to get rid in case it got in the house.

XiCi · 14/05/2019 14:53

Call the council. The fee is minimal and the poison they set is harmless to other animals

Hidingtonothing · 14/05/2019 15:12

We back on to a railway line so it's inevitable we get them passing through the garden. We have taken steps to make the garden unattractive to them though so no rubbish of any kind out there, everywhere clear and open so there's no hidey holes or covered runs for them to use. Obviously no food or water sources out there either and we've blocked off any obvious holes in fences etc. We still get the odd one passing through or even mooching round the lawn sometimes but it's definitely discouraged them as I'm fairly sure they were using us as a cut-through to somewhere before.

Best advice I can give you is not to panic and to take sensible steps to make sure you're not attracting/facilitating them (get rid of that old shed rubbish ASAP). If there's nowhere for them to nest, no food or water and no safe-feeling routes through your garden for them they will move on and find better places.

Original poster
Thisismynewname123 · 14/05/2019 15:13

Thanks for all of the responses. I did actually call the council earlier today. They said that if there is no source of food nearby, then it's likely to move on very soon, and that if we are still seeing it in a few more days then to call them back. And to keep our doors closed at all times in the meantime (that's the bit that's worrying me!). Its running right across the back patio doors, so it seems to me that it would be very easy to find it's way in.

OP posts:
Abbazed · 14/05/2019 16:50

Rats carry serious diseases that kill ie weils disease. Trust me rats are bad news and they will come in if you don't a) clean the bbq b) they bite - hard. Also a fire hazard.

LadyRannaldini · 14/05/2019 19:09

Apparently you're never more than 30 yeards from a rat!

TowerRavenSeven · 14/05/2019 19:13

This happened to us about two months ago. They were eating our bird seed. My husband bought an ultrasonic beeper and put it outside for a few days then realized it was only for inside use. He took it in, but since we haven’t seen any and I started feeding the birds again. I’d try that.

Snakelight · 14/05/2019 19:21

There's no need to freak out. Rats are basically squirrels with bad PR. They carry the same diseases (Weils included).

BillywilliamV · 14/05/2019 19:23

Meh, it’s outdoors. If it’s living on a natural diet it’s no different to having a squirrel or field mouse. It’s eating human rubbish that makes them dirty animals.

filka · 14/05/2019 19:52

@Danni91 Don't put a trap down that any other wildlife can get too, what you need is a cage.
OP Thanks for the link Danni, but that one is for covered spaces.

I think what @Danni91 has proposed is fine for outside, all that will happen if it gets wet is that it may rust a bit - but it's only a fiver. Peanut butter and/or chocolate make good bait (I've used a slice of a snickers bar before).

Of course, no-one actually tells you what to do when you catch a rat in one of these, as it will still be alive. You need to google for that! But remember that the rat is going to die anyway, even if you release it outside your home area.

Branleuse · 15/05/2019 11:05

it really bothers me that in a time when our wildlife is being decimated, that people still cannot deal with seeing any of the slightly less cute species even outdoors. Its one rat. Its not a supervillain. A poor rat eats some fallen fruit from a tree and thats it. Trap set. Horrid

PenelopeFlintstone · 15/05/2019 11:34

Rats are basically squirrels with bad PR.
Rats breed much faster than squirrels.

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